As the knowledge of the ancient world, myth usually had an answer to all human
questions in its own way . The myth of each nation is a mirror of its social, religious,
geographical, moral and cultural system of that nation in the past and present , and in
many cases, its core can be based on a reality that is expressed in a mythical language to
make it remain in the human mind and his memory. In this course, a selection of topics
related to Iranian mythology is presented and for this purpose , an attempt is made to use
authentic and ancient pre - Islamic texts as well as Islamic period ones, especially epic
narrations, with an ana lytical perspe ctive. Among these topics we can refer to : Creation
myths: the mythical origin of the Iranian u niverse - The b attle of Good vs. E vil: Ahura Mazda,
Ahriman, and their m etaphor s - Utopian visions in pre - Islamic Iranian p erspectives - The s torm
& flood m yth and the purification process: an Iranian i nterpretation \ Spiritual journeys and
ascension in Zoroastrian t exts - Metamorphosis and transformation in Iranian m yths - Zāl and
the significance of albinism in Iranian m ythology \ Haft Khān: the seven stages of perfection in
Iranian heroic n arratives , etc.


Semester: WT 2023/24