The Difference between Two Narratives of Balami and Tha'alibi History about Goshtasp

Abstract

History books are among the most important sources of recognition of myths. Even Ferdowsi, when seeking the mythological sources of the narrative of the Shahnameh, referred to the “Book of Kings”. Balami and Tha'alibi History are among the most important books of history in Persian. These two books are written simultaneously and with the same theme - the general history of Iran-. Each historian creates a special text based on his work resources and materials and his particular attitude to historiography.Considering myths, each historian has a different perspective, and historians sometimes have rationalized mythical characters; something that Ferdowsi is definitely displeased with. In the last century, a great deal of dissertations has been written about "Recit" and “History” (or story and history) and how they reflect each other in various literary criticisms of the world and most importantly, Paul Ricoeur's unique book "The Story and Time". Here we investigate the difference between the narrative of Goshtasb-the mythical king of Iran- in two books of Balami and Tha'alibi and the results of this research show how the treasury of a literary narrative has gained from his kingdom while Balami has a more historical and insightful look at this mythical character.

Keywords

• balami's history
• thaalebi's history
• narrative
• goshtaseb