Fereydun

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Freydun, painted by Haji Aqa Jan – early 19th century

Fereydun (Persian: فریدون - Fereydūn or Farīdūn‎‎; Middle Persian: Frēdōn; Avestan: Θraētaona), also pronounced and spelled Freydun, Faridon and Afridun, is the name of an Iranian mythical king and hero from the kingdom of Varena. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in the Persian literature.

Etymology

All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, from Proto-Iranian Θraitauna- (Avestan Θraētaona-) and Proto-Indo-Iranian Traitaunas.

Traitaunas is a derivative (with augmentative suffix -una/-auna) of Tritas, the name of a deity or hero reflected in the Vedic Trita and the Avestan Θrita. Both names are identical to the adjective meaning "the third", a term used of a minor deity associated with two other deities to form a triad. In the Indian Vedas, Trita is associated with gods of thunder and wind. Trita is also called Āptya, a name that is probably cognate with Āθβiya, the name of Thraetaona's father in the Avestā, Zoroastrian texts collated in the third century. Traitaunas may therefore be interpreted as "the great son of Tritas". The name was borrowed from Parthian into Classical Armenian as Hrudēn.

In Zoroastrian literature

In the Avestā, Thraetaona is the son of Aθβiya, and so is called Āθβiyāni, meaning "from the family of Aθβiya". Originally, he may have been recorded as the killer of the dragon Zahhak (Aži Dahāk), but in Middle Persian texts, Dahāka/Dahāg is instead imprisoned on Mount Damavand in Amol.

In the Shahnāme

According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Fereydun was the son of Ābtin, one of the descendants of Jamšid. Fereydun, together with Kāve, revolted against the tyrannical king, Zahāk, defeated and arrested him in the Alborz Mountains. Afterwards, Fereydun became the king, married Arnavāz and, according to the myth, ruled the country for about 500 years. At the end of his life, he allocated his kingdom to his three sons Salm, Tur, and Iraj.

Iraj was Fereydun's youngest and favored son, and inherited the best part of the kingdom, namely Iran. Salm inherited Anatolia ("Rûm", more generally meaning the Roman Empire, the Greco-Roman world, or just "the West"), and Tur inherited Central Asia ("Turān", all the lands north and east of the Amu Darya, as far as China), respectively. This aroused Iraj's brothers' envy, and encouraged them to murder him. After the murder of Iraj, Fereydun enthroned Iraj's grandson, Manučehr. Manučehr's attempt to avenge his grandfather's murder initiated the Iranian-Turanian wars.

See also

• Iranian literature
• Persian mythology
• Triton (mythology)

External links

• Stuart Cary Welch A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp, 1972, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), ISBN 0-87099-028-4, catalog from an exhibition May 4-July 4, 1972 (open access), 201 pp, 49MB, contains material on 'Faridun' PDF pages 104, 112, 116, 120, 124
• First Iranian Legendary Heroes and Heroines: A Research Note by Manouchehr Saadat Noury
• Encyclopedia Iranica article

Shahnameh of Ferdowsi
Characters	Pishdadian Keyumars Hushang Tahmuras Jamshid Fereydun Iraj Manuchehr Nowzar Zaav Garshasp Kayanian Kai Kobad Kay Kāvus Kai Khosrow Kai Lohrasp Goshtāsb Kay Bahman Homai Kai Darab Celebrities Siamak مرداس Zahhak Abtin کیانوش Kāve Arash Salm Tur Qobád قارن Tous Gostaham Nariman Sām Zāl Rostam Sohrab Esfandiyār Pashotan Faramarz فریبرز Siyâvash Farud زنگه شاوران Kashvad Goudarz Rohham Hojir Bahram Giv Bizhan جاماسپ Garshasp Gorgin Mehrab Kaboli زواره Shaghad Rostam Farrokhzād Women Faranak Arnavāz shahrnaz Sindukht Rudaba Sudabeh Tahmina Gordafarid Farangis Manizheh Katāyoun Turanian زادشم Pashang Aghrirat Garsivaz Afrasiab shideh Arjasp Viseh نستیهن Piran Viseh Houman Barman Biderafsh Clans and families Kashvadian House of Goudarz House of Viseh House of Nowzar House of Sasan House of Sām علم‌برداران ایران و توران
Creatures & animals	Akvan Div خروزان دیو Arzhang Div Div-e Sepid پولادغندی Huma bird Simurgh Rakhsh Shabdiz Shabrang
Places	Iran Turan Zabulistan Sistan Kabul Balkh Ctesiphon Estakhr Mazandaran Alborzkouh Mount Damavand تمیشه کاسه‌رود ...
Structures	Gonbadan Castle Dez-e Roein White Castle Bahman Castle دژ الانان کنگ‌دژ
Manuscripts	Baysonghor Shahnameh Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp Florence Shahnameh Shahnameh of Rashida Windsor Shahnameh Great Mongol Shahnameh (or Demotte) شاهنامه قوام‌الدین
See also	Abu-Mansur Daqiqi Abu-Mansuri Shahnameh Derafsh Kaviani Babr-e Bayan Zal and Rudabeh Rostam and Sohrab Rostam's Seven Labours Davazdah Rokh Khosrow and Shirin Persian mythology national motto in iran
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