Understanding "myth" is very important in understanding society, people's behaviors, and beliefs. We know that myth usually changes throughout history, but it disappears gradually. "The Story of Fereydoun" is considered as one of the most important stories of Iranian myths and researchers have traced its mythological roots to the Avestan period, Vedic texts, and the myths of birth and battle of the demon of land. The god of rain is mentioned in this story as well. On the other hand, there are myths and stories among people that contain mythical themes, symbols and signs in various forms, and the study and analysis of these myths in tracing the origins of the mythical elements of society plays an important role. One of these popular stories is "The Story of Shahzid", one of the Imamzadehs of Amol city of Mazandaran, which has many similarities with the story of Fereydoun in its narrative structure, semiotic elements, and mythical symbols. In this article, these two stories are examined and analyzed together, and their mythological elements are identified. It was concluded that the two stories, there are some similarities in some events and symbols of the myths such as: cow, tree, forest, snake, healing drink, witchcraft and geographical location. Both stories originate from a source which is the "myth of birth" and the war between the god of rain and the demon of land.
Introduction
Some studies have been done on the mythical story of Fereydoun and its comparison with mythology, but they are not comparative with regards to a story from the post-Islamic period and Islamic myths.
The main question of the research is whether a connection can be found between the story of the myth of Fereydoun and the story of Imamzadeh Shahzid. Could this connection be based on a myth?
In addition to Shahnameh's narration of Fereydoun's story, the summary narration of the people of Mazandaran is that: Fereydoun's mother hides him in the forest in a crack of an old tree when he is born. Every day, the cow goes near the tree and Fereydoun, the child, drinks milk from the cow. The owner of the cow notices and takes the child with him. "The cow loved Fereydoun and allowed Fereydoun to ride him."
Zayd ibn Musa ibn Ja'far is one of the Imamzadehs of Amol. Imamzadeh, fleeing from the enemies to the south of Amol, takes refuge in an old tree in a mountainous and forested area. The cow is commanded by God to go to the tree every day so that the gentleman can milk it. Galesh notices and strikes him with an ax and runs away. The prince curses Galesh and the ranch is stoned with all the cows. The Galesh family is also displaced. According to the story, the prince was a four-year-old child.
It is said that the servant of Astana Shahzid seeks water on the way during prayers to perform ablutions. At the same time, a pitcher and rosary descends on him from the sky. Saif performs ablution from the water of the pitcher and prays next to the rosary. The pitcher disappears, but the rosary is removed safely, and whenever the disease comes, the rosary is put in some water and the rosary water is drunk by the patient. According to the villagers, there are two green snakes with a cockatiel on the guard of Shahzid threshold, its spring, atmosphere, and water reservoir.
Mythical elements
Cow: Cow has been one of the ritual animals in ancient Iran. In the story of Fereydoun and Shahid, the main point is milking a cow, which goes back to the "mother goddess" of cows and raising humans. Since the prince emerges from the crack of the tree, it can be a symbol of the womb that is associated with the tree as the mother goddess. Cow is also closely related to rain and water in mythology. The myth of the god of clouds and rain can be deduced from it according to the myth of Indra and Trita Aptie.
In Dinkard, Fereydoun turns the Mazandaranis into stones. At the command of Ormazd, he firmly binds Zahak like a stone in a cave and achieves happiness and kingship, and the Imamzadeh of Shahzid stones the cattle ranch and cows.
The village of Shahzid is located on the border between the forest and the mountains without trees. In other words, the rainy clouds of the north remain behind the Alborz mountains in this region and collide with each other.
Forest and tree: "In mythology, the forest is a psychological realm having a feminine origin, the place of examination and knowing the unknown dangers and darkness, and the entry to the dark or symbolic haunted area" (Cooper, 2013, p. 110). The relation of forest with fertility, rain, and water could be another confirmation of the main roots of the myths in these two stories.
Snake: "Snakes guard the thresholds and temples, and all the gods depend on them. The two snakes represent the contradictions in the duality that eventually lead to unity" (ibid., p. 349). In the story of Fereydoun, a snake has grown on Zahak and makes him a demonic creature. "According to a version, Fereydoun was a three-headed snake that overcame another three-headed snake, namely Zahak" (Shamisa, 2015, p. 261).
Some scholars consider the word Fereydoun to mean having three spiritual, physical, and medical powers. These three attributes can be found to some extent in Imamzadeh Shahzid: having the spirit of a fighter and purity, being a master and fighting enemies, the symbolic tool of iron with changes in the Galesh's ax, the rosary's medical potentiality and the healing power of the water, and the magical ability in stoning cattle.
The title of Shah, which is used in the Iranian culture for Imams, their sons, and the Sufi followers is remarkable so far as the mythological semiotics is concerned, and it can be analyzed with regards to the story of Fereydoun.
References
Cooper, J. S. (2013). Culture of ritual symbols (translated into Farsi by Roghaye Behzadi). Scientific.
Kazazi, M. J. (2011). Dream, epic, myth (in Farsi). Markaz Publishing.
Shamisa, S. (2015). Expression (in Farsi). Mitra.
