The Function of Light and Darkness in Rise and Fall: The duality of Light and Darkness in Ferdowsi’s narration of Jamshid

Entities of light and darkness and how they are counterparts is fundamental to Persian belief. It is shown in many cases especially in classic manuscripts. In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, the mythological king, Jamshid, rises to kingship under the power of farr-e-izadi (divine glory) that is given to him from God, this light allows him to flourish. In this paper the lingual function of light and darkness in the story of Jamshid in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is discussed. That is to say, it explores how light-related vocabulary—such as 'farr', 'roshanī', and 'forūzān'—correlates with the flourishing civilization and the words of darkness appear when the aforementioned words are gone and the civilization is replaced with Zahhak’s disorder and chaos.

کلیدواژه ها:

Jamshid ، Shahnameh ، Light and Darkness ، Persian Mythology ، Civilizational Representation ، Farr ، Dualism