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93-854: Minhaj-al-Din Abu Amr Othman ibn Siraj-al-Din Muhammad Juzjani (born 1193), simply known as Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani , was a 13th-century Persian historian born in the region of Ghur . In 1227, Juzjani immigrated to Ucch and, thereafter, to Delhi . The principal historian of the Mamluk Sultanate of Delhi in northern India, Juzjani wrote of the Ghurid dynasty as well. He wrote the Tabaqat-i Nasiri (1260 CE) for Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah of Delhi. He died after 1266. Minhaj used to work as

186-588: A dissimilation from the -th- in pérthein , which the Greeks would have preferred from a putative *phérthein . Graves carries the meaning still further, to the Perse- in Persephone , goddess of death. Ventris & Chadwick speculate about a Mycenaean goddess pe-re-*82 ( Linear B : 𐀟𐀩𐁚 ), attested on tablet PY Tn 316, and tentatively reconstructed as *Preswa . A Greek folk etymology connected Perseus to

279-526: A Hellenized form of Old Persian Pārsa ( 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 ), which evolves into Fārs ( فارس ) in modern Persian. In the Bible , particularly in the books of Daniel , Esther , Ezra , and Nehemya , it is given as Pārās ( פָּרָס ). A Greek folk etymology connected the name to Perseus , a legendary character in Greek mythology . Herodotus recounts this story, devising a foreign son, Perses , from whom

372-564: A center of interest, particularly during the annual international Shiraz Arts Festival and the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire . The Pahlavi rulers modernized Iran, and ruled it until the 1979 Revolution . In modern Iran, the Persians make up the majority of the population. They are native speakers of the modern dialects of Persian , which serves as the country's official language. The Persian language belongs to

465-577: A dialect version of Gujarati , and no longer speak in Persian. They do however continue to use Avestan as their liturgical language. The Parsis have adapted many practices and tendencies of the Indian groups that surrounded them, such as Indian dress norms, and the observance of many Indian festivals and ceremonies. From Persis and throughout the Median, Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sasanian empires of ancient Iran to

558-410: A geometric system. The enclosure of this symmetrically arranged planting and irrigation by an infrastructure such as a palace created the impression of "paradise". The word paradise itself originates from Avestan pairidaēza ( Old Persian paridaida ; New Persian pardis , ferdows ), which literally translates to "walled-around". Characterized by its quadripartite ( čārbāq ) design,

651-554: A lesser extent within the Caucasus proper to the northwest. In historical contexts, especially in English , "Persian" may be defined more loosely (often as a national identity) to cover all subjects of the ancient Persian polities, regardless of their ethnic background. The term Persian , meaning "from Persia", derives from Latin Persia , itself deriving from Greek Persís ( Περσίς ),

744-655: A major role in the downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire . The Medes , another group of ancient Iranian people, unified the region under an empire centered in Media , which would become the region's leading cultural and political power of the time by 612 BC. Meanwhile, under the dynasty of the Achaemenids , the Persians formed a vassal state to the central Median power. In 552 BC, the Achaemenid Persians revolted against

837-435: A more available and detailed documentation than the earlier periods, and is especially more evident within the context of Zoroastrian musical rituals . Overall, Sasanian music was influential and was adopted in the subsequent eras. Iranian music, as a whole, utilizes a variety of musical instruments that are unique to the region, and has remarkably evolved since the ancient and medieval times. In traditional Sasanian music,

930-692: A period of artistic growth that left a legacy ranging from Cyrus the Great's solemn tomb at Pasargadae to the structures at Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam . The Bam Citadel , a massive structure at 1,940,000 square feet (180,000 m ) constructed on the Silk Road in Bam , is from around the 5th century BC. The quintessential feature of Achaemenid architecture was its eclectic nature, with elements from Median architecture, Assyrian architecture, and Asiatic Greek architecture all incorporated. The architectural heritage of

1023-577: A spiritual guru in the army of Siraj's father Muhammad Ghori Persians The Persians ( / ˈ p ɜːr ʒ ən z / PUR -zhənz or / ˈ p ɜːr ʃ ən z / PUR -shənz ) are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise the majority of the population of Iran . They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian . The ancient Persians were originally an ancient Iranian people who had migrated to

