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Alexander the Great in the Shahnameh
A historical figure in a mythical world.
For readers unfamiliar with the Iranian epic Shahnameh, an introduction can be found in one of my previous articles.
I want to explore something quite fascinating in the context of the Shahnameh, something that surprised me when I first came across it. After the heroic age of the Shahnameh concludes with Rostam’s death, the narrative shifts to a more historical retelling of events, roughly corresponding to the 4th or 5th century BCE. But rather than focusing on the Persian’s point of view, we see Ferdowsi move the spotlight over to Alexander and his tale.
Darius III (known as Dara in the epic), the last Achaemenid ruler, is introduced through stories about his father, Darab, and we quickly learn Ferdowsi’s retelling has created a dynamic between Darab and Alexander’s mother (called Nahid).
In the Shahnameh, Nahid and Darab are wed after Darab defeats Philip II, and they have a child who will later become Alexander. So very early on, history has been bent: In this version, Philip II has a daughter instead of a son, and she becomes Alexander’s mother through her marriage to a Persian king.
After a failed marriage led the newborn Alexander and his mother back to Philip II, the story begins to take a familiar shape…
