Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T17:18:22.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Serpents and Sorcery: Humanity, Gender, and the Demonic in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Laurie Pierce
Laurie Pierce*
Affiliation:
Persian language and literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The demonic plays an integral role in the Shahnameh, manifesting itself in countless forms. Early kings and heroes fight demons at every turn, and in one of the most memorable tales in the poem—the story of Zahhāk—Iran itself falls under the rule of demonic forces. But demons are not always physical creatures; we also encounter them as immaterial forces of temptation, distraction, and fate. One of the most fascinating aspects of this multifarious presentation of the demonic is the way it intersects the poem's portrayal of what it means to be human. This article focuses on that intersection, highlighting encounters between human beings and the demonic and arguing that they not only complicate notions of humanity, but also construct and reinforce categories of masculinity and femininity. A close examination of two phenomena at the heart of human–demon contact—serpents and sorcery—reveals how evil is embodied and enacted in highly gendered ways. Male and female characters in the Shahnameh diverge in their abilities to combat the demonic and are lured into wickedness by different means. What emerges from the interplay between human beings and demons and between the categories of masculinity, femininity, and the demonic is a multifaceted and sophisticated portrayal of evil that informs even the simplest and most straightforward tales in Ferdowsi's work.

Keywords

AhrimanDemonsDivEvilMonstrousSerpentsSupernaturalZahhak
Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 3: The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi as World Literature , May 2015 , pp. 349 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2015

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Al-Azmeh, Aziz. “Barbarians in Arab Eyes.” Past & Present 134 (Feb. 1992): 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bahār, Mehrdād. Az Ostureh tā Tārikh. Tehran: Nashr-e Chashmeh, 1997.Google Scholar
Bahār, Mehrdād. Pazhuheshi dar Asātir-e Irān. Tehran: Enteshārāt-e Tus, 1983.Google Scholar
Charlesworth, James H. The Good and Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Christensen, Arthur. Essai sur la demonologie iranienne. Copenhagen: Einer Munksgaard, 1941.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” In Monster Theory: Reading Culture, edited by Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome, 3–25. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. Preface to Monster Theory: Reading Culture, edited by Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome, vii–xiii. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Dabiri, Ghazzal. “The Shahnama: Between the Samanids and the Ghaznavids.” Iranian Studies 43, no. 1 (2010): 13–28. doi: 10.1080/00210860903451196CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, Dick. Introduction to Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings, by Ferdowsi, Abolqasem, xiii–xxxvii. Translated by Dick, Davis. New York: Penguin Books, 2007.Google Scholar
Davis, Dick. “Rostam and Zoroastrianism.” In The Necklace of the Pleiades: 24 Essays on Persian Literature, Culture, and Religion, edited by Lewis, F. D. and Sharma, S., 49–62. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Press, 2007. Reprint: Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Davis, Dick. Rostam: Tales of Love and War. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers, 2007.Google Scholar
Ferdowsi, Abu'l-Qāsem. Shahnameh. Edited by Khaleghi-Motlagh, Djalal. 8 vols. New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 1987–2008. [cited as SN in the notes by vol:page, line no.].Google Scholar
Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Khalidi, Tarif. Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lincoln, Bruce. “Cešmag, the Lie, and the Logic of Zoroastrian Demonology.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 1, no. 1 (Jan.–Mar. 2009): 45–55.Google Scholar
Lurker, M. “Snakes.” In The Encyclopedia of Religion, by Mircea Eliade. New York: MacMillan, 1987.Google Scholar
Márkus-Takeshita, Kinga Ilona. “From Iranian Myth to Folk Narrative: The Legend of the Dragon-Slayer and the Spinning Maiden in the Persian Book of Kings.” Asian Folklore Studies 60, no. 2 (2001): 203–214. doi: 10.2307/1179054CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moazemi, Mahnaz. “Evil Animals in the Zoroastrian Religion.” History of Religions 44, no. (May 2005): 300–317. doi: 10.1086/497802CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgenstierne, Georg. “An Ancient Indo-Iranian Word for ‘Dragon.’” In Irano-Dardica, 24–30. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1973.Google Scholar
Omidsalar, Mahmoud. “Dīv.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica, 7/4, pp. 327–328. Accessed June 10, 2013. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/divGoogle Scholar
Omidsalar, Mahmoud. “Magic ii: In Literature and Folklore in the Islamic Period.” In Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition, 2012. Accessed June 10, 2013. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/magic-ii-in-literature-and-folklore-in-the-islamic-periodGoogle Scholar
Qur’ān. Translated by Abdullah, Yusuf Ali. New York: Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 2001.Google Scholar
Safā, Zabihollāh. Hamāseh-sarāʾi dar Irān. Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1352/1973.Google Scholar
Skjærvø, P. O., Khaleghi-Motlagh, D., and Russell, J. R.. “Aždahā.” In Encyclopedia Iranica, 3/2, pp. 191–205. Accessed June 10, 2013. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azdaha-dragon-various-kinds#pt1Google Scholar
Wilson, Leslie. The Serpent Symbol in the Ancient Near East. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2001.Google Scholar
Zand-Akasih: Iranian or Greater Bundahishn. Transliterated and Translated by Behramgore, Anklesaria. Bombay: Rahnumae Mazdayasnan Sabha, 1956.Google Scholar
The Zend-Avesta: Part II, The Sîrôzahs, Yasts, and Nyâyis. Translated by James, Darmesteter. Vol. 23, Sacred Books of the East. Edited by Max Müller, F.. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1998.Google Scholar