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1116-499: A variety of Persian by the name of Aimaqi , which also belongs to the Dari dialect continuum. Persian-speaking communities native to modern Arab countries are generally designated as Ajam , including the Ajam of Bahrain , the Ajam of Iraq , and the Ajam of Kuwait . The Parsis are a Zoroastrian community of Persian descent who migrated to South Asia , to escape religious persecution after

1209-465: Is also connected to Ares , Oenopion , Eurystheus , and others. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and fathered her child. Soon after, their child, a son, was born; Perseus-"Perseus Eurymedon, for his mother gave him this name as well". Fearful for his future, but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods and the Erinyes by killing the offspring of Zeus and his daughter, Acrisius cast

1302-690: Is attested as late as 465". Following the Arab conquest of the Sasanian Empire in the medieval times, the Arab caliphates established their rule over the region for the next several centuries, during which the long process of the Islamization of Iran took place. Confronting the cultural and linguistic dominance of the Persians, beginning by the Umayyad Caliphate , the Arab conquerors began to establish Arabic as

1395-663: Is essentially a reciprocal cultural exchange. Its legacy and impact on the kingdom of Macedon was also notably huge, even for centuries after the withdrawal of the Persians from Europe following the Greco-Persian Wars . During the Achaemenid era, Persian colonists settled in Asia Minor . In Lydia (the most important Achaemenid satrapy), near Sardis , there was the Hyrcanian plain , which, according to Strabo , got its name from

1488-575: Is from the Behistun Inscription , a multilingual inscription from the time of Achaemenid ruler Darius the Great carved on a cliff in western Iran. There are several ethnic groups and communities that are either ethnically or linguistically related to the Persian people, living predominantly in Iran, and also within Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Caucasus, Turkey, Iraq, and the Arab states of

1581-525: Is known to have one of the world's oldest and most influential literatures. Old Persian written works are attested on several inscriptions from between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC, and Middle Persian literature is attested on inscriptions from the Parthian and Sasanian eras and in Zoroastrian and Manichaean scriptures from between the 3rd to the 10th century AD. New Persian literature flourished after

1674-660: Is not far from the stars Betelgeuse and Sirius; his wife's constellation Andromeda is also nearby. It is southward from Cassiopeia, and to the left of Taurus. His constellation contains the most famous variable star Algol and some deep sky objects such as Messier 34, the Double Cluster, the California Nebula, and the Little Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 76). There are eight named stars in the constellation Algol, Atik, Berehinya, Menkib, Miram, Mirfak, Misam, and Muspelheim. It

1767-421: Is regarded as the world's oldest existing carpet, depicts elements of Assyrian and Achaemenid designs, including stylistic references to the stone slab designs found in Persian royal buildings. According to the accounts reported by Xenophon, a great number of singers were present at the Achaemenid court. However, little information is available from the music of that era. The music scene of the Sasanian Empire has

1860-628: Is the immediate ancestor of Modern Persian and a variety of other Iranian dialects, became the official language of the empire and was greatly diffused among Iranians. The Parthians and the Sasanians would also extensively interact with the Romans culturally. The Roman–Persian wars and the Byzantine–Sasanian wars would shape the landscape of Western Asia , Europe , the Caucasus , North Africa, and

1953-573: Is unlikely, however, that Apollodorus knew who walled in Mycenae; he was only conjecturing. Perseus took up official residence in Mycenae with Andromeda where he had a long, successful reign as king. According to the Suda , Perseus, after he married Andromeda, founded a city and called it Amandra (Ἄμανδραν). In the city there was a stele depicting the Gorgon. The city later changed the name to Ikonion because it had

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2046-682: Is why Heinrich Schliemann named the largest tholos tomb the Treasury of Atreus . Apart from these more historical references, the only accounts of him are from folk-etymology: Perseus dropped his cap or found a mushroom (both named myces ) at Mycenae, or perhaps the place was named after the lady Mycene, daughter of Inachus , mentioned in a now-fragmentary poem, the Megalai Ehoiai . For whatever reasons, perhaps as outposts, Perseus fortified Mycenae according to Apollodorus along with Midea , an action that implies that they both previously existed. It

2139-489: The Bibliotheca . Pausanias asserts that the Greeks believed Perseus founded Mycenae. He mentions the shrine to Perseus that stood on the left-hand side of the road from Mycenae to Argos, and also a sacred fountain at Mycenae called Persea . Located outside the walls, this was perhaps the spring that filled the citadel's underground cistern. He states also that Atreus stored his treasures in an underground chamber there, which

