Zahhak didn't start out TRYING to be a demon king, but also he made friends with a guy who helped him kill his super kind loving dad, so it went all downhill from there... bit.ly/EMPatreon
The snakes fed on human brain and the physician told Zahhak he won't be able to cut them off, rather he should feed them young mens' brain so that they wouldn't enter Zahhak's ears and eat his own.
As someone who was raised by these stories, I'm so delighted to see they are being told in English! I wanted to add two pieces of the story that were dropped in the video might cause confusion: 1. Zahhak was the son of a local Arab ruler who overthrew Jam, the king of Persia. That's why the video might seem confusing as to where the story happened. 2. The snakes fed on human brain once they grew fully. The physician told Zahhak that there is no use cutting them off as they'll just grow back. Instead, he should feed them with young mens' brains everyday to keep them from entering his ears and eating his own brain!
@@abdullahalsheikh3922 Is it really fair to call zahhak a villain when he was cursed by the litteral devil? Was he left with any options besides murdering people for his snakes, or suicide?
"I had a dream that a man with a bull's headed mace will kill me, what does that prophetise?" "One day a man with a bull's headed mace will kill you?" Super wise sages there.
Snake 1: 'Nah man, you're cool.' Snake 2: 'Does anyone else let their best friends share their body and look after them?' Zahaak: 'Thanks guys, let's go murder some more people so you can devour their brains.' Snake 1: 'Bro you read my mind.' Snake 2: 'Its like we share a connection bro.'
Zahhak: How do I get rid of shoulder snakes ? Me: Cut them out, cauterize the wound with fire Shady Doctor: Feed them with the Zombie Diet Zahhak: GREAT IDEA ! Me: *facepalms*
@@mohammadaminkhanpour8346 they didn't cauterise the open wound. I think OP was referring to Heracles' second labour in which he defeated the Hydra by cutting its many heads and then cauterising the stumps with fire before they grew back.
People sacrificed daily, master of the world for countless centuries, a violent regime that none may question or criticize, malevolent beings of chaos... is this ye olde warhammer 40K
Feredon's father name was Abtin. This is in the Shahname which is the source of a lot of mythologys in Persia. ( I am Iranian so I know these things by heart, andd fun fact, my name is Abtin too. )
Zahhak seems like he's one of those rich kids who doesn't know how to make good choices. I mean, really. Each of the people that showed up was clearly malevolent AF. XD
wait the iteration I heard of Zahhak's story is that after he was imprisoned, with nothing left to feed on, his snakes turned on him and ate him alive.
I never understood these types of stories. If that king didnt do anything about that "threat" he would be fine. So the real villain here is some asshole jerk who creates these types of prophercies in order to screw with peoples lifes. Or maybe the king was evil so that is the way to get rid of him and all this was part of a plan all along?
@@LocalHeretic-ck1kd - In every single sense of these words, one can and/or could always know everyone else and/or everything else that there is and/or would be in its entirety and/or entireties, and yet, still completely and utterly and truthfully and ironically and unrighteously and hypocritically and willingly and deliberately choose not to think nor believe that these things will and/or would occur, even when and/or if they have everyone and everything else, including investigational evidence and/or evidences' that proves outright that these things would and/or will occur. The fate and/or fates of any fool and/or fools who don't think nor believe that these things can and could happen and occur are fools who are suckering themselves up for everything, including the consequences and pains and sufferings, that completely and ultimately and truthfully could have been taught and avoided, if only they had taken these things seriously and had thought and believed these things through in all of their entirety and/or entireties'.
It's really Iblis we should be concerned about. We even see him at the end. This was all his scheme, and I imagine he'll be back for more evil in time.
Yeah... Can't help but get the moral from this as: 'Just because somebody is your friend, doesn't mean they're a good person.' Not a bad lesson, as such, but pretty cynical.
Yayyy, finally some Persian mythology!! Also Iblis means demon/satan in Arabic, and the three people he portrayed were basically him taking human form.
Ferdowsi used the Arabic term deliberately, as one of I believe 2 words that are of Arabic origin, to indicate via an allegory to the youth of Iran, not to let their minds be further distanced from their original non-Arabic culture. The brains of the youth are the minds of the youth being corrupted from their ethnic cultures.
God I love this story! Zahak was chained to mt. Damavand to be exact. They say that sometimes, cries of torture can be heard from within the mountain, supposedly zahak screeching in pain.
"-but then a strange thing occured..." THEN not the snake-shoulders, not the patricide, not the accurate prophesies, not the aformentioned wizards or machicians; that's all normal now a strange thing occurs.
I read that Zahhak was a turned into a three headed dragon after a while due to the cooks not following orders and serving mostly sheep instead of human brain. Thus nourishing the snakes instead of poisoning them by accident witch causes him to slowly turn into said dragon with three heads.
Also In the version I read the hero used a sword instead of a mace. When he managed to get a good cut on his softer spots scorpions came pouring out. Hence why the angelic figure said not to kill him since the land would be overrun with scorpions if he was. So life trapped under a mountain was the only option.
The Story Originally had Ahriman (similar to satan) instead of iblis. This was changed after ferdowsi wrote the shahnameh after the islamic conquest of Persia.
