Transformation as a Part of Epic: Sohrab Essay

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In most epic works, the authors demonstrated the transformation of several characters’ traits, leading them to unexpected discoveries or life outcomes. In this case, Sohrab illustrated the active transformation from the arrogant warrior to an emotionally-rich person, even though it was already late to change the character’s fate. Possibly, the author demonstrated this conflict since it concerns the most appropriate epic topics such as heroicness and mortality. On the other hand, the father and son conflict is a great example of the Persian culture application in individuals’ lives, especially when there is a conflict between family relations or traditional methods of living.

To analyze Sohrab more specifically, it is critical to understand the fundamental transformation of his values since they might be derived from his words and traced throughout his short life. Initially, the author (219) demonstrated him as a natural warrior with an excess of self-confidence by stating, “I’ll gather a boundless force of fighting Turks and drive Kavus from his throne; then I’ll eradicate all trace of Tus from Iran and give the royal mace and crown to Rostam, I’ll place him on Kavus’s throne.” Moreover, he reveals the father interconnection with Rostam, one of the most famous warriors in Persia, which significantly influenced his vision of the future of this kingdom by indicating that “If Rostam is my father and I am his son, then no one else in all the world should wear the crown; when the sun and moon shine out in splendor, what should lesser stars do, boasting of their glory?” (Ferdowsi 219).

However, when the father strongly rejects his idea of uniting family on the throne of Persia, his inner strength, which is his main epic hero’s defect, in this case, influences him to declare war on his father since the mates of honor were concerned.

The arrogant battle proposal made the legendary warrior Rostam rage so that he could not accept it. Indeed, by stating, “Don’t go back on your word; you’ve seen me on the battlefield; don’t think you’ll be safe from me once you’re behind the fortress walls again. They don’t reach higher than the clouds, and my mace will bring them down if need be,” the son irritates the father, and the beginning of the culmination comes (Ferdowsi 221). After that, when the battle between father and son occurs, Sohrab tragically dies. The transformation in his mind reveals his natural soul (238) so that he can freely claim his love to his father without being compromitted for his emotional character.

…Love for my father led me here to die.

My mother gave me signs to know him by,

And you could be a fish within the sea.

…But still, my father, when he knows I’m dead,

Will bring down condign vengeance on your head.

One from this noble band will take this sign

To Rostam’s hands, and tell him it was mine,

And say I sought him always, far and wide,

And that, at last, in seeking him, I died.

This passage helps to understand the real Sohrab’s motivation to enter the battle with his father; he just wanted recognition on Rostam’s part. Moreover, the motives for demonstrating arrogant manners and a significant amount of inner strength become clear since he wanted to be the same as his father and possibly outperform Rostam’s achievements.

Finally, when applying this situation and the outcome to Persian culture, the situation discloses from the other, more logical perspective. More specifically, every man who has a significant inner power should demonstrate it through his performance during the wars so that both son and father were brave warriors. However, the genuine hero does everything, and not for self-enrichment, but for his emperor or king. While striving for new victories to gain his father’s pride, Sohrab ignored this unwritten notion and proposed to do the same for Rostam. On the contrary, Rostam was blinded by his praying in shah’s power so that both father and son ignored the fact that they are blood-related. Consequently, they did their best to prove their opinion by fighting with each other, which resulted in an epic outcome and late transformation of analyzed hero.

From this perspective, the perception of Shahnameh in it reveals its other facet. Family relations, son’s and father’s unwritten behavioral notions, and the severe reality that father killed his son in shah’s honor: all of these factors disclosed the Persian culture as more profound and, thus, more epic-associated culture.

Work Cited

Ferdowsi, Abolqasem, et al. Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Penguin Classics). Illustrated, Penguin Classics, 2016.

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