Today, we will examine a specific passage from the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings, with respect to its main focus, and the monster that is the topic of this exhibit, the dragon. The passage is as follows:

“But first you’ll have to find a willing guide;

Beyond the crest lies a dragon’s lair,

His poison sickens birds that venture there.

The noxious vapors reach the moon, there’s no

Safe route by which your warriors could go.

His massive maw breathes fire, and he could snare

An elephant with his two locks of hair;

Our city doesn’t have the strength to fight.

We have to take up five cows, every night, 

For him to feed on; and how fearfully

We place them on the rocks for him to see,

Afraid that if he finds us he’ll come down

And, piece by piece, destroy us and our town

Sekandar said, ‘Tomorrow, see that no one takes him any food.’ When the time

for his meal had passed, the dragon stood on the mountain slope breathing fire,

and Sekandar ordered his troops to shoot a storm of arrows against him. The foul

dragon exhaled fire and caught a few men in the blast. Sekandar had the war 

drums beaten, and the dragon drew back in fear from the echoing drums. [...]

The king approached the dragon and 

saw that he was like a huge dark cloud: his tongue purple, his eyes blood red,

and fire issuing continuously from his maw. The soldiers rolled the cows down

toward the dragon, their hearts anxious to see what he would do. Immediately,

the dragon descended on the carcasses like the wind. He ate them, and the poison

spread throughout his body, bursting his intestines and forcing its way even into

his brain and feet. For a long time he beat his head against the rocks in 

desperation, and the army released a hail of arrows against him. The

mountainous monster sank to his feet, and his body finally succumbed to the

arrows.”

This passage from the Shahnameh describes the great king Sekandar, and his battle with a terrible, monstrous dragon, that was terrorizing the people of a city. In addition to discussing this passage, we will examine a folio from the Shahnameh that depicts Rustam, another great hero, fighting a dragon of his own. We will compare and contrast Rustam’s dragon with Sekandar’s, along with other depictions of dragons in stories and physical objects, and in so doing, hope to discover what may cause differences in depictions of this legendary monster.