View source for Fereydun

{{Short description|Iranian mythical king and hero from the Pishdadian dynasty}}
{{other people|Freydun|Freydun (given name)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = [[Pishdadian dynasty|Pishdadian]]{{-}}[[Shah]]
| name               = <!-- use common name/article title -->Fereydun
| honorific_suffix   = A hero of Iranian myths and legends
| image              = King Faridun, Qajar Persia, mid-19th Century (cropped).jpg
| alt                = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption            = [[Oil painting]] of Fereydun. Made in [[Qajar Iran]] during the mid-19th-century.
| native_name        = فریدون
| native_name_lang   =
| pronunciation      =
| birth_name         = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date         = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. -->
| birth_place        = [[Tammisha]]
| death_date         = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (enter DEATH date then BIRTH date (e.g., ...|1967|31|8|1908|28|2}} use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
| death_place        =
| death_cause        = <!--should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability-->
| resting_place      =
| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline}} -->
| burial_place       = <!-- may be used instead of resting_place and resting_place_coordinates (displays "Burial place" as label) -->
| other_names        = Afereydun{{-}}(آفریدون)
| known_for          = Victory over [[Azhi Dahaka]]
| spouse             = <!-- Use article title or common name -->[[Arnavaz]]{{-}}[[Shahrnaz]]
| partner            = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) -->
| children           = [[Salm (Shahnameh)|Salm]]{{-}}[[Tur (Shahnameh)|Tur]]{{-}}[[Iraj]]
| parents            = <!-- overrides mother and father parameters -->
| mother             = [[Faranak]]
| father             = [[Abtin]]
| relatives          =
}}
'''Fereydun''' ({{langx|ae|𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀𐬊𐬥𐬀|Θraētaona}}, {{langx|pal|𐭯𐭫𐭩𐭲𐭥𐭭}}, {{transl|pal|Frēdōn}}; [[New Persian]]: {{lang|fa|فریدون}}, ''Fereydūn/Farīdūn'') is an [[Persian mythology|Iranian mythical king]] and [[hero]] from the [[Pishdadian dynasty]]. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in [[Persian literature]].{{sfn|Tafazzoli|1999|pp=531–533}}
According to Abolala Soudavar, Fereydun is partially a reflection of [[Cyrus the Great]] ({{reign|550|530 BC}}), the first [[Achaemenid]] [[King of Kings]].{{sfn|Soudavar|2012|p=53}}
==Etymology==
All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, from [[Proto-Iranian language|Proto-Iranian]] ''*Θraitauna-'' (Avestan ''Θraētaona-'') and [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] ''*Traitaunas''.
Traitaunas is a derivative (with [[augmentative]] suffix -una/-auna) of ''Tritas'', the name of a deity or hero reflected in the Vedic ''[[Trita]]'' and the Avestan ''Θrita''. Both names are identical to the adjective meaning "the third", a term used of a minor deity associated with two other deities to form a [[Triad (religion)|triad]]. In the Indian [[Vedas]], Trita is associated with [[thunder gods]] and [[wind gods]]. Trita is also called ''Āptya'', a name that is probably cognate with ''[[Abtin|Āθβiya]]'', the name of Thraetaona's father in the ''[[Avesta|Avestā]]'', Zoroastrian texts collated in the third century. Traitaunas may therefore be interpreted as "the great son of Tritas". The name was borrowed from [[Parthian language|Parthian]] into [[Classical Armenian]] as ''[[wikt:Հրուդէն|Hrudēn]]''.
==In Zoroastrian literature==
In the ''Avestā'', Thraetaona is the son of [[Abtin|Aθβiya]], and so is called ''Āθβiyāni'', meaning "from the family of ''Aθβiya''". He was recorded as the killer of the dragon [[Zahhak]] (''Aži Dahāk'').
On the contrary, in Middle Persian texts, Dahāka/Dahāg was instead imprisoned on [[Mount Damavand]] in [[Amol]].
==In the ''Shahnameh''==
According to [[Ferdowsi]]'s ''[[Shahnameh]]'', Fereydun was the son of [[Abtin|Ābtin]], one of the descendants of [[Jamshid|Jamšid]]. Fereydun, together with [[Kāve]], revolted against the tyrannical king, [[Zahhak|Zahāk]], defeated and arrested him in the [[Hara Berezaiti|Alborz Mountains]]. Afterwards, Fereydun became the king, married [[Arnavāz]] and, according to the myth, ruled the country for about 500 years. At the end of his life, he allocated his kingdom to his three sons, [[Salm (Shahnameh)|Salm]], [[Tur (mythology)|Tur]], and [[Iraj (son of Freydun)|Iraj]].
Iraj was Fereydun's youngest and favored son, and inherited the best part of the kingdom, namely Iran. Salm inherited [[Anatolia]] ("[[Rûm]]", more generally meaning the [[Roman Empire]], the Greco-Roman world, or just "the West"), and Tur inherited [[Central Asia]] ("[[Turan|Turān]]", all the lands north and east of the [[Amu Darya]], as far as [[China]]), respectively. This aroused Iraj's brothers' envy, and encouraged them to murder him. After the murder of Iraj, Fereydun enthroned Iraj's grandson, [[Manuchehr|Manučehr]]. Manučehr's attempt to avenge his grandfather's murder initiated the [[Arya (Iran)|Iranian]]-[[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] wars.
==See also==
* [[Persian literature|Iranian literature]]
* [[Persian mythology]]
* [[Triton (mythology)]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
{{Sfn whitelist |CITEREFTafazzoli1999}}
* {{cite journal |last=Soudavar|first=Abolala |year=2012|title=Astyages, Cyrus and Zoroaster: Solving a historical dilemma|journal=Iran |volume=50 |pages=45–78|doi=10.1080/05786967.2012.11834712 |jstor=24595838 |s2cid=194229337 }} {{Registration required}}
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=9 | fascicle=5 | title = Ferēdūn | last = Tafazzoli | first = Ahmad | url = https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/feredu- | pages = 531–533 }}
==External links==
*[[Stuart Cary Welch]] [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/36222/rec/1 ''A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp''], 1972, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), {{ISBN|0-87099-028-4}}, catalog from an exhibition May 4-July 4, 1972 (open access), 201 pp, 49MB, contains material on 'Faridun' PDF pages 104, 112, 116, 120, 124
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111231/http://first.iranian.ws/iran/posts/first-iranian-legendary-heroes--heroines18.php First Iranian Legendary Heroes and Heroines]: A Research Note by Manouchehr Saadat Noury
{{s-start}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Zahhak|Zahāk]] |
title=Legendary Kings of the [[Shahnameh|Šāhnāme]] |
years='''1800–2300''' (after [[Keyumars]])|
after=[[Manuchehr|Manučehr]]|
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Shahnameh}}
[[Category:Longevity myths]]
[[Category:Mythological kings]]
[[Category:Pishdadian dynasty]]
[[Category:Cyrus the Great]]