Siyâvash

Siyâvash (Persian: سیاوش), also spelled Siyâvoš or Siavash (سياووش), is a major figure in the Shahnameh. He is introduced by Ferdowsi as the son of Kay Kāvus, who reigns as Shah in the earliest days of Greater Iran for over a century. His name means "the one with black stallions" after his horse Shabrang Behzād (شبرنگ بهزاد, lit. 'night-coloured purebred'), who accompanies him during a trial of righteousness.

Owing to his birth to a non-aristocratic mother, Siyâvash is sent away by his father to Zabulistan, where he is raised by the holy warrior Rostam to be well-versed in the arts of war. He returns as a highly skilled and handsome young man, and is granted entry to the royal court as a prince and the new ruler of Ctesiphon. Shortly thereafter, he meets his stepmother Sudabeh, who develops a burning lust for him and begins devising stratagems to lure him into intercourse. However, Siyâvash repeatedly rejects her advances and also strikes down her suggestion to kill his father so that they can rule together. Fearing that he might inform the Shah and have her executed, Sudabeh falsely accuses Siyâvash of raping her. Hearing his plea, the Shah forces him to prove himself by riding through a colossal mountain of fire. Siyâvash overcomes this trial and is ruled innocent, but his relationship with his father still grows cold; Kāvus decides against punishing Sudabeh due to his love for her, nor does he want to risk angering her father, who is the ruler of Hamavaran and thus a powerful Eastern ally of the Iranian nation. Finding no alternative, Siyâvash goes into self-imposed exile in Turan and seeks asylum under the rule of the region's tyrannical king Afrasiab, who has fostered hostilities with Kāvus for many years. There, he marries the princess Farangis, but is later killed by the Turanians, who declare war on Iran. A distressed Rostam blames Sudabeh for Siyâvash's death, drags her out of her palace, and executes her in public. Meanwhile, Siyâvash's wife manages to escape to Iran, where her son Kay Khosrow becomes the next Shah. Khosrow leads the Iranian campaign against the Turanian army and takes revenge on Afrasiab for his father's death.

In Iranian literature, Siyâvash is widely regarded as a symbol of innocence. His defence of his own chastity, self-imposed exile, constancy in love for his wife, and ultimate execution at the hands of his adopted hosts have become intertwined with Iranian mythology over the millennia. His name is also linked with the mythical growth of plants.