a comparison of mythological characters in shahnameh by ferdowsi and aeneid by virgil

shahnameh, composed in the 10th century by ferdowsi, is one of the most significant classics of the world. it is about heroic tales of ancient persia. the contents and the poet's style in describing events takes the reader back to ancient times and makes him/her feel the events. ferdowsi worked for thirty years to complete this crown jewel of persian literature. publius vergilius maro known as virgil (october 15, 70 bc – september 21, 19 bc) is a classical roman poet, popularly known for his aeneid. this research tries to examine people and heroes in both shahnameh of ferdowsi and aeneid of virgil to assess their similarities and differences. comparing mythological principles of the great works of the world enables us to understand them more profoundly. thus we can appreciate better the greatness of the shahnameh and also its complicated layers. this analysis attempts to compare both the main characters of two works and also those mythological similarities or differences we usually find in these masterpieces. in this article attempt has not been to compare one characters of the two works by one the since it is not possible to compare precisely the main characteristics of mythological characters of one nation with another. however, in this article the significant differences and similarities between two masterpieces have rather focused on those components on which the identities are made.