Iranian Identity as Narrated in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh1

Shahnameh can be considered to be the main document introducing the Iranian identity and legacy. Relying on a number of oral and written narratives, Ferdowsi provides a definition of Iran and Iranians’ identity and their historical background in opposition to those who tried to invade this country. He gradually accomplishes this task following a developmental and logical process based on mythological narrations and reveals their truth in different stages. In this paper, the writer has initially tried to identify the specific features of the Iranian identity from Ferdowsi’s point of view and then provide a reconstructed image of this identity with reference to the acts and behaviors of some of the characters in Shahnameh and a study of the process of the development of some of the narrated stories.