Fereydūn

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Depiction of Fereydun by Haji Agha Dschan (early 19th century)

Fereydūn or Feraidun (also Afridun , Persian فریدون Feridun , DMG Faridun , English Fereydoon ) is a figure in Iranian mythology . He is the sixth mythical primeval king and is described in the sixth book of Shāhnāme , the Persian book of kings by the Persian poet Firdausi (940 / 41-1020).

Name and origin

The name Fereydūn was pronounced Firēdūn in medieval Persian and Frēdōn in Middle Persian . The Avestan archetype is Θraētaona. The Avestian form, for its part, can be traced back to the Proto-Iranian * Θraitaunah and to the Proto-Indo-Iranian * Traitaunas through the use of the sound shifts. * Traitaunas can be translated as The great Son of God Tritas . In the Vedas * Tritas occurs as Trita and in the Avesta as Θrita. The name means translated The Third , so that it can be assumed that Tritas formed a trinity with two other gods .

In the Vedas this trinity consists of Trita and the gods of wind and thunder. Trita is also called Āptya there. Āptya, on the other hand, is similar to the name Āθβiya, the father of Θraētaona in the Avesta.

Fereydūn in Zoroastrian literature

In the Avesta , Θraētaona is the son of Āθβiyas and is accordingly called Āθβiyāni (dt. From the house of Āθβiyas). Originally Θraētaona killed the dragon Aži Dahāka , while in later times he had Aži Dahāka or Zuhhāk chained to a mountain.

Fereydūn in Shāhnāme - Legend VI

Fereydun defeats Zahak

With the help of Kaveh the blacksmith, who used his blacksmith's apron as the flag of the uprising, Fereydūn ( descending from the Pīschdādiyān like Jamschid ) defeated the fifth original king Zahak and succeeded him as king of the world. This fight between Fereydun and the serpent-shouldered Zahak is detailed in Sage V.

In the following, Ferdosi begins to describe the life of Fereydun and his sons with the legend VI. At the beginning of Legend VI, Ferdosi describes the coronation of Fereydun, which takes place with great festivities on the first of the month Mehr. In honor of his coronation, Fereydun donates the Mehrgan festival , which is still celebrated in Iran today. Under the rule of Fereydun, Iran becomes paradise again.

In the following years Fereydun had three sons. When they grew up, he looked for wives for his three sons. An inquiry to the Shah of Yemen, who has three daughters, ultimately leads to success. After the wedding, Fereydun divides the world between his three sons Salm , Tur and Iradsch . Iradsch, the youngest son of Fereydun, receives the heart of the empire with Iran. Selm receives the west of the empire with Asia Minor. Tur gets all the land beyond the Oxus (today Amu Darya), which from then on is called Turan . The fact that Iradsch, the youngest, received the Iranian heartland, does not let the two brothers rest. You lay claim to this legacy. Iradsch is ready to renounce his inheritance for the sake of peace. But this generosity is of little use to him. He is killed by his brothers. With this fratricide begins a campaign of revenge by Manutschehr , the son of Iradsch, at the end of which Selm and Tur are dead. Fereydūn appoints his grandson Manutschehr as his successor and new ruler of Iran. Fereydūn, who is a symbol of good, justice and generosity, dies bitter over the early death of his sons. He sees that the envy and vindictiveness that led to the death of his sons will ultimately only benefit his enemies.

Ferdosi puts the following consideration at the end of this legend:

“O world, you are all deception and wind,
no intelligent human being trusts you.
...
Happy whoever lost his fame,
whether his name was a servant or a king. "

Fereydun appears again and again as the progenitor in Schahname. Such is Zau , the son of Tahmasp, in Sage IX "of the tribe of Feridun". And when the throne of Iran is orphaned again after the death of the son of Zau, Garschasp , Rostam goes in search of Kai Kobad in Sage X , "Keikobad, the lofty name means, From the tribe of Feridun, of high spirit".

literature

  • Friedrich Rückert : Firdosi's Book of Kings (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890. Reprint: epubli GmbH, Berlin, 2010, pp. 70–135.
  • Werner Heiduczek (with the assistance of Dorothea Heiduczek): The most beautiful legends from Firdausi's book of kings retold (based on Görres, Rückert and Schack. Expert advice and epilogue: Burchard Brentjes). Der Kinderbuchverlag, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-7684-5525-4 , reprint (Werner Daustein) Hanau o. J., pp. 7-26 ( first book: Faridun kills the snake-shouldered Sohak ... )
  • Uta von Witzleben : Firdausi: Stories from the Schahnameh. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf and Cologne 1960, pp. 38–48 ( Faridun and his sons ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King Book (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890, p. 132.
  2. ↑ Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King Book (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890, p. 276.
  3. ↑ Friedrich Rückert: Firdosi's King Book (Schahname) Sage I-XIII. 1890, p. 289.
predecessor Office successor
Zahhak King of Shāhnāme
1800 - 2300 after Gayomarth 		Manutschehr