2232-624: The Arab conquest of Iran with its earliest records from the 9th century, and was developed as a court tradition in many eastern courts. The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi , the works of Rumi , the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam , the Panj Ganj of Nizami Ganjavi , the Divān of Hafez , The Conference of the Birds by Attar of Nishapur , and the miscellanea of Gulistan and Bustan by Saadi Shirazi are among

2325-526: The Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so. King Acrisius of Argos had only one child, a daughter named Danaë . Disappointed by not having a male heir, Acrisius consulted the Oracle at Delphi , who warned him that he would one day be killed by his own grandson. To keep Danaë childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a room atop a bronze tower in the courtyard of his palace: This mytheme

2418-562: The Atlas mountains . On the way back to Seriphos, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Aethiopia . This mythical Ethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia . Cassiopeia, having boasted that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids , drew the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on the land and a sea serpent, Cetus , which destroyed man and beast. The oracle of Ammon announced that no relief would be found until

2511-402: The Caucasus (primarily in the present-day Republic of Azerbaijan and Dagestan , Russia ), albeit heavily assimilated, are known as Tats . Historically, however, the terms Tajik and Tat were used synonymously and interchangeably with Persian . Many influential Persian figures hailed from outside of Iran's present-day borders—to the northeast in Afghanistan and Central Asia , and to

2604-698: The Graeae , the Gorgons' sisters, for the snake-haired women's whereabouts (in other versions, it was the Hesperides nymphs who gave Perseus the weapons after he sought out the Graeae). Following Athena's guidance, Perseus found the Graeae, who were three old swan -shaped witches sharing a single eye and a single tooth. As the witches passed their eye from one to another, Perseus snatched it from them, holding it for ransom in return for

2697-733: The Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos , and for a brief time the Roman province of Asia . After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars , Pontus was defeated; part of it was incorporated into the Roman Republic as the province of Bithynia and Pontus , and the eastern half survived as a client kingdom. Following the Macedonian conquests , the Persian colonists in Cappadocia and

2790-558: The Iranian calendar , which corresponds to around March 21 in the Gregorian calendar. An ancient tradition that has been preserved in Iran and several other countries that were under the influence of the ancient empires of Iran, Nowruz has been registered on UNESCO 's Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists . In Iran, the Nowruz celebrations (incl. Charshanbe Suri and Sizdebedar ) begin on the eve of

2883-561: The Old Assyrian form Parahše , designating a region belonging to the Sumerians . The name of this region was adopted by a nomadic ancient Iranian people who migrated to the region in the west and southwest of Lake Urmia , eventually becoming known as "the Persians". The ninth-century BC Neo-Assyrian inscription of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III , found at Nimrud , gives it in

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2976-548: The Pahlavi dynasty issued a decree asking the international community to use the term Iran , the native name of the country, in formal correspondence. However, the term Persian is still historically used to designate the predominant population of the Iranian peoples living in the Iranian cultural continent . Persia is first attested in Assyrian sources from the third millennium BC in

3069-472: The Sasanian Empire , a national culture that was fully aware of being Iranian took shape, partially motivated by restoration and revival of the wisdom of "the old sages" ( dānāgān pēšēnīgān ). Other aspects of this national culture included the glorification of a great heroic past and an archaizing spirit. Throughout the period, Iranian identity reached its height in every aspect. Middle Persian , which

3162-465: The Western world , the names Persia and Persian came to refer to all of Iran and its subjects. Some medieval and early modern Islamic sources also used cognates of the term Persian to refer to various Iranian peoples and languages, including the speakers of Khwarazmian , Mazanderani , and Old Azeri . 10th-century Iraqi historian Al-Masudi refers to Pahlavi , Dari , and Azari as dialects of

3255-441: The aorist stem, pers- . Pers-eus therefore is a "sacker [of cities]"; that is, a soldier by occupation, a fitting name for the first Mycenaean warrior. The further origin of perth- is more obscure. Hofmann lists the possible root as *bher- , from which Latin ferio , "strike". This corresponds to Pokorny's *bher- (3), "scrape, cut". Ordinarily *bh- descends to Greek as ph- . This difficulty can be overcome by presuming

