Mitokhteh-میتوخته

This is not the usual routin of the podcast and it involves certain word choice of less constraints so be warned.

Here's how the first account of family slaughter begins.Poison Tree by William Blake

Question: How do you name your sons?Answer: Turn yourself into a dragon!

Why are there different books of Shahnameh?Why magic is frowned upon?andHow does an inferior king behave? are a few of the questions I hope you find answers of.

Some of the Qs you might find As 😉 to in this episode are:Who is this Yemini King?How does he solve his dilemma?Were all the marriages arranged back then?

The title is also the name of a Novel by Mr. Abbas Marufi but actually there's nothing else shared between.

The English translation of the poem is from here.

When people think about the two poles of power in this story, they're usually so drawn in they totally forget the importance of other characters, namely Kondro.A dragon in past narrations but only a man in this one, he totally deserves more attention.

All the while Fereidun is explaining his reasons for going after the cruel king, two factor are prominent and no, in case you thought the main was to relive the general public from misery, he just wanted to take revenge for his father's murder and also for the cow that was killed by Zahak's order. Wondering why? Listen to this short bit and give comments to go on.p.s. It's getting more and more difficult to log in and upload a piece. I just hope I don't lose access.

Hey you guys, so I’ve decided to make a few changes in here and incline more toward people who don’t speak Persian so it’s a major over haul but I hope you enjoy it all the same. I’ll go back in time and re-record the previous chapters but in the meantime, let’s go back to Fereidun.*Ok, here’s what we had so far. Fereidun had an army with Kaveh helping him and rushed to the river Arvand to charge against the Evil king. Alright, let’s get a few facts straight. This story is still in the mythological section of the book, meaning you can’t simply put a factual geography to it. So that brings us to the next heads-up. Ferdowsi claims, Zahak’s palace was in Bethlehem but the distance doesn’t add up. Although the game he plays with the king’s name, introducing him of Arab ancestry is highly intriguing, it doesn’t do to take things on the surface and believe he’s calling all leaders of the area corrupted. We can’t possibly ever be sure what he did believe, but we do know this portion of his book is mainly mythology so don’t go taking a symbolic narration into a factual history one.That being said, Fereidun recognizes this whole palace ahead cannot be simply work of mankind and he reckons there must be magic involved and he’s not wrong.There are some verses in a few versions of the book, describing how two heavenly figures teach him white magic even before he crosses the river but the majority of versions ignored it. Maybe because there’s almost no such thing as white magic in Islamic approach.Anyway, armed with this power and uttering the name of God –Oh come off it! Name of God, name of whatever power source, it’s magic either way- he shatters the protection of the palace and defeating the black magic practicing demons, he conquers and also frees Jamshid’s daughters.The conversation between him and the girls and also king's reaction is what we can go to next week.Be safe.

So, if you recall from previous week, Fereidun was denied the ferry to pass the river but bold as he was, he didn’t stay put and when his men saw his courage, they didn’t linger either. And soon the host was on land on the opposite side, ready for the battle.Young Fereidun found the palace majestic and unearthly so pondering whether it might actually contain dark magic, he decided not to linger in case they were met with witchcraft and using the element of surprise to his benefit, he rushed forward with his cow-headed hammer.He had been right however about the palace being under a spell but white magic in form of enchanting the name of God enabled him to break the protection and gain conquest against guards.He charged riding and enslaved all the demons conjuring dark magic. Having secured the throne and palace, he freed Jamshid’s daughtesr who were treated so poorly they seemed lost.When the girls finally revived, they appreciated Fereidun and praised him highly. The young warrior revealed to them who he was and why he’d come the long way to take his rightful revenge for his father’s murder and killing his nurturing cow, expressing he would not rest until his task was done.If you want to know the girls' reaction, come back here next week.

A rather long 😉 explanation to let you know what you might expect to find in here.

تو این بخش براتون توضیح میدم که اینجا چه خبره!

After recording this piece, it occurred to me that I should add another fact to remind you what we usually get in Persian epic or mostly all epic narrations for that matter are favoring the masculine version and approach while in the case of Fereidun's sons, if any dormant abilities are to be found in them, they have most probably inherited them from their divine -ish side, their mothers instead of their father, however skillful and knowledgeable he is.

Of names and brides.

When the story seems to be finally wrapping up.

Here's the link to the Wikipedia page explaining the book I mentioned. Sorry I couldn't find English translation for it.p.s. I hate summer. It makes me lazy and drowsy and days are darn long!

What's the deal of this guy anyway?

What Kondro has to say about Fereidun...

Let me know what you think about the new music choice.