Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
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Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#2> The story of a father killing his son is found in other tales in the west, perhaps most famously in Arthurian legend.
Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible_and_His_Son_...
and: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torqu...
P.S.
> the Celtic story of Tristan and Isolde ... where the young man goes off and marries someone else for a while before returning to his true love.
Now that I see it summarized, I'm surprised the British tabloids did not latch on to it ... probably too obscure a source, lacking a movie to drive it.
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#3> The story of a father killing his son is found in other tales in the west, perhaps most famously in Arthurian legend. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible_and_His_Son_... and: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torqu... P.S. > the Celtic story of Tristan and Isolde ... where the young man goes off and marries someone else for a while before returning to his true love. Now that I…
Like, for example, an entire opera by Wagner…
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#4> The story of a father killing his son is found in other tales in the west, perhaps most famously in Arthurian legend. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible_and_His_Son_... and: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torqu... P.S. > the Celtic story of Tristan and Isolde ... where the young man goes off and marries someone else for a while before returning to his true love. Now that I…
And it's probably emotional/biological.. even star wars had a son/father struggle. Who coined the metaphorical 'killing father' concept ?
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#5I recently read and enjoyed "Haft Peykar" by the poet Nizami. Although I guess that much of its original beauty is lost in translation, some the language and imagery remain striking nonetheless.
One of the stories-within-the-story is the original source of Puccini's "Turandot".
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#6> The story of a father killing his son is found in other tales in the west, perhaps most famously in Arthurian legend. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible_and_His_Son_... and: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torqu... P.S. > the Celtic story of Tristan and Isolde ... where the young man goes off and marries someone else for a while before returning to his true love. Now that I…
Rostam and Sohrab.... tragic
fun art https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e4/f4/08/e4f40806a8afb57fd661...
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#7> The story of a father killing his son is found in other tales in the west, perhaps most famously in Arthurian legend. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible_and_His_Son_... and: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Manlius_Imperiosus_Torqu... P.S. > the Celtic story of Tristan and Isolde ... where the young man goes off and marries someone else for a while before returning to his true love. Now that I…
And it's probably emotional/biological.. even star wars had a son/father struggle. Who coined the metaphorical 'killing father' concept ?
Oedipus is an early one. What, 350-400BCE? Somewhere around there? [spoilers?] Oedipus is prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother, so runs off trying to avoid this horrible fate, but makes the rookie mistake of killing some rando old enough to be his dad (surprise! He was!) and then marrying a lady old enough to be his mom (surprise! She was!)
Though that's more of a literal "killing father" than a metaphorical one, I guess.
Then of course there's the story of how the core Greek pantheon comes to be, which features patricide very prominently and probably dates, in something resembling the form we know it, to ~800BCE, and possibly much older in cultures that influenced the Greeks.
[EDIT] I can't recall anything like that in the ~1800-2000BCE Gilgamesh, but there may be something. I remember that one having a lot more mommy issues than daddy issues.
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
And it's probably emotional/biological.. even star wars had a son/father struggle. Who coined the metaphorical 'killing father' concept ?
Oedipus is an early one. What, 350-400BCE? Somewhere around there? [spoilers?] Oedipus is prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother, so runs off trying to avoid this horrible fate, but makes the rookie mistake of killing some rando old enough to be his dad (surprise! He was!) and then marrying a lady old enough to be his mom (surprise! She was!) Though that's more of a literal "killing father" than a metapho…
Well each culture has its own quirks which changes how often you see a particular story. Greek culture held that the Gods saw "blood crime" as the worst thing imaginable, so you get a lot of mythic story arcs around it. For later Western European cultures, killing your kin just means you're taking initiative.
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#9If the idea of common motifs through different cultures and mythologies interests you I highly recommend this 6 part interview with Joseph Campbell, who was the author of “The Hero with 1000 Faces” and an expert in the field.
Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers.
Re: Persian legends and their Western counterparts (2020)
#10As some of the comments in the article point out, some of the commonalities may because the legends may be referencing older Indo-European legends which both European and Persian cultures have in common.
In addition, especially after 300 BC, with the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek culture spread throughout much of the region. The Parthians were actually very much fans of Greek culture.