3348-410: The octave was divided into seventeen tones. By the end of the 13th century, Iranian music also maintained a twelve-interval octave, which resembled the western counterparts. The Iranian New Year 's Day, Nowruz , which translates to "new day", is celebrated by Persians and other peoples of Iran to mark the beginning of spring on the vernal equinox on the first day of Farvardin , the first month of

3441-471: The quoit and was making a public display of them when Acrisius, who happened to be visiting, stepped into the trajectory of the quoit and was killed: thus the oracle was fulfilled. This is an unusual variant on the story of such a prophecy, as Acrisius's actions did not, in this variant, cause his death. In the Bibliotheca , the inevitable occurred by another route: Perseus did return to Argos, but when Acrisius learned of his grandson's approach, mindful of

3534-753: The western group of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family . Modern Persian is classified as a continuation of Middle Persian , the official religious and literary language of the Sasanian Empire , itself a continuation of Old Persian , which was used by the time of the Achaemenid Empire . Old Persian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages attested in original text. Samples of Old Persian have been discovered in present-day Iran, Armenia , Egypt , Iraq , Romania ( Gherla ), and Turkey . The oldest attested text written in Old Persian

3627-457: The Athenian orator Isocrates helps to date Perseus approximately. He said that Heracles was four generations later than Perseus, which corresponds to the legendary succession: Perseus, Electryon , Alcmena , and Heracles , who was a contemporary of Eurystheus . Atreus was one generation later, a total of five generations. The replacement of Bellerophon as the tamer and rider of Pegasus by

3720-561: The Caucasus (primarily living in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian republic of Dagestan ), speak a language ( Tat language ) that is closely related to Persian. The origin of the Tat people is traced to an Iranian-speaking population that was resettled in the Caucasus by the time of the Sasanian Empire. The Lurs , an ethnic Iranian people native to western Iran, are often associated with

3813-552: The Gorgon and, when a fireball fell from the sky, he took the fire and gave it to the people to guard and revere it. Later, during a war, he tried to use Medusa's head again, but because he was old and could not see well, the head did not work. Because he thought that it was useless, he turned it toward himself and he died. Later his son Merros (Μέρρος) burned the head. Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perses , Alcaeus , Heleus , Mestor , Sthenelus , Electryon , and Cynurus , and two daughters, Gorgophone and Autochthe . Perses

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3906-463: The Gorgons' location. The Graeae informed Perseus that the Gorgons lived on the Island of Sarpedon. Perseus then gave the Graeae their eye back and proceeded to the island. On the Island of Sarpedon, Perseus came across a cave where Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa lay sleeping. Using Athena's reflective shield, Perseus overcame the looking taboo , walked into the cave backwards, safely observing and approaching

3999-514: The Late Assyrian forms Parsua and Parsumaš as a region and a people located in the Zagros Mountains , the latter likely having migrated southward and transferred the name of the region with them to what would become Persis (Persia proper, i.e., modern-day Fars ), and that is considered to be the earliest attestation to the ancient Persian people. The ancient Persians played

4092-561: The Median monarchy, leading to the victory of Cyrus the Great over the throne in 550 BC. The Persians spread their influence to the rest of what is considered to be the Iranian Plateau , and assimilated with the non-Iranian indigenous groups of the region, including the Elamites and the Mannaeans . At its greatest extent, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from parts of Eastern Europe in

4185-433: The Mediterranean Basin for centuries. For a period of over 400 years, the Sasanians and the neighboring Byzantines were recognized as the two leading powers in the world. Cappadocia in Late Antiquity , now well into the Roman era, still retained a significant Iranian character; Stephen Mitchell notes in the Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity : "Many inhabitants of Cappadocia were of Persian descent and Iranian fire worship

4278-408: The Parthian era, Iranian identity had an ethnic, linguistic, and religious value. However, it did not yet have a political import. The Parthian language , which was used as an official language of the Parthian Empire, left influences on Persian, as well as on the neighboring Armenian language . The Parthian monarchy was succeeded by the Persian dynasty of the Sasanians in 224 AD. By the time of

4371-403: The Persian Gulf . The Tajiks are a people native to Tajikistan , Afghanistan , and Uzbekistan who speak Persian in a variety of dialects. The Tajiks of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are native speakers of Tajik , which is the official language of Tajikistan, and those in Afghanistan speak Dari , one of the two official languages of Afghanistan. The Tat people , an Iranian people native to

