The allegorical role of animals in Shahnameh stories

Animals with their symbolic and allegorical roles make stories wealth and attractive. Furthermore, poets and writers by using animal's allegorical trend and roles achieve moral and learning goals. Ferdowsi the wise man could use the personification of animals, in addition to attaching passionate to Shahnameh stories, shows the solidarity between early human and animals with allegorical art in line with his ethical teaching epic and mythical pretending. In this paper animals playing role in Shahnameh are divided into three groups: Divinity, devilish and divinity-devilish. Their allegorical roles have been exemplified.