Siyâvash
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.
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.
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.
However, as Siyâvash's mother is not an aristocrat, the Shah decides to send him to Rostam, the ultimate hero of Iranian mythology, for training in the military arts.
Rostam instructs the young Siyâvash in the arts of riding, archery, hunting, conduct and speaking the truth, these being the fundamentals in the Acheamenian system of education - as reflected in the Shahnameh on several occasions.
After several years of instruction, Siavash asks Rostam's permission to return to Kay Kāvus's Court, so that he may prove his worth as a young prince.
The Queen, Sudabeh, develops an instantaneous, and all-consuming sexual desire for the young prince, and starts a series of plans to entice him to enter her chambers.
Siavash, armed as a cataphract, covered in (sacred, but highly inflammable) camphor and wearing a white cape, the symbol of innocence, mounts his faithful black steed and charges straight into the vast pyre.
The Court holds its breath, as he disappears among the flames, but shortly afterward, the white knight and his valiant black war horse emerge from the fire unscathed and victorious.
The second part of the Epic of Siavash is dedicated to his separation from his homeland, his unjust treatment at the hands of his own father, Kay Kavus, and his ultimate execution.
Kay Kavus decides to make an example of Afrasiab's allies in the City of Balkh, and plans to invade it, but is dissuaded from personally attending the battle field by Rostam, the ultimate hero of the Shahnameh.
Disturbed by ill-omens in his sleep, Afrasiab dreams of his own defeat, and upon hearing the news from Balkh, sends horses, armour, and swords, suing for peace.
He writes a letter to Siavash at the height of his fury, and orders him to return home, while assigning Toos as the new commander of the Iranian forces.
Siavash knows that he is incapable of these tyrannical acts requested by the Shah, and sees no option but to abandon his homeland and seek refuge in Turan.
Eventually, Siavash falls in love with and marries Ferigees ("Curly Locks"), the Emperor's daughter, thereby sealing his new attachment to life at the Turanian Court.
However, Siavash's sudden rise to favour at the Turanian court causes much jealousy amongst certain of the knights and dignitaries, who wonder why the Emperor's daughter had been given to the prince of Iran, a foreigner and their sworn enemy.
Garsivaz, foremost among the disgruntled few, sends secret messages to Afrasiab, proclaiming Siavash "a traitor," in view of his "letters" that had been sent to his father in Iran, Shah Kay Kavus.
His tragic death, as recounted in the Shahnameh has inspired hundreds of poems, essays, songs and stories in Iranian literature, among them Simin Dânešvar's groundbreaking novel Savušun, which has the distinction of being the first novel to be written in Persian by a female author.