4464-402: The Persian fire ceremony at the towns of Hyrocaesareia and Hypaepa . Mithridates III of Cius , a Persian nobleman and part of the Persian ruling elite of the town of Cius , founded the Kingdom of Pontus in his later life, in northern Asia Minor. At the peak of its power, under the infamous Mithridates VI the Great , the Kingdom of Pontus also controlled Colchis , Cappadocia , Bithynia ,

4557-432: The Persian garden was evolved and developed into various forms throughout history, and was also adopted in various other cultures in Eurasia. It was inscribed on UNESCO 's World Heritage List in June 2011. Carpet weaving is an essential part of the Persian culture, and Persian rugs are said to be one of the most detailed hand-made works of art. Achaemenid rug and carpet artistry is well recognized. Xenophon describes

4650-413: The Persian language. In 1333, medieval Moroccan traveler and scholar Ibn Battuta referred to the Afghans of Kabul as a specific sub-tribe of the Persians. Lady Mary (Leonora Woulfe) Sheil, in her observation of Iran during the Qajar era, states that the Kurds and the Leks would consider themselves as belonging to the race of the "old Persians". On 21 March 1935, the then-king of Iran Reza Shah of

4743-432: The Persian people have contributed greatly to art and science . Persian literature is one of the world's most prominent literary traditions. In contemporary terminology, people from Afghanistan , Tajikistan , and Uzbekistan who natively speak the Persian language are known as Tajiks , with the former two countries having their own dialects of Persian known as Dari and Tajiki , respectively; whereas those in

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4836-421: The Persian settlers that were moved from Hyrcania . Similarly near Sardis, there was the plain of Cyrus, which further signified the presence of numerous Persian settlements in the area. In all these centuries, Lydia and Pontus were reportedly the chief centers for the worship of the Persian gods in Asia Minor. According to Pausanias , as late as the second century AD, one could witness rituals which resembled

4929-459: The Persians is eclectic and has included contributions from both the east and the west. Due to the central location of Iran, Persian art has served as a fusion point between eastern and western traditions. Persians have contributed to various forms of art, including calligraphy , carpet weaving , glasswork , lacquerware , marquetry ( khatam ), metalwork , miniature illustration , mosaic , pottery , and textile design . The Persian language

5022-407: The Persians and the Kurds . They speak various dialects of the Luri language , which is considered to be a descendant of Middle Persian . The Hazaras , making up the third largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, speak a variety of Persian by the name of Hazaragi , which is more precisely a part of the Dari dialect continuum. The Aimaqs , a semi-nomadic people native to Afghanistan, speak

5115-447: The Persians took the name. Apparently, the Persians themselves knew the story, as Xerxes I tried to use it to suborn the Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so. Although Persis (Persia proper) was only one of the provinces of ancient Iran, varieties of this term (e.g., Persia ) were adopted through Greek sources and used as an exonym for all of the Persian Empire for many years. Thus, especially in

5208-440: The Sasanian Empire includes, among others, castle fortifications such as the Fortifications of Derbent (located in North Caucasus , now part of Russia ), the Rudkhan Castle and the Shapur-Khwast Castle , palaces such as the Palace of Ardashir and the Sarvestan Palace , bridges such as the Shahrestan Bridge and the Shapuri Bridge , the Archway of Ctesiphon , and the reliefs at Taq-e Bostan . Architectural elements from

5301-404: The carpet production in the city of Sardis, stating that the locals take pride in their carpet production. A special mention of Persian carpets is also made by Athenaeus of Naucratis in his Deipnosophistae , as he describes a "delightfully embroidered" Persian carpet with "preposterous shapes of griffins ". The Pazyryk carpet, a Scythian pile-carpet dating back to the 4th century BC that

5394-413: The depiction (ἀπεικόνισμα) of the Gorgon. Then he fought the Isaurians and the Cilicians and founded the city of Tarsus because an oracle told him to found a city in the place where after the victory, the flat (ταρσός) of his foot will touch the earth while he is dismounting from his horse. Then he conquered the Medes and changed the name of the country to Persia. At Persia, he taught the magi about