The part where Zahhak out of jealousy tried to kill the consort reminds me of a murder that happened in Sanlitun Beijing a few years ago: a man murdered a young woman who he never met before in cold blood, she was just walking with her French fiancé then, who was devastated by the murder. When questioned about his motive the murderer said something along the lines of "these foreigners are stealing our women from us, I hate them!" He did not lash out against the one he actually hates but the woman he's with. They did not confront the suitor directly but murders the person they think they "own"(so don't expect them to confront/ask for the opinion of the person of desire for that matter). Evil people are similar I guess.
Honestly felt a bit bad for Zahhak hearing his story from a modern perspective. Sure sounded like he was genuinely trying to be a good king and cure the curse that'd miss-shaped him, but by the time he had good advisors his PR was so utterly shot from said 'cure' that nobody trusted him. Heck, even the demon thing...I mean Salomon did something that, and got praised for it.
Unfortunately he has a major inaccuracy in his summarization of the story. And that’s the fact that Zahak was a minor king in the arab lands and he managed to overthrow the kings of kings of the Persian Empire (Jamshid). I don’t know why he said Zahak did that to his father?! Might be because he doesn’t want to talk about the very fact that the story is a little bit racist towards Arabs and wants to protect the Iranian identity and it’s awareness against the Arab exposure and danger.
He didn't say the whole myth. Before Zahhak, there was a king whose name was Jamshid or Jam. Jamshid was mighty and good at the beginning. He was the king of the whole world according to mythology, and he destroyed the demons. But after ruling over people for a long time, he became arrogant and called himself God. He claimed that he was God and created everything. This motivated Iranian and Persian generals to leave Jamshid and join Zahhak because they thought Zahhak was good like his father, Merdas. Finally, Zahhak became the king of kings and killed Jamshid. The rest of the myth is almost the same as what this video said.
You know as someone who's read epic of kings and invested alot of time In ancient Persian mythology, I know for a fact that none of the characters in the story of zahhak Mar dosh are Arabic. And the kaviani flag was held by Persian kings, not Arabic ones
Zahhak was, in fact, a king in Arabia in the story. A different guy was 'ruler of the world' (emperor of Persia, presumably) before that, and Zahhak actually had to conquer Persia from him after getting the snakes.
@Herdan the kurds lurs azeris baluchi and Persians fall unde the Iranian culture/ethnic group, anything directed to any of them counts for all of them. So this isn't a Persian story, this is an iranian story, however the Arabic culture group doesn't fall under this category
Now, the figure in the story who sets in motion Zahhāk’s descent into evil is actually not named Iblis. That is a character in the Qur’an. The figure we see here is actually named Ahriman, or Angra Mainyu. Basically, he is the Zoroastrian god of evil, much like Ancient Egypt’s Sutekh: God of Chaos.
I remember reading this in World Literature and the whole class spent time discussing how the people of the time not only saw ignorance and indecisiveness as a seed of evil, but how evil was not something born in man, but nurtured. From what we read Zahhak was described as "Without Guile or Wit" which was a little different from here, but over all i still think it captures the idea of evil the people there had.
Oh hey guys, I'm back :) Don't ask why I know all of this but I'm a 14 year old that has literally no life except school and hockey :P 1. Zahhak may also be known as Aži Dahāka 2. Zahhak was left under Mount Damavand, which is said to have magical powers 3. Damavand likely means "The mountain from which smoke and ash arises" due to it being a volcano
the angel said not to kill Zahhak because by tearing his body open all the harmful vermin that were living within his foul body would break free and devastate the world of men, so he had to be only put away in the deepest bowels of the sacred cave under the mount Ghaf and be forgotten forever ( pretty much a peak that doesn't exist and can't be found as anything that is vanished forever from our life has gone behind that peak to never return)... actually to think about it, we still suffer a pretty acute case of King Zahhak the snake bearer still infesting this land of Persia, the picture matches the descriptions of the stories of old to terrifying length in accuracy... so, yea, score one for the ancestors and their infinite wisdom...
The Japanese novel series Heroic Legend of Arslan, animated twice (OVA series and then later TV series based on a manga adaptation) covers the legend of Zahhak. Makes sense, as Arslan is a fictional fantasy retelling of Persian legends.
apparently I heard there are 2 stories of Zahhak, one is this one about him being a tyrannical king with snakes on his shoulders, another one depicts him as a three headed dragon intent on destroying all life in the world.
first of all, thanks for doing this series and specially Persian myths. would be awesome! after that, i just want to make sure that u guys know that the achievement was to get free the Persians from the Arab demonic king, and getting his own ppl free from him was kind of a bonus. plus, if anyone is curious to know, the smith's name was "Kaveh" or "Kavah" and the flag he helped making was named "Kaviani Derafsh" or "Derafsh-e-Kaviani" in his honor, meaning "the banner of Kaveh". oh and one more thing... he fed them human brains (should say "men brains" i guess cos all the victims were male!) not to cure them since he knew there is no cure. he fed them to keep them from eating his own brain!
As all of us are huge nerds at heart here, I was half expecting something referencing the snake-men of MOTU in this video with Zahhak having some appearance similar to King Hiss.
