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Paperback. The Legend of Seyavash comes from the middle section of the Shahnameh, Iran's national epic by the poet Ferdowsi (c940-c1020) and presents a world of warfare, military prowess, romance, guile, and fierce tribal loyalty. Ferdowsi's epic style and mastery of poetic organisation, however, is matched by the psychological and ethical depth of his insight and his concerns for the primal struggle between good and evil, and man's continual attempt to create justice and civilized order out of the chaos of human greed and cruelty. The Legend of Seyavash begins with the stuff of romance -- a foreign girl of royal blood, found as a fugitive and introduced into the king's harem, gives birth to a son, Seyavash, who is raised not by his father the king, but by the great hero Rostam. On Seyavash's return home Sudabeh, his stepmother, attempts to seduce him, and when he spurns her she accuses him of having attempted to rape her. He undergoes a trial by fire to prove his innocence, and goes on to battle successfully against Iran's rival, Turan, concluding a truce with the Turanian king, Afrasyab, on amicable terms.But Seyavash's father, Kavus, insists that Seyavash surrender the Turanian hostages to slaughter, and with a conflicted conscience and no one to turn to, Seyavash flees to the Turanian court, where he is first given safe harbour, but is once again abandoned. Dick Davis has made a masterful translation of the poem and written a penetrating introduction. "The Legend of Seyavash begins with the stuff of romance—a foreign girl of royal blood, found as a fugitive and introduced into the king's harem, gives birth to a son, Seyavash, who is raised not by his father the king, but by the great hero Rostam. Upon his return home from Rostam's tutelage, he is betrayed by his stepmother, Sudabeh, who attempts to seduce him and punishes him with a trial by fire when he spurns her. Seyavash is victorious in his trial, and goes on to successfully battle Iran's rival. Turan, concluding a truced with the Turanian king, Afrasyab, on amicable terms. But Seyavash's father, Kavus, insists that Seyavash surrender the Turanian hostages to slaughter, and with a conflicted conscience and no one to turn to, Seyavash flees to the Turanian court, where he is first given safe harbor, but is once again abandoned, murdered by the king's jealous brother. The Legend of Seyavash comes from the middle section of Ferdowsi's "Shahnameh, and presents a world of warfare between Iran and its neighbors. The epic style—with its paeans to loyalty, military prowess, and bravery, and its dichotomy between the forces of good and evil—is in full bloom. But here, as an episode of the Shahnameh which seems to receive more of Ferdowsi's attention, "The Legend of Seyavash achieves a psychological complexity, in Seyavash's struggles with his various father-figures, with his surrogate family, and ultimately with his own sense of loyalty conscience, and fate. The heroic action in The Legend of Seyavash is matched by Ferdowsi's acute and ethical insights into the individual's struggle between conscience and familial loyalty, easting Seyavash as not only an epic figures but a tragic oneas well. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.
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