The progressive arch of the Shahnameh’s tragedies

In the four tragedies of Shahnameh (Rostam vs. Sohrab, Froud vs. Tous, Siavosh vs. Kay Kavous, and Esfandiar vs. Rostam), human agency gradually takes center stage. The story of Rostam and Sohrab is overdetermined by fate and its instruments: naïveté, inattention, freak accidents, and unintended consequences. In the following two tragedies of Forud and Siavosh, common passions and human frailties of selfishness, greed, and pride stream into the narrative. Yet, it is only in the poem’s last and grandest tragedy that fate, accidents, and supernatural events play no role. Prince Esfandiar’s obsession with becoming king is the prime mover of the tragedy. Thus, ascribed qualities (being of the seed of kings and divine charisma) wane in favor of those achieved by daring courage and practical reason. The epic period lasts a millennium and it ends as a consequence of the battle of Rostam and Esfandiar. In the historical period, we witness the hyper-real tragedy of Bahram-e Chubine vs. King Khosrow Parviz.