جانوران و اسطوره ي آغاز در ايران باستان

Animals and the Myth of Origin in Ancient Iran

Myths belong to the family of narrations which depict existence as perceived by ancient people. They are believed to contain some early truths possessing eternal validity. Myths have different types. An important type is the myth of origin which narrates the origin of affairs as believed by the ancient man. The article studies animals and the myth of origin from the viewpoint of ancient Iranians. It should be noted that the majority of ancient and middle Persian texts have been lost. But the contents of some are preserved via translation, summary, adaptation and other methods in Islamic era texts. Although some Islamic texts are unreliably a mess, yet a few such as Sunni Moluk-al-Arzv al Anbiya by Hamzeh Esfahani and Zeyn-al-Akhbar by Gardizi are surprisingly accurate, reminding the researcher of Avesta, Vedas and ancient Greek works.