Recognizing Two Narrative Patterns in Zoroastrian Sources through a Verse in Shahnameh

جستارهای نوین ادبی

Article 2, Volume 58, Issue 1 - Serial Number 228, August 2025, Pages 44-21   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/jls.2024.87821.1577

Authors

Mohamad Bayani¹; Mohamadjafar Yahaghi^{* 2}

¹PhD Candidate in Persian Language and Literature, Epic Literature Sub-‎discipline, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad‎, Mashhad, Iran‎.

²Professor at the Department of Persian Language and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad‎, Mashhad, Iran‎. ‎

Abstract

This study aims to offer a new interpretation of the verse “In envy, the malevolent Ahriman / held counsel until he rise in might” from the story of Gayōmart in the Shahnameh. It begins with a critical review of previous interpretations of the verse. Then, focusing on two key concepts—counseling (rāy-zanī) and empowerment (biyāgend yāl)—it turns to Zoroastrian texts and, through examining some relevant evidences, extracts two distinct narrative patterns. The first pattern consists of three stages: 1. Assembly (gathering), 2.Counsel, 3.Action. The second pattern comprises five stages: 1. Foreknowledge of a predetermined destiny, 2. The Paralysis or unconsciousness, 3.Incitement, 4. Reawakening /mobilization, 5. Action.
A descriptive-analytical and comparative analysis of the verse based on those two models indicates that the verse presents an evolved synthesis of both narrative models. In this narrative, Ahriman, in an effort to disrupt the order of the world of Gayōmart, his son, Siyamak, and humankind, holds counsel with the demons. The outcome of these deliberations is the acquisition of power, culminating in a plan to annihilate, carried out by sending his son, Khazurān, and an army of demons. In the final analysis, a four-stage structure emerges that appears to synthesize the two original patterns: 1. Awareness, 2. Assembly, 3. Deliberation, 4.Action. This structure likely results from the convergence of shared elements in the two primary patterns and finds expression in the verse under discussion.

Keywords

Shahnameh studies; Mythology; The reign of Gayōmart; The attack of Ahriman and the demons; Narrative pattern analysis

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