Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Ancient Languages and Cultures, University of Tehran
Abstract
Having curly hair (Persian: gīsvari) is one of the obscure and rare concepts in the epics and heroic stories but various texts and particularly some of the non-Iranian sources pertaining to this issue could show us some evidenc regarding the ancient descriptions of warriors in Indo-european culture. Moreover, obstinacy (Persian: sar-keshi), as one of the indispensable characters of heros, doesn’t mean “insurrection”, but it designates some kind of “independence” of two other functions, especially the first one, namely the “King-Priest”. It is possible to find the literal meanings of “Gīsvari” (having long locks or dishevelled hair) in some texts. The termGīsvari has occurred in the Iranian stories (either old texts or New Persian epics). It could be compered with its equivalents in some other cultures. This comparison would show us that symbolic signification of this term refers to the obstinacy of warriors distinguishing them from mercenary soldiers. According to the old beliefs, obstinacy of heroses appears in different forms: first, the incompatibility between warrior deities and other ones in the divine territory; and second, the heroses and kings’ discord in the epic literature. After the genesis of the priestly ethics of Zoroastrianism, Garshasb’s role retrogrades to a particular status and his obstinacy emerges as against religious laws.
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