Women in Shahnameh: An Overview on Mythical, Lyrical and Social Aspects

Abstract

Shahnameh is the most significant Persian epic masterpiece and it is the world's lengthiest epic poem written by a single poet. Shahnameh mainly describes mythical and historical dimensions of the Persian Empire in series of stories. The manifestation of love in the stories of Shahnameh is a real stimulus to prowess and epic. In this regard, Ferdowsi delicately paid attention in developing women characters of Shahnameh. In this article, it is tried to investigate mythical, lyrical and social aspects of women in different sections of Shahnameh. Mythical aspects of Shahnameh including zoroastrian beliefs are reviewed. The lyrical bases including poetry, playing, loving and marriage are considered in this research. And many women such as Roodabeh, Tahmineh and Jarirehwho contribute to lyrical aspects of Shahnameh are found and their character and other related dimensions are investigated and described. Interestingly it is found that in Shahnameh stories, gallantry alone cannot help a hero reach his goals unless love and affection are combined with it. Also, our research shows that some women in Shahnameh express their love consciously over their beloved man. Further, social roles of women in the romantic stories are categorised in political, martial, and artistic forms and further discussed.