That was really cool, I never heard of this before, the length and scope and style of the story really makes it feel like a full on fantastic other world, very interesting!
The cool thing is this is just one story of the epic of kings which is rather long going through ages and all different kinds of stories in this mythology
Great episode but here is something EXTRA 1 : iblis is pronounced iblees 2 : is the same creature as shaitan 3 : and it's the fallen angel in Islam that tells people to sin and do wrong
@@moritamikamikara3879 all I know is that Satan was an angel that was banished from heaven cause he didn't kneel to Adam , as for jins I believe they're some sort of invisible people with another world
well yes and no for 2 and 3 . the story is older than islam is. it's zoroastrian. soo... well all depends on what version you follow. kind of the same with the whole arc of noah/epic of gilgamesh/ziusudra kind of deal. all depends if you are religious or not.
@@moritamikamikara3879 a djinn can be good and bad. they are more like... angels and demons. not satan himself. think alladin for example. a genie is a djinn
Shame on me for not watching this earlier, as it's one of my favorite myths (though there were a few bits they missed, such as the reason Zahhak was imprisoned was due to him "bleeding" vermin, and killing him would cause vermin to overrun the world). For years I've made variations of Zahhak/Azi Dahaka in games, notably _Dynasty Warriors 5/6: Empires_ with the "demon armor" that featured dragon head-shaped pauldrons (reflecting the "three-headed dragon" myth of Azi Dahaka) and _SoulCalibur V_ using the "snake horn" accessory to create the pair of snakes growing from his shoulders (using bullet-wound scar stickers in case they were destroyed in battle).
kissing shoulder is a sign of great respect in Arabian culture only done to man's grandfather / father and a shiekh or king so it's not weird once you know the cultural background
Generally you should apply a healthy dose of “artistic liberty” to myths It tends to be more symbolism in them, with a sprinkling of truth and morals here and there
I love this series. It's the best one in this channel. It brings me smile to my face everytime it apears in my notifications and feed. Now thats truth...
How did I not here about this guy till now? I’d love to see this guy show up in a story. Hell, I’d love to see him show up as a Servant in FGO. He’s a pretty interesting villain in my opinion
*Sage:* ah, so this man will kill you because you killed (x)! *King:* So we must have (x) killed! *Sage, leaving:* So you have fallen for one of the classic tricks
Neat. In Final Fantasy XI's Treasures of Aht Urghan story you work for an empire that uses a couple of snakes as its symbol, a symbol known as the mark of Zahak - the fact that that empire's history involves some nasty business, and that that mark is applied to the game's blues mages, which have some nastiness associated with them as well, get some extra context knowing this legend. FFXI is truly filled with some deep cuts when it comes to mythology.
A lot of Persian and Armenian kings end up getting chained up under mountains. It seems to be a universal fate for bad kings (my brother's personal favourite gets chained to an immortal wolf under a mountain)… They're all supposed to return at the end of the world so. Maybe surviving the end of the world would be easier if we stopped hiding incredibly powerful monsters in places they could easily return from?
@mohammedfarahmand7809 all three were chained in/on a mountain for their deeds. Loki killed Bauldur and the gods lashed him to a mountain, killed one of Loki's kids, and used his intestines for the rope loki was bound with. Prometheus was bound to a mountain with adamantine chains for stealing fire to give to man so they may one day overthrow the gods and their tyranny (the Greek pantheon was a lot of assholes). Only not to mention, only prometheus knew which of Zeus' sons would overthrow HIM just as he had done to Kronos, and as Kronos had done to Ouranos. Prometheus refused to tell, if he had, the tyranny of the gods would never have ended. So, Zeus set a great eagle upon Prometheus, that each day, would devour his liver, and prometheus would heal overnight, unable to die.
Zahhak didn't start out TRYING to be a demon king, but also he made friends with a guy who helped him kill his super kind loving dad, so it went all downhill from there...
bit.ly/EMPatreon
1st reply
Jeez, what's with kissing him? Xd
I think we should keep an eye out for that Iblis guy :D
iblis is the name of lucifer in the quran
Is Iblis related to walpole?
This dude fed his snakes for 100 years and never thought "maybe this isn't working"?!
You know, it gets to a point when you just have done it for so long that, well...
A fair point but also he lived a 100 years so maybe he figured it was for the best anyway?
It was 1000 years actually.
But you don't understand... Maybe the 730,001st brain will be the magic one!
The snakes fed on human brain and the physician told Zahhak he won't be able to cut them off, rather he should feed them young mens' brain so that they wouldn't enter Zahhak's ears and eat his own.
As someone who was raised by these stories, I'm so delighted to see they are being told in English!
I wanted to add two pieces of the story that were dropped in the video might cause confusion:
1. Zahhak was the son of a local Arab ruler who overthrew Jam, the king of Persia. That's why the video might seem confusing as to where the story happened.
2. The snakes fed on human brain once they grew fully. The physician told Zahhak that there is no use cutting them off as they'll just grow back. Instead, he should feed them with young mens' brains everyday to keep them from entering his ears and eating his own brain!
He mentioned Arabs a few times so that confused me since this is Persian mythology.
That Awesome! ^_^
@@kckdude913 Hi!