5487-431: The episode of Perseus and Andromeda the subject of tragedies, and its incidents were represented in many ancient works of art. As Perseus was flying in his return above the sands of Libya , according to Apollonius of Rhodes , the falling drops of Medusa's blood created a race of toxic serpents, one of whom was to kill the Argonaut Mopsus . Upon returning to Seriphos and discovering that his mother had to take refuge from

5580-436: The expansion of the Persianate societies , particularly those of Turco-Persian and Indo-Persian blends. After over eight centuries of foreign rule within the region, the Iranian hegemony was reestablished by the emergence of the Safavid Empire in the 16th century. Under the Safavid Empire, focus on Persian language and identity was further revived, and the political evolution of the empire once again maintained Persian as

5673-453: The fall of the Sassanian Empire . They have had a significant role in the development of India , Pakistan and Sri Lanka , and also played a role in the development of Iranian nationalism during the late Qajar years and Pahlavi dynasty. They are primarily located in the western regions of India principally the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra , with smaller communities in other parts of India and in South and Southeast Asia. They speak

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5766-458: The fall of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, records only traces of Persians in western Asia Minor; however, he considered Cappadocia "almost a living part of Persia". The Iranian dominance collapsed in 330 BC following the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire by Alexander the Great , but reemerged shortly after through the establishment of the Parthian Empire in 247 BC, which was founded by a group of ancient Iranian people rising from Parthia . Until

5859-432: The famous works of medieval Persian literature. A thriving contemporary Persian literature has also been formed by the works of writers such as Ahmad Shamlou , Forough Farrokhzad , Mehdi Akhavan-Sales , Parvin E'tesami , Sadegh Hedayat , and Simin Daneshvar , among others. Not all Persian literature is written in Persian, as works written by Persians in other languages—such as Arabic and Greek—might also be included. At

5952-494: The first time after two centuries of no attestation of the language, now having received the Arabic script and a large Arabic vocabulary. Persian language and culture continued to prevail after the invasions and conquests by the Mongols and the Turks (including the Ilkhanate , Ghaznavids , Seljuks , Khwarazmians , and Timurids ), who were themselves significantly Persianized , further developing in Asia Minor , Central Asia , and South Asia , where Persian culture flourished by

6045-503: The gift; he would not refuse it. Polydectes held Perseus to his rash promise and demanded the snake-haired Medusa 's head. Medusa and her two immortal older sisters, Stheno and Euryale , were Gorgons , monsters with snakes for hair, sharp fangs and claws , wings of gold , and gazes that turned people to stone . Before setting out on his quest, Perseus prayed to the gods and Zeus answered by sending two of his other children – Hermes and Athena – to bless their half-brother with

6138-428: The good and beautiful things that the soil produce." The Persian garden , the earliest examples of which were found throughout the Achaemenid Empire, has an integral position in Persian architecture. Gardens assumed an important place for the Achaemenid monarchs, and utilized the advanced Achaemenid knowledge of water technologies, including aqueducts , earliest recorded gravity-fed water rills, and basins arranged in

6231-449: The king sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster, and so she was fastened naked to a rock on the shore. Wearing the winged sandals given to him by Hermes, Perseus reached Andromeda and used the harpe to behead the monster (in other versions, Perseus used Medusa's head to petrify Cetus). By rescuing Andromeda, Perseus claimed her in marriage. Perseus married Andromeda in spite of Phineus , to whom she had been previously engaged. At

6324-401: The last Wednesday of the preceding year in the Iranian calendar and last on the 13th day of the new year. Islamic festivals are also widely celebrated by Muslim Persians. Perseus Because of the obscurity of the name "Perseus" and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists presume that it might be pre-Greek; however, the name of Perseus's native city was Greek and so were

6417-434: The main language of the country. During the times of the Safavids and subsequent modern Iranian dynasties such as the Qajars , architectural and iconographic elements from the time of the Sasanian Persian Empire were reincorporated, linking the modern country with its ancient past. Contemporary embracement of the legacy of Iran's ancient empires, with an emphasis on the Achaemenid Persian Empire, developed particularly under

6510-520: The more familiar culture hero Perseus was not simply an error of painters and poets of the Renaissance . The transition was a development of Classical times which became the standard image during the Middle Ages and has been adopted by the European poets of the Renaissance and later: Giovanni Boccaccio 's Genealogia deorum gentilium libri (10.27) identifies Pegasus as the steed of Perseus, and Pierre Corneille places Perseus upon Pegasus in Andromède . Various modern representations of Pegasus depict

