Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Faculty of Literature and Human sciences University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 Faculty of Literature and Human sciencesو University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Epic literature has always provided a platform for representing moral and cultural thought. The story of Rostam and Sohrab in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and its re-creation in Matthew Arnold’s narrative poem Sohrab and Rustum serve as remarkable examples of the connection between epic and ethics. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of moral virtues and vices in these two works, demonstrating how both poets—despite their temporal and cultural distance—shape their narratives according to different moral frameworks. It further seeks to answer how a shared narrative can, within two distinct cultural contexts, convey divergent ethical messages.
The research method adopted in this dissertation is descriptive–analytical, based on both quantitative and qualitative study of the texts. Accordingly, moral virtues and vices were first identified through the intellectual sources of each poet, then tabulated, and their frequency and application in the two poems were examined.
Findings reveal that Ferdowsi, by emphasizing courage, family loyalty, dignity, and benevolence, creates a moral and idealistic world in which good ultimately triumphs over evil. In contrast, Arnold places greater focus on family affection, friendship, and love, while also giving equal weight to vices such as pride, ill temper, and misconduct. The study further shows that the ethical approach of Ferdowsi and Arnold significantly influences the rhetorical and narrative structure of their works. Both writers endeavor to organize their retelling of the story in line with their own moral systems, making their conception of ethics central to the shaping of genre and narrative style.
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