Fereydun

All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, from Proto-Iranian *Θraitauna- (Avestan Θraētaona-) and Proto-Indo-Iranian *Traitaunas.

Traitaunas is a derivative (with augmentative suffix -una/-auna) of Tritas, the name of a deity or hero reflected in the Vedic Trita and the Avestan Θrita. Both names are identical to the adjective meaning "the third", a term used of a minor deity associated with two other deities to form a triad. In the Indian Vedas, Trita is associated with thunder gods and wind gods. Trita is also called Āptya, a name that is probably cognate with Āθβiya, the name of Thraetaona's father in the Avestā, Zoroastrian texts collated in the third century. Traitaunas may therefore be interpreted as "the great son of Tritas". The name was borrowed from Parthian into Classical Armenian as Hrudēn.

In the Avesta, Thraetaona is the son of Aθβiya, and so is called Āθβiyāni, meaning "from the family of Aθβiya". He was recorded as the killer of the dragon Zahhak (Aži Dahāk). In Middle Persian texts, Dahāka/Dahāg was instead imprisoned on Mount Damavand in Amol.^{[citation needed]} According to both the Avesta (Yt. 13.131) and the Pahlavi literature, Fereydun was also a physician.^[4]

According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Fereydun was the son of Ābtin, one of the descendants of Jamšid. Fereydun, together with Kāve, revolted against the tyrannical king, Zahāk, defeated and arrested him in the Alborz Mountains. Afterwards, Fereydun became the king, married Arnavāz and, according to the myth, ruled the country for about 500 years. At the end of his life, he allocated his kingdom to his three sons, Salm, Tur, and Iraj.

Iraj was Fereydun's youngest and favored son, and inherited the best part of the kingdom, namely Iran. Salm inherited Anatolia ("Rûm", more generally meaning the Roman Empire, the Greco-Roman world, or just "the West") (Al-Tabari also includes the Slavs and Bulgars as Salm's subjects.^[5]), and Tur inherited Central Asia ("Turān", all the lands north and east of the Amu Darya, as far as China), respectively. This aroused Iraj's brothers' envy, and encouraged them to murder him. After the murder of Iraj, Fereydun enthroned Iraj's grandson, Manučehr. Manučehr's attempt to avenge his grandfather's murder initiated the Iranian–Turanian wars.

According to Tabari, Fereydun was a giant; he was "nine spear-lengths tall, each spear-length being three fathoms, his waist was three spear-lengths wide, and his chest was four spear-lengths wide.", Tabari also reported that Fereydun pursued the followers of Nimrod and the Nabateans, who were dwelling in the Sawad, and that Fereydun was the first to tame and ride elephants, produce mules, use geese and pigeons, furthermore, he also reports that Fereydun was the first to heal with theriac. ^[6] Al-Mas'udi stated that Fereydun's capital was Babylon, which may be a scholastic speculation due to earlier beliefs about his magical powers. ^[7]

Historian Dariush Zolfaghari has argued that the Shahnameh presents warfare not merely as a struggle over territory, but also as a struggle over the survival of Iranian cultural identity and heritage. He emphasizes Fereydun as being a key character who is depicted as a military champion and as a protector of Iranian cultural continuity. His character is partially responsible for symbolically safeguarding Persian identity, customs, and political legitimacy. The epic is seen as both a literary work and a cultural model for preserving national heritage during and after a war, with Fereydun playing a key part in this analysis.^[8]

• Iranian literature
• Persian mythology
• Triton (mythology)