Eblis pr Iblis did digged or killed the father, He got zahhak to do it as much as I remember. Iblis was the devil in Persian and Arab mythology.
@kckdude913 the Persians are Arab, you know Persia today is now called Iran.
Moral of the story?
Never trust random stranger who advocates parental murder and wants to kiss your shoulders for some reason.
Well as an Arab a know something was wrong when the man's name is Iblis, the name of the devil.
I come across folks like that all the time.
Plot twist: this whole story is a drug PSA.
@@abdullahalsheikh3922 Is it really fair to call zahhak a villain when he was cursed by the litteral devil? Was he left with any options besides murdering people for his snakes, or suicide?
Moral of the story: if a prophecy says killing someone’s dad will bring you down DONT KILL HIM
"Lemme kiss your shoulders, Man."
"Weird wish but okay."
"Lmao, now you have snakes on your arm."
"Oh shit I just got pranked."
Soup Time The camera’s right there!
When your crazy chef has a shoulder fetish
WHERE,S WALDO!
I would be like "Well I know the new way of execution, death by shoulder snake"
Waldo, come back!, I miss you, Carmen misses you, even nemo misses you!
"I had a dream that a man with a bull's headed mace will kill me, what does that prophetise?"
"One day a man with a bull's headed mace will kill you?"
Super wise sages there.
Incredible
They're trying their best here!
I'm sure it's fine, bro! It probably meant you would kill a legendary bull or something, bro!
Gotta be honest, I was expecting some actual symbolism.
*surprised picachu face*
Blacksmith : You’re a monster!
Zahhak: *surprised pikachu*
8:40 "But then a strange thing occured" ... you don't say? a strange thing? in this quite normal tale up to this point? ;P
I like how Zahhak doesn't actually realize he's evil and actually has to ponder whether or not what he's doing is right.
Yss
As the current supreme leader doesnt.@@tabletaussendienst2721
Zahhak: ...Am I the baddy?
Well that shouldve been apparent the moment u killed ur "daddy"...tsk tsk
I'm Iranian
Snake 1: 'Nah man, you're cool.'
Snake 2: 'Does anyone else let their best friends share their body and look after them?'
Zahaak: 'Thanks guys, let's go murder some more people so you can devour their brains.'
Snake 1: 'Bro you read my mind.'
Snake 2: 'Its like we share a connection bro.'
Me: Really, Zahhak? That was REALLY just asked?
"no...What? NOOO!"
Zahhak: How do I get rid of shoulder snakes ?
Me: Cut them out, cauterize the wound with fire
Shady Doctor: Feed them with the Zombie Diet
Zahhak: GREAT IDEA !
Me: *facepalms*
@@mohammadaminkhanpour8346 they didn't cauterise the open wound. I think OP was referring to Heracles' second labour in which he defeated the Hydra by cutting its many heads and then cauterising the stumps with fire before they grew back.
@@sars910 Yep, exactly.
People sacrificed daily, master of the world for countless centuries, a violent regime that none may question or criticize, malevolent beings of chaos... is this ye olde warhammer 40K
@Kaiser Eisenklue XII They cut them but the snakes grew again, they fed but the snakes didnt rest and they grew more
Heracles: hmph I wonder where you got the idea to cut them out and cauterize the wound
Iblis: Can I kill your dad?
Zahhak: I don't know.
Iblis: Please?
Zahhak: Well, since you said please...
So polite.
Good to see some murderers with manners for a change
Iblis was devil
Iblis is Canadian? mindblown
@@fatherpucci8170 yes but it's accualy iblis not ıblis
Fun fact: iblis means satan aka devil in arabic
Feredon's father name was Abtin. This is in the Shahname which is the source of a lot of mythologys in Persia. ( I am Iranian so I know these things by heart, andd fun fact, my name is Abtin too. )
Zahhak seems like he's one of those rich kids who doesn't know how to make good choices. I mean, really. Each of the people that showed up was clearly malevolent AF. XD
They hadn't invented books or television yet so all these tricks were new! Lol
He's the kind of kid who thinks his drug dealer is actually his friend.
Kinda reminds me of Terra from Kingdom Hearts in that way. Could have turned out fine, but met allll the wrong people.
wait the iteration I heard of Zahhak's story is that after he was imprisoned, with nothing left to feed on, his snakes turned on him and ate him alive.
Theory: he's a ghost now and he might posses someone..
Every evil king ever:
hearing what the prophecy of your doom is causd by, doing excatly what was Prophesied
Edit: spelling
[Sounds of Odin sweating in the distance]
I never understood these types of stories. If that king didnt do anything about that "threat" he would be fine.
So the real villain here is some asshole jerk who creates these types of prophercies
in order to screw with peoples lifes.
Or maybe the king was evil so that is the way to get rid of him and all this was part of a plan all along?
Ikr
"Prophesied". But that's nitpicking. You still nailed the point.
