Another Look at the Incompatibility of Rostam's Dragon Killing and His Dragon-like Flag

Studying Rostam's actions-Rostam is the hero of the heroes in Shahnameh-one recognizes a paradox. In the third stage, the valiant kills a dragon with the help of Rakhsh while a picture depicted on his flag is a dragon and also in a battle with Isfandiyar, he boasts of his maternal ancestors, (Aži Dahāka). Since dragon is an ominous symbol of drought in Iranian myths, Rostam's boasting of his ancestors and his dragon-like flag is very surprising. In this paper, this enigma has been demystified. This study shows that Rostam's dragon-like flag and his dragon killing both have Aryan roots and the incompatibility of these two is not fundamental; since each of them is the symbol of special tradition:1. His Dragon-like flag is the legacy of his ancestors, Garshasb. Garshasb killed a dragon and in memory of his bravery, he portrayed a dragon on his flag. Consequently, other heroes of Rostam's family chose this flag. Thus, a dragon-like flag is considered as the symbol of the hero of the world, since, as Ferdowsi and Asadi Tusi say, only the world heroes deserve this flag. The dragon depicted on the flag of the world hero is not ominous but auspicious, because it is the symbol of the hero's triumph over the dragon. 2. Rostam's dragon killing is the symbol of fight with corruption, and drought.