6603-436: The name of the Persian people , whom they called the Pérsai (from Old Persian Pārsa "Persia, a Persian"). However, the native name of the Persians – Pārsa in Persian – has always been pronounced with an -a- . Herodotus recounts this story, devising a foreign son of Andromeda and Perseus, Perses , from whom the Persians took the name. Apparently the Persians also knew that story, as Xerxes tried to use it to suborn

6696-604: The names of his wife and relatives. There is some idea that it descended into Greek from the Proto-Indo-European language . In that regard Graves proposed the only Greek derivation available: Perseus might be from the Greek verb πέρθειν ( pérthein , "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy") some form of which is familiar in Homeric epithets. According to Buck , the -eus suffix is typically used to form an agent noun, in this case from

6789-501: The neighboring Greek city states and the kingdom of Macedon , and later throughout the medieval Islamic world , all the way to modern Iran and others parts of Eurasia , Persian culture has been extended, celebrated, and incorporated. This is due mainly to its geopolitical conditions, and its intricate relationship with the ever-changing political arena once as dominant as the Achaemenid Empire. The artistic heritage of

6882-461: The oracle he went into voluntary exile in Pelasgiotis ( Thessaly ). There Teutamides, king of Larissa , was holding funeral games for his father. Competing in the discus throw, Perseus's throw veered-and struck Acrisius, killing him instantly. In a third tradition, Acrisius had been driven into exile by his brother Proetus . Perseus petrified the brother with Medusa's head and restored Acrisius to

6975-421: The primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire, sometimes by force, further confirming the new political reality over the region. The Arabic term ʿAjam , denoting "people unable to speak properly", was adopted as a designation for non-Arabs (or non-Arabic speakers), especially the Persians. Although the term had developed a derogatory meaning and implied cultural and ethnic inferiority, it

7068-405: The region of Persis (corresponding to the modern-day Iranian province of Fars ) by the 9th century BCE. Together with their compatriot allies, they established and ruled some of the world's most powerful empires that are well-recognized for their massive cultural, political, and social influence, which covered much of the territory and population of the ancient world . Throughout history,

7161-484: The reign of the Pahlavi dynasty , providing the motive of a modern nationalistic pride. Iran's modern architecture was then inspired by that of the country's classical eras, particularly with the adoption of details from the ancient monuments in the Achaemenid capitals Persepolis and Pasargadae and the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon . Fars, corresponding to the ancient province of Persia, with its modern capital Shiraz , became

7254-591: The rest of Asia Minor were cut off from their co-religionists in Iran proper, but they continued to practice the Iranian faith of their forefathers. Strabo, who observed them in the Cappadocian Kingdom in the first century BC, records (XV.3.15) that these "fire kindlers" possessed many "holy places of the Persian Gods", as well as fire temples. Strabo, who wrote during the time of Augustus ( r.  27 BC – AD 14 ), almost three hundred years after

7347-426: The same time, not all literature written in Persian is written by ethnic Persians or Iranians, as Turkic, Caucasian, and Indic authors have also used Persian literature in the environment of Persianate cultures . The most notable examples of ancient Persian architecture are the works of the Achaemenids hailing from Persis . Achaemenid architecture , dating from the expansion of the empire around 550 BC, flourished in

7440-514: The sleeping Gorgons. With Athena guiding the sword, Perseus beheaded Medusa. From Medusa's neck sprang her two children with Poseidon : the winged horse Pegasus ("he who sprang") and the giant Chrysaor ("sword of gold"). To avenge their sister's death, Stheno and Euryale flew after Perseus, but he escaped them by wearing Hades's invisibility helm. From here he proceeded to visit King Atlas who had refused him hospitality; in revenge Perseus petrified him with Medusa's head and King Atlas became

7533-463: The swap that Perseus was ashamed to have become king of Argos by inflicting death. In any case, early Greek literature reiterates that manslaughter, even involuntary, requires the exile of the slaughterer, expiation and ritual purification. The exchange might well have proved a creative solution to a difficult problem. The two main sources regarding the legendary life of Perseus—for the Greeks considered him an authentic historical figure—are Pausanias and