@@LocalHeretic-ck1kd - In every single sense of these words, one can and/or could always know everyone else and/or everything else that there is and/or would be in its entirety and/or entireties, and yet, still completely and utterly and truthfully and ironically and unrighteously and hypocritically and willingly and deliberately choose not to think nor believe that these things will and/or would occur, even when and/or if they have everyone and everything else, including investigational evidence and/or evidences' that proves outright that these things would and/or will occur. The fate and/or fates of any fool and/or fools who don't think nor believe that these things can and could happen and occur are fools who are suckering themselves up for everything, including the consequences and pains and sufferings, that completely and ultimately and truthfully could have been taught and avoided, if only they had taken these things seriously and had thought and believed these things through in all of their entirety and/or entireties'.
Yo, Rick Riordan, I found the overarching villain for your next series!
Yes
Dam
@@TonyStark-fm2li *Wheeze*
Iblis or Zahhak?
Three warriors formula: check ✔️
It's really Iblis we should be concerned about.
We even see him at the end.
This was all his scheme, and I imagine he'll be back for more evil in time.
Yeah... Can't help but get the moral from this as: 'Just because somebody is your friend, doesn't mean they're a good person.'
Not a bad lesson, as such, but pretty cynical.
He's Walpole in disguise.
@@ArkadiBolschek I KNEW IT!
He’s literally Satan, so you’re not wrong
Herdan so was Iblis added after Islam was introduced in Persia? Or another reason?
Yayyy, finally some Persian mythology!!
Also Iblis means demon/satan in Arabic, and the three people he portrayed were basically him taking human form.
I believe it was Ahriman Instead
@@ayaan4545 it depends where you read it. In Afghani publications I've read Iblis.
dude its not arabic its persian
Ferdowsi used the Arabic term deliberately, as one of I believe 2 words that are of Arabic origin, to indicate via an allegory to the youth of Iran, not to let their minds be further distanced from their original non-Arabic culture. The brains of the youth are the minds of the youth being corrupted from their ethnic cultures.
I like how after his initial disgust at them, the snake art just gives up and becomes an extension of Zahhak's personality
God I love this story! Zahak was chained to mt. Damavand to be exact. They say that sometimes, cries of torture can be heard from within the mountain, supposedly zahak screeching in pain.
"-but then a strange thing occured..."
THEN
not the snake-shoulders, not the patricide, not the accurate prophesies, not the aformentioned wizards or machicians; that's all normal
now a strange thing occurs.
*MORAL* *OF* *THE* *STORY* : Blessed are the cheese makers.
What's so special about the cheese makers?
@@Urugosh dude.....cheese
@Gopi Krishna Reference to this movie my dude: th-cam.com/video/YP2KDUiBI-E/w-d-xo.html, enjoy!
Oh shut up big nose. I can't hear what he is saying!
Someone doesn’t watch Monty Python movies
8:57 Arab ≠ Persian. This statement will anger a lot of people.
It's actually both. Since Zahhak is the king of Arabia but conquers Persia too in the original story. They didn't really talk that.
ضحاک در اوستا یک هیولای اژدها مانند است و در شاهنامه در عراق زندگی می کرده ولی در گذشته عراق بخشی از قلمرو ایران بوده @@arad4852
I was thinking that during this video, isn’t this more of an arabian myth instead of a persian?
@@MrNarek973 No it’s completely Persian. The fact that he calls them arab is wrong
0:36 In Portuguese, you would need to be very callous to name your kid like that.
Since Portuguese wasn't a language back then, I don't think it matters.
May I ask why?
Even in italian, hahaahaha
@@tinchosabala The word means "excrements" (yup, plural).
King shits
I read that Zahhak was a turned into a three headed dragon after a while due to the cooks not following orders and serving mostly sheep instead of human brain. Thus nourishing the snakes instead of poisoning them by accident witch causes him to slowly turn into said dragon with three heads.
Also In the version I read the hero used a sword instead of a mace. When he managed to get a good cut on his softer spots scorpions came pouring out. Hence why the angelic figure said not to kill him since the land would be overrun with scorpions if he was. So life trapped under a mountain was the only option.
(Not so) Fun fact: iblis is satan's name in Islam/Arabic.
Iblis is arabic for Demon. The arabic word for Satan is Shatan.
I thought they called satan sheytan
@@PavarottiAardvark no, I meant "the" satan, you know, the fallen one, I think he's called Lucifer in English.
The Story Originally had Ahriman (similar to satan) instead of iblis. This was changed after ferdowsi wrote the shahnameh after the islamic conquest of Persia.
@@fatimaalaa2659 Fun fact, Lucifer from the bible did not refer to Satan but to king Nebuchadnezzar or his son Belshazzar.
The part where Zahhak out of jealousy tried to kill the consort reminds me of a murder that happened in Sanlitun Beijing a few years ago: a man murdered a young woman who he never met before in cold blood, she was just walking with her French fiancé then, who was devastated by the murder. When questioned about his motive the murderer said something along the lines of "these foreigners are stealing our women from us, I hate them!" He did not lash out against the one he actually hates but the woman he's with. They did not confront the suitor directly but murders the person they think they "own"(so don't expect them to confront/ask for the opinion of the person of desire for that matter). Evil people are similar I guess.
Also, fun fact, Merdas could be translated as 'shits' in Portuguese XD
Inscreve-se no meu canal
and italian!
@@neji2401 thats because all the "romance" languages all came from the Latin language.
Eu sei. Percebi que enquanto estava lendo o Shanameh e aprendendo Português.
