The Goshtasp Era in the Epic: The Passage of Autocracy from Myth to History

جستارهای نوین ادبی

Article 8, Volume 42, Issue 4 - Serial Number 167, December 2009, Pages 177-190   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/jls.v42i4.4229

Author

Sayyed Masoud Adnani^*

Abstract

The scattered stories, due to the way they are put together in The Shahnameh, show a thoughtful and systematic pattern and tell more than what they have in their appearance. According to the tradition of The Shahnameh research, the book is divided into the following sections: mythical, heroic, and historical. Although clear lines do not indicate this classification, the interval and overlapping sections should not be overlooked, because transition from section to section is not possible without the requisite preparation and introduction of the author’s knowledge. It is the writer’s belief that the Goshtasp Era in The Shahnameh is the transition of the National Epic from Myth to the historical period of the Sassanids.

Key words:Autocracy, concentrated rule, function, the Goshtasp Era, Epic, Sassanid