Rostam's Situation in the Shah-nameh & Other Nations
Yasaman RamezanMahi
Reprinted from: Honar Nameh, University of Art, Tehran, No. 27, 2005 (A brief of the article)


Searching for historical period of Rostam's life is made difficult by the usual Iranian poet's genius that defies time and place. In such writers' view what is important is the existential mystery of myths rather than their historical and spatial perception.

What is important is the effect that historical character has in the course of his society's intellectual development. Because a national legend is either a symbol of goodness and power or one of ugliness and wrongness, his life history, ancestry and his age or period do not matter.

For this reason epic poets have tried to create a single space and place all the heroes and their enemies in it. In Shah-nameh, they are all gathered in Kianian Court, making for its grandeur and demonstrating the power of the vast Iranian Kingdom.

We witness ancient Avestan heroes, such as Tous and Gostahm, battling next to Parthian rulers, such as Goudarz against foreign invasions, and protecting the land of Iran like a shining diamond.

Based on historical references in the long text of Shah-nameh, it is possible to penetrate the author's imagination and have a glimpse of its reality. Even though many of the tales of Shah-nameh are so popular that most Iranian have heard of them, in order to better understand Ferdowsi's view of Rostam, his story from birth till death is summarized here, so that readers become familiar with the demeanor, power and divine force, as well as his social status and historical period.

Rostam is present through out the Shah-nameh. An overview of his situation among other nations is briefly presented in this article.



فروش اینترنتی آثار هنری، صنایع دستی‌ و کتاب