Garshāsb-Nāmeh: Analysis of Epic Elements

Garshāsb-Nāmeh, composed by Hakim Asadi Tusi, is anepic poem about Garshāsb’s arrogance and warfare. Garshasb is one of the most famous Iranian heroes; some of important parts of the Iranian mythical and epic literature describe his and his children (Narimān, Sām, Zāl, Rustam, Farāmarz, etc.) actions and behaviors. The features of an epic story are as follows: it must be a work of fiction, it must describe heroes, it must be a national book, and it has to speak about fantastic and extraordinary affairs; these features make a story an epic one. The strength and weakness of each of these features has a significant effect on the prominence and reputation of an epic work. The findings of the research show that although Garshāsb-Nāmeh is a powerful fictional book and describes powerfully the fantastic and extraordinary affairs, but as a national book it is a weak one and can’t describe the heroes and heroic events well. So, these weaknesses have caused that the epic has not been widely accepted among the Iranian people.