7626-523: The throne. Then, accused by Acrisius of lying about having slain Medusa, Perseus proves himself by showing Acrisius the Gorgon's head, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Having killed Acrisius, Perseus, who was next in line for the throne, gave the kingdom to Megapenthes ("great mourning"), son of Proetus , and took over Megapenthes's kingdom of Tiryns . The story is related in Pausanias, who gives as motivation for

7719-549: The time of Iran's ancient Persian empires have been adopted and incorporated in later period. They were used especially during the modernization of Iran under the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty to contribute to the characterization of the modern country with its ancient history. Xenophon , in his Oeconomicus , states: "The Great King [Cyrus II]...in all the districts he resides in and visits, takes care that there are parádeisos ("paradise") as they [Persians] call them, full of

7812-422: The two into the sea in a wooden chest. Danaë's fearful prayer, made while afloat in the darkness, has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos . Mother and child washed ashore on the island of Seriphos , where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys ("fishing net"), who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes ("he who receives/welcomes many"), the king of the island. When Perseus

7905-566: The violent advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa's head, and made Dictys the new king of Seriphos. Perseus then returned his magical loans and gave Medusa's head as a votive gift to Athena, who set it on her aegis (which Zeus gave her) as the Gorgoneion . The fulfillment of the oracle was told several ways, each incorporating the mythic theme of exile. In Pausanias he did not return to Argos, but went instead to Larissa , where athletic games were being held. He had just invented

7998-495: The weapons needed to defeat Medusa. Hermes gave Perseus his own pair of winged sandals to fly with and lent him his harpe sword to slay Medusa with, and Hades 's helm of darkness to become invisible with. Athena lent Perseus her polished shield for him to view Medusa's reflection without becoming petrified, and gave him a kibisis , a knapsack to safely contain the Gorgon's head which the goddess warned could still petrify even in death. Lastly, Athena instructed Perseus to seek out

8091-601: The wedding, a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was petrified by the sight of Medusa's head. Andromeda ("queen of men") followed her husband to Tiryns in Argos , and became the ancestress of the family of the Perseidae who ruled at Tiryns through her son with Perseus, Perses . After her death she was placed by Athena among the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia. Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times Pierre Corneille ) made

8184-471: The west to the Indus Valley in the east, making it the largest empire the world had yet seen. The Achaemenids developed the infrastructure to support their growing influence, including the establishment of the cities of Pasargadae and Persepolis . The empire extended as far as the limits of the Greek city states in modern-day mainland Greece , where the Persians and Athenians influenced each other in what

8277-500: The winged horse with Perseus, including the fantasy film Clash of the Titans and its 2010 remake .   Male   Female   Deity Perseus has a constellation named after him . The legend says that because he was so brave fighting Cetus for someone else he was given a place in the stars forever. It is located in the east in the winter at about the Latitude 10-N. It

8370-473: Was cataloged in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy and is known for the famous Perseid Meteor Shower. There is in fact a whole family of constellations based on the myth of Perseus, which includes Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cetus. There is also a molecular cloud in the constellation that is 600 light years from our solar system. There is also a cluster of galaxies called the Perseus cluster. There

8463-530: Was gradually accepted as a synonym for "Persian" and still remains today as a designation for the Persian-speaking communities native to the modern Arab states of the Middle East. A series of Muslim Iranian kingdoms were later established on the fringes of the declining Abbasid Caliphate , including that of the ninth-century Samanids , under the reign of whom the Persian language was used officially for

8556-497: Was grown, Polydectes came to lust for the beautiful Danaë. Perseus believed Polydectes was less than honorable, and protected his mother from him; then Polydectes plotted to send Perseus away in disgrace. He held a large banquet where each guest was expected to bring a gift. Polydectes requested that the guests bring horses, under the pretense that he was collecting contributions for the hand of Hippodamia , daughter of Oinomaos. Perseus had no horse to give, so he asked Polydectes to name

8649-604: Was left in Aethiopia and was believed to have been an ancestor of the Persians . The other descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon to Eurystheus , after whom Atreus got the kingdom. However, the Perseids included the great hero, Heracles , stepson of Amphitryon , son of Alcaeus . The Heraclides, or descendants of Heracles, successfully contested the rule of the Atreids. A statement by

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