Same in Spanish 😂
"and horses" yes im sure Zahhaks family had many many horses, many muscular, sweaty, horses
Got any plans for 4/13 ? ;)
arquius is best boi
I understood that reference.
in fact, zahhaks real name was "Biorasp" which means the man who has thousands horses
@@thejuxtaposedjinty9140 gonna be weird this year
Really glad you guys adapted Zahhak's story! It's definitely one of the more unique tales in world mythology. Can't wait to hear James's deep cuts.
BLESS YOU FOR DOING THE ZAHHAK STORY!! I've always wanted a fun comprehensive telling of it :D
Honestly felt a bit bad for Zahhak hearing his story from a modern perspective.
Sure sounded like he was genuinely trying to be a good king and cure the curse that'd miss-shaped him, but by the time he had good advisors his PR was so utterly shot from said 'cure' that nobody trusted him.
Heck, even the demon thing...I mean Salomon did something that, and got praised for it.
“Arab people were free” this is a Persian myth is it not?
@Anas Belmont not really, they have very different myths.
@Anas Belmont totally different....iran has totally different culture
@@arminahnoud9068 dide the story was written by an iranian poet ferdowsi not an arab myth his killer was kaveh and fereydoun both were persians
Unfortunately he has a major inaccuracy in his summarization of the story. And that’s the fact that Zahak was a minor king in the arab lands and he managed to overthrow the kings of kings of the Persian Empire (Jamshid). I don’t know why he said Zahak did that to his father?! Might be because he doesn’t want to talk about the very fact that the story is a little bit racist towards Arabs and wants to protect the Iranian identity and it’s awareness against the Arab exposure and danger.
He didn't say the whole myth. Before Zahhak, there was a king whose name was Jamshid or Jam. Jamshid was mighty and good at the beginning. He was the king of the whole world according to mythology, and he destroyed the demons. But after ruling over people for a long time, he became arrogant and called himself God. He claimed that he was God and created everything. This motivated Iranian and Persian generals to leave Jamshid and join Zahhak because they thought Zahhak was good like his father, Merdas. Finally, Zahhak became the king of kings and killed Jamshid. The rest of the myth is almost the same as what this video said.
I don't think if ever been more Interested in learning history until I found this channel I just want to know more
You know as someone who's read epic of kings and invested alot of time In ancient Persian mythology, I know for a fact that none of the characters in the story of zahhak Mar dosh are Arabic. And the kaviani flag was held by Persian kings, not Arabic ones
Just to say that its not the arab people but its persians.
Zahhak was a "tazi" which means arab
Zahhak was, in fact, a king in Arabia in the story. A different guy was 'ruler of the world' (emperor of Persia, presumably) before that, and Zahhak actually had to conquer Persia from him after getting the snakes.
Why on earth you want to differentiate between arabs and peraians NvDSs
@@urdupakistan8876 cause they are different people?
@Herdan the kurds lurs azeris baluchi and Persians fall unde the Iranian culture/ethnic group, anything directed to any of them counts for all of them. So this isn't a Persian story, this is an iranian story, however the Arabic culture group doesn't fall under this category
Now, the figure in the story who sets in motion Zahhāk’s descent into evil is actually not named Iblis. That is a character in the Qur’an. The figure we see here is actually named Ahriman, or Angra Mainyu. Basically, he is the Zoroastrian god of evil, much like Ancient Egypt’s Sutekh: God of Chaos.
Eh, he’s more like Devil in Christianity.
I remember reading this in World Literature and the whole class spent time discussing how the people of the time not only saw ignorance and indecisiveness as a seed of evil, but how evil was not something born in man, but nurtured. From what we read Zahhak was described as "Without Guile or Wit" which was a little different from here, but over all i still think it captures the idea of evil the people there had.
Oh hey guys, I'm back :)
Don't ask why I know all of this but I'm a 14 year old that has literally no life except school and hockey :P
1. Zahhak may also be known as Aži Dahāka
2. Zahhak was left under Mount Damavand, which is said to have magical powers
3. Damavand likely means "The mountain from which smoke and ash arises" due to it being a volcano
His name was Merdas.
[chuckles in Portuguese]
OH. OH, ALRIGHT. NOW I GET IT.
I don’t speak Portuguese, but Spanish is close enough. What a name....
and french
And Catalan
i guess he was indeed a shitty king
Im just thinking its just a small pronunciation off from Midas, but from a time gold was not used yet as popular currency. Thats why the cows.
the angel said not to kill Zahhak because by tearing his body open all the harmful vermin that were living within his foul body would break free and devastate the world of men, so he had to be only put away in the deepest bowels of the sacred cave under the mount Ghaf and be forgotten forever ( pretty much a peak that doesn't exist and can't be found as anything that is vanished forever from our life has gone behind that peak to never return)... actually to think about it, we still suffer a pretty acute case of King Zahhak the snake bearer still infesting this land of Persia, the picture matches the descriptions of the stories of old to terrifying length in accuracy... so, yea, score one for the ancestors and their infinite wisdom...
I hope you guys can make episodes on Brazil myths
native American or americanized african?
