Immortali fragranze. Realtà e immaginario del giardino nei testi manichei iranici

Abstract

The present contribution deals with an inquiry about Iranian Manichaean texts (Middle Persian and Parthian) concerning the description of the garden and its symbolic values (of peace, rest, evergreen flowery, fragrance, immortality). The aim of the essay is to provide a sketch of Iranian Manichaean passages to improve the already mentioned hypothesis of a pre-Islamic influence on the Persian literature at the foundation of its imagery, which displays the motif of the garden as a characteristic mark of poetic inspiration to feature beauty, love, mystical feeling and desire for paradisiac condition.

Keywords

• Garden metaphors. Iranian Manichaean texts. Literary imageries. Olfactory aesthetic. Persian literature. Religious experience