Gorgin () is an Iranian hero in

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

, during the reigns of

Kay Kavus The name Kay is found both as a surname and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own right, and also as a ...

and

Kay Khosrow Kay Khosrow () is a legendary king of Iran of Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book ''Shahnameh''. He was the son of the Iranian prince Siavash who married princess Farangis of Turan while in exile. Before Kay Khosrow wa ...

. He is son of Milad. According to

Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day ...

, the name of Milad's father is also Gorgin, which is possible because in ancient Iran, it was a usual practice to name the first grandson after the grandfather. Beside Shahnameh, Gorgin also appears in other Iranian epics such as Faramarz Nama and

Bahman Nama The ''Bahman-nameh'' () is a Persian epic poem of around 9500 lines, which describes the exploits of Kay Bahman, the son of Esfandiyar of the royal Kayanid dynasty. The earliest attestation of this work is in the book '' Mojmal al-tawarikh'', wh ...

In the Shahnameh

Gorgin is one of the most famous Iranian heroes of the

Kay Kāvus Kay Kāvus (; ); sometimes ''Kai-Káús'' or ''Kai-Kaus'', Firdawsī, ''The Sháh námeh of the Persian poet Firdausí''. Oriental Translation Fund. Volume 21 of Publications, Oriental Translation Fund. Translated by James Atkinson. Printed for ...

era in . His most important role is in the story of

Bizhan and Manizhe ''Bijan and Manijeh'' (also ''Bizhan and Manizheh'', Persian بيژن و منيژه - ''Bīžan ow Manīža'') is a love story in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Bijan was the son of Giv, a famous Iranian knight during the reign of Kay Khosrow, the Sha ...

. He and Bijan travel to the Turan border in order to kill the boars that were in the land of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Roaming. Gorgin becomes envious of Bizhan's bravery and seduces him to go to Turan. There, Bizhan finds Manizhe and they fell in love. But Afrasiyab arrests Bizhan and throw him into a dungeon. Gorgin returns to Iran and tells Kay Khosrow that Bizhan was lost while hunting an onager. But Kay Khosrow does not believe him. Gorgin is first arrested, but later he was released after Rostam's intervention. He and Rostam then go to

Turan Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...

in order to free Bizhan and bring him back to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Gallery

Firdawsi - Gurgin Cuts Off the Head of Andariman - Walters W602282B - Full Page.jpg, Gurgin Cuts Off the Head of Andariman

References

Sources

Ferdowsi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...

Shahnameh. From the Moscow version. Mohammed Publishing.

External links

Kayanians Shahnameh characters Shahnameh stories Heroes in mythology and legend {{Shahnameh-stub