@@marcopohl4875 Native primary, but, i would like both
@@Trucmuch hue
Oh, Iblis you devil ,
....Wait
Hey Extra Credits can you please do a video regarding the origin of the Tarot cards.
That would fall under their gaming content.
@@The-Random-Hamlet actually Tarot cards are fortune telling so no.
@@barrybend7189 Tarot started out as and remains a card game. Divination was attached later. It has no mythological origins.
@@willwarren9296 you can even play poker with the minor arcana! XD
@@willwarren9296 Its still not mythological and would not fall into this category. Now if they had an Extra Occult series, that would be interesting.
7:07
*Zahhak:* Nani!?
Also I relate to the snakes in this weirdly. Apart from being evil and eating people's brains. ●~●
The Japanese novel series Heroic Legend of Arslan, animated twice (OVA series and then later TV series based on a manga adaptation) covers the legend of Zahhak. Makes sense, as Arslan is a fictional fantasy retelling of Persian legends.
You're correct. I love that series.
"Rebellion? Well that's a little uncalled for, I mean all I did was murder everyone who everyone loved, what's the beef?" - Zahhak, Demon King
Person: you just listed the reason why they're rebelling
@@dreademperor2094 "Yeah but, king though, look, I have the pointiest hat!" - Zahhak, Demon King
@@enoughofyourkoicarp person:*facepalm*
More Persian mythology please! I LOVE IT!
If you've ever watched Berserk, or read the manga, this is totally where the inspiration derived from.
Ancient myth times: Hey kid, wanna kill your dad?
Today: Hey kid, want some candy?
apparently I heard there are 2 stories of Zahhak, one is this one about him being a tyrannical king with snakes on his shoulders, another one depicts him as a three headed dragon intent on destroying all life in the world.
Ahh another fantastic retelling of The Adventures of Johnny Snake-Shoulders.
first of all, thanks for doing this series and specially Persian myths. would be awesome!
after that, i just want to make sure that u guys know that the achievement was to get free the Persians from the Arab demonic king, and getting his own ppl free from him was kind of a bonus.
plus, if anyone is curious to know, the smith's name was "Kaveh" or "Kavah" and the flag he helped making was named "Kaviani Derafsh" or "Derafsh-e-Kaviani" in his honor, meaning "the banner of Kaveh".
oh and one more thing... he fed them human brains (should say "men brains" i guess cos all the victims were male!) not to cure them since he knew there is no cure. he fed them to keep them from eating his own brain!
As all of us are huge nerds at heart here, I was half expecting something referencing the snake-men of MOTU in this video with Zahhak having some appearance similar to King Hiss.
0:35
As a Portuguese speaker, I burst into laughter with the name...
And he's apparently responsible for preventing temporal paradox. Really likes Godsmack.
Oooohohohoho! I see what ya did there, mate!
That was really cool, I never heard of this before, the length and scope and style of the story really makes it feel like a full on fantastic other world, very interesting!
The cool thing is this is just one story of the epic of kings which is rather long going through ages and all different kinds of stories in this mythology
Great episode but here is something EXTRA
1 : iblis is pronounced iblees
2 : is the same creature as shaitan
3 : and it's the fallen angel in Islam that tells people to sin and do wrong
@@moritamikamikara3879 all I know is that Satan was an angel that was banished from heaven cause he didn't kneel to Adam , as for jins I believe they're some sort of invisible people with another world
well yes and no for 2 and 3 . the story is older than islam is. it's zoroastrian. soo... well all depends on what version you follow. kind of the same with the whole arc of noah/epic of gilgamesh/ziusudra kind of deal. all depends if you are religious or not.
All is correct except Satan in Islam wasn't an angel, more of an entity born of fire.
@@moritamikamikara3879 a djinn can be good and bad. they are more like... angels and demons. not satan himself. think alladin for example. a genie is a djinn
@@jiminlee1129 wasn't he one of the angels that didn't want to kneel before Adam so god banished him?
Shame on me for not watching this earlier, as it's one of my favorite myths (though there were a few bits they missed, such as the reason Zahhak was imprisoned was due to him "bleeding" vermin, and killing him would cause vermin to overrun the world).
For years I've made variations of Zahhak/Azi Dahaka in games, notably _Dynasty Warriors 5/6: Empires_ with the "demon armor" that featured dragon head-shaped pauldrons (reflecting the "three-headed dragon" myth of Azi Dahaka) and _SoulCalibur V_ using the "snake horn" accessory to create the pair of snakes growing from his shoulders (using bullet-wound scar stickers in case they were destroyed in battle).
THANK YOU ! Extra credits for choosing myths from ferdowsi's shahnameh😃😘🤩
We love you ! 🇮🇷💖🇮🇷
عاشقتونیم!😃
This reminds me of the plot of Kung Fu Panda 2 for some reason. Also, now it makes sense why Equius Zahhak has that last name.
4:19 I'm pretty sure I met that wicked magician at a music festival a couple of years ago...
kissing shoulder is a sign of great respect in Arabian culture
only done to man's grandfather / father
and a shiekh or king
so it's not weird once you know the cultural background
8:56 «arab people were free»?! This is supposed to be persian, right?
Mjaucast Renzhion I think he forgot to mention Zahhak conquered Iran and killed the Persian king while he was fleeing to China.
