The Persian poem “Book of Sām” (Sām-nāme), of uncertain authorship and date of composition (11th-15th century?), tells of the exploits of Sām, who has to fight against numerous enemies, demons and monsters, etc., in order to achieve union with his beloved Paridokht. One of the many episodes that delay the achievement of the goal is the hero Sām’s visit to the City of Women (Shahr-e zanān), a well-known motif in Persian letters, probably derived from classical sources, found in particular in the Neopersian Alexandreids. However, the women described in this city of Sām-nāme, from the point of view of their character and their actions, show some diametrically opposite traits to the women of similar cities in the above-mentioned Alexandreids, especially with regard to two macroscopic aspects: their magical and mythical mode of conception; and their extremely lascivious and lustful character, which may remind us, on the one hand, of the nymph Calypso in the Odyssey and, on the other hand, vaguely of the figures of the demon Āzi and the Pairikā in Mazdean culture. This article compares the Sām-nāme with four other poems: Shāh-nāme by Ferdowsi (10th-11th century), Garshāsp-nāme by Asadi (11th century), Eskandar-nāme and Khosrow vo Shirin by Neẓāmi (12th-13th century). However, in order to find similarities with characteristic parts of Sām-nāme, some texts related to the mirabilia literature (ʿAjāʾeb-nāme) are also examined. The comparative approach of the present study aims on the one hand to emphasise the moral exemplary value of the motif of the City of Women in the Sām-nāme, and on the other hand to highlight the transversality of the motif of the Tree of Fertility, also from a symbolic-mythological perspective, which is closely related to the theme under study.
Il poema persiano “Libro di Sām” (Sām-nāme), di incerta paternità e epoca di composizione (XI-XV sec.?), ci narra le gesta di Sām che, per ottenere l’unione con la sua amata, Paridokht, deve lottare contro numerosi nemici, demoni e mostri ecc. Uno dei numerosi episodi che ritardano il raggiungimento alla meta è la visita dell’eroe Sām alla Città delle Donne (Shahr-e zanān), un motivo ben noto nelle lettere persiane, di probabile derivazione da fonti classiche, riscontrabile in particolare nelle alessandreidi vergate in neopersiano. Ma le donne descritte in questa città del Sām-nāme, da un punto di vista caratteriale e per le loro azioni, mostrano alcuni tratti diametralmente opposti rispetto alle donne delle analoghe città delle alessandreidi suddette, in particolare in merito a due aspetti macroscopici: la modalità di concepimento, magico in un caso e mitico nell’altro; e il loro carattere estremamente lascivo e incline alla concupiscenza che ci può ricordare, da un lato, il motivo della ninfa Calipso nell’Odissea, dall’altro ci rievoca vagamente la figura del demone Āzi e della Pairikā nella cultura mazdea. Nel presente articolo il Sām-nāme è comparato con quattro altri poemi: Shāh-nāme di Ferdowsi (X-XI sec.), Garshāsp-nāme di Asadi (XI sec.), Eskandar-nāme e Khosrow e Shirin di Neẓāmi (XII-XIII sec.). Ma, soprattutto al fine di trovare analogie con parti caratteristiche del Sām-nāme, sono presi in esame anche diversi testi relativi alla letteratura sulle mirabilia (ʿAjāʾeb-nāme). L’approccio comparativo del presente studio da una parte vorrebbe evidenziare il valore morale-esemplare del motivo della Città delle Donne nel Sām-nāme, dall’altra sottolineare la trasversalità del motivo dell’Albero della Fecondità, anche in ottica simbolico-mitologica, strettamente connesso al tema esaminato.
Nahid Norozi (2023). Riverberi di motivi magico-mitici nella “Citta delle Donne” del poema “Il Libro di Sām” (Sām-nāme). QUADERNI DI MEYKHANE, 13, 1-21.
Riverberi di motivi magico-mitici nella “Citta delle Donne” del poema “Il Libro di Sām” (Sām-nāme)
Nahid Norozi
2023
Abstract
The Persian poem “Book of Sām” (Sām-nāme), of uncertain authorship and date of composition (11th-15th century?), tells of the exploits of Sām, who has to fight against numerous enemies, demons and monsters, etc., in order to achieve union with his beloved Paridokht. One of the many episodes that delay the achievement of the goal is the hero Sām’s visit to the City of Women (Shahr-e zanān), a well-known motif in Persian letters, probably derived from classical sources, found in particular in the Neopersian Alexandreids. However, the women described in this city of Sām-nāme, from the point of view of their character and their actions, show some diametrically opposite traits to the women of similar cities in the above-mentioned Alexandreids, especially with regard to two macroscopic aspects: their magical and mythical mode of conception; and their extremely lascivious and lustful character, which may remind us, on the one hand, of the nymph Calypso in the Odyssey and, on the other hand, vaguely of the figures of the demon Āzi and the Pairikā in Mazdean culture. This article compares the Sām-nāme with four other poems: Shāh-nāme by Ferdowsi (10th-11th century), Garshāsp-nāme by Asadi (11th century), Eskandar-nāme and Khosrow vo Shirin by Neẓāmi (12th-13th century). However, in order to find similarities with characteristic parts of Sām-nāme, some texts related to the mirabilia literature (ʿAjāʾeb-nāme) are also examined. The comparative approach of the present study aims on the one hand to emphasise the moral exemplary value of the motif of the City of Women in the Sām-nāme, and on the other hand to highlight the transversality of the motif of the Tree of Fertility, also from a symbolic-mythological perspective, which is closely related to the theme under study.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
