Miti semitici nella storia dell’eroe iranico Sām nel Sām-nāme

The Persian poem Sām-nāme (“The Book of Sām”) narrates the exploits of the Iranian brave Sām and his interminable struggles against demons, magicians and monsters, which prevent or delay his reunion with his beloved. The poem, although set in a fictional framework, is nonetheless predominantly heroic and folkloric-fantastic in character, and above all reveals a religious vision of an ancient-Iranic type in its watermark. In the Sām-nāme, numerous themes and motifs are to be found that can be traced back to a very ancient Iranian mythical-legendary heritage; however, anachronistically, several elements derived from Semitic-Coranic mythology also appear, figures of tyrannical angels and giants, which this article aims to present and briefly analyse.