@@supremelordoftheauspicious2928 (Profile picture and username checks out)
Generally you should apply a healthy dose of “artistic liberty” to myths
It tends to be more symbolism in them, with a sprinkling of truth and morals here and there
@@supremelordoftheauspicious2928 brother
Gabriel Clemente What do you mean? lol
I love this series. It's the best one in this channel. It brings me smile to my face everytime it apears in my notifications and feed.
Now thats truth...
How did I not here about this guy till now? I’d love to see this guy show up in a story. Hell, I’d love to see him show up as a Servant in FGO. He’s a pretty interesting villain in my opinion
Screw that. A Berserker Kaveh (Kaveh is the Rebel blacksmith) is more interesting.
i really like the facial features you draw on here, like a sinister face is so spot onn
*Sage:* ah, so this man will kill you because you killed (x)!
*King:* So we must have (x) killed!
*Sage, leaving:* So you have fallen for one of the classic tricks
3:03 Hey, i'm not like the other kings, i've
SNAKE ARMS
Obligatory 'The Darkness' reference
Oh my God, this story is completely where the video game “The Darkness” got its inspiration from.
Oh, now I understand Equius more
H O M E S T U C K
4:00
Persians: "For a thousand years after this, Zahhak reigned, as undisputed master of the world..."
Greeks: "Hold my zythos."
0:48 the face of every teen when dealing with there overstepping parent around there family.
Thank you!! I have been waiting for a series like this for years!
sweaty sweaty man
How's the separation working for ya, Maryam?
The Persians were smoking the good stuff
😂
8:57 Iblis is planning something in the background
Iblis had a plan..........................Iblis always has a plan!
He did so many evil thing because his true identity is Ahriman
Ahriman is Persian version of satan
Ooo, the Shahnameh and it's stories getting some love! I'm down for this!
Huh, Zahhak... that name seems familiar for some reason.
I’ll never be able to escape Homestuck, will I.
I was seriously scrolling through the comments just to search for at least ONE person to bring that up...
...Es...cape? I don't understand.
WhY wOuLd YoU wAnT tO eScApE?
:o)
run far enough and maybe
One does not simply escape the Homestuck c:
Ah I see you are a man/woman of culture as well
Neat. In Final Fantasy XI's Treasures of Aht Urghan story you work for an empire that uses a couple of snakes as its symbol, a symbol known as the mark of Zahak - the fact that that empire's history involves some nasty business, and that that mark is applied to the game's blues mages, which have some nastiness associated with them as well, get some extra context knowing this legend.
FFXI is truly filled with some deep cuts when it comes to mythology.
Iblis is the name of Lucifer in islam
At first I was wondering what Iblis got out of all these events, but now it makes more sense! Evil for Evil's sake!
Actually his name must be Ahriman not Iblis Ahriman means Satan in Persian language
"But somewhere, in *The Darkness* ... " Subtle, ese.
Jackie Estacada and his squad of demon soldiers are laughing ominously.
Oh you guys need to do more Persian mythology! Specifically shahnameh! I love rostam, Zahl and simorgh and a couple more I can’t remember rn.
Not that one snake saying "He's so Jelly!" at 8:23
A video on Zahhak? So close to 413? Hmmmm...
Yup
Honestly those snakes expressions are so cute
2:07 I swear Zahhak looks like Kakyoin from Jojo Part 3 in this frame.
Yes
I love how the snakes emote like him.
Extra history has “it was Walpole”
I think that Extra Mythology found there own.
It was Iblis
I love how the snakes represent his emotions
XD I love the snakes faces
0:17
Oh no! It's beast boy with snakes for hair!
(Gorgon Boy? Beast Gorgon?)
I wonder if Zahhak was the inspiration for that evil demon king in Berserk...
The pondering shoulder snakes are SUPER CUTE
How many items on the Evil Overlord List did Zahhak violate over the course of his tyranny?
Yes
A lot of Persian and Armenian kings end up getting chained up under mountains. It seems to be a universal fate for bad kings (my brother's personal favourite gets chained to an immortal wolf under a mountain)… They're all supposed to return at the end of the world so. Maybe surviving the end of the world would be easier if we stopped hiding incredibly powerful monsters in places they could easily return from?
Interesting how the Zahhak met the same fate as Prometheus and Loki (of Greek and Norse myth, respectively).
Wait, I don't get it, how are they related?
@mohammedfarahmand7809 all three were chained in/on a mountain for their deeds.
Loki killed Bauldur and the gods lashed him to a mountain, killed one of Loki's kids, and used his intestines for the rope loki was bound with.
Prometheus was bound to a mountain with adamantine chains for stealing fire to give to man so they may one day overthrow the gods and their tyranny (the Greek pantheon was a lot of assholes). Only not to mention, only prometheus knew which of Zeus' sons would overthrow HIM just as he had done to Kronos, and as Kronos had done to Ouranos.
Prometheus refused to tell, if he had, the tyranny of the gods would never have ended. So, Zeus set a great eagle upon Prometheus, that each day, would devour his liver, and prometheus would heal overnight, unable to die.
The snakes remind me of that 1 game where your some dude with demon things comming out of your shoulder, can't remember the name