Zahhak and Audrey Wells: Difference between pages

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'''Audrey Wells''' (born [[April 29]], [[1960]] in [[San Francisco, California]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[screenwriter]], [[film director]] and [[film producer|producer]].
'''Zahhāk''' or '''Zohhāk''' (in {{lang-fa|ضحاک}}) is a figure of ancient [[Persian mythology]] based on the [[Zoroastrian]] mythological figure '''Aži Dahāka''' in the [[Avesta]]. In [[Middle Persian]] he is called Dahāg or Bēvar-Asp, the latter meaning "[he who has] 10,000 horses".


A former [[disc jockey]] at jazz radio station KJAZ FM in San Francisco, Wells has written a number of successful [[screenplay]]s and has directed three for which she had created the script. Among her notable works is 1996's ''[[The Truth About Cats & Dogs]]'' and 2003's ''[[Under the Tuscan Sun]]'' both of which she also produced. Her works to date have been primarily [[comedy film|comedies]] and/or [[romance film]]s.
==Etymology and derived words==
'''Aži''' (nominative '''ažiš''') is the [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] [[Avestan language|Avestan]] word for "serpent" or "dragon". It is exactly [[cognate]] to the [[Vedic]] [[Sanskrit]] word '''ahi''' of the same meaning, and more distantly related to [[Greek language|Greek]] ''ophis'', [[Latin]] ''anguis'', both meaning "snake".


Wells is currently working on the romantic comedy, ''[[Rearranged]]'', for which she wrote the script and will direct. The film is scheduled for release in 2006.
The meaning of '''dahāka''' is uncertain. Among the meanings suggested are "stinging" (source uncertain), "man" or "manlike" (cf. [[Khotanese]] ''daha''), "huge" (cf. [[Pashto]] ''lōy'') or "foreign" (cf. the Scythian [[Dahae]] and the Vedic [[dasa]]s). In Persian mythology, Dahāka is treated as a proper name, and is the source of the Ḍaḥḥāk (Zahhāk) of the Shāhnāma.


'''Aži Dahāka''' is the source of the modern [[Persian language|Persian]] word '''azhdahā''' or '''ezhdehā''' اژدها (Middle Persian '''azdahāg''') meaning "dragon", often used of a dragon depicted upon a banner of war.


{{film-director-stub}}
The [[Azhdarchidae|Azhdarchid]] group of [[pterosaur]]s are named from an [[Uzbek]] word for "dragon" that ultimately comes from '''Aži Dahāka'''.


==The Ahi / Aži in Indo-Iranian tradition==
Stories of monstrous serpents who are killed or imprisoned by heroes or divine beings may date back to prehistory, and are found in the [[mythology|myths]] of many Indo-European peoples. The most significant comparisons can be made with the closely related [[Vedic]] myths of [[India]], where an '''ahi''' (equivalent to Avestan ''aži'') called [[Vritra|Vṛtra]] was the principal foe of the Vedic god [[Indra]], who received from this myth the name '''Vṛtrahan''' or "striker of Vṛtra" (-han related to Persian زدن ''zadan'' "to strike"). That a similar myth existed early in the history of the Iranian peoples is implied by the existence of the [[cognate]] name of the Avestan [[yazata]] [[Verethragna|Vərəθraγna]], which becomes the modern [[Persian language|Persian]] Bahrām.


==External links==
Vərəθraγna was not remembered as a serpent-killer in Iranian tradition, but two other stories of fights against an ''aži'' survived. In one, the hero [[Garshasp|Kərəsāspa]] (Middle Persian Kirsāsp) kills the horned dragon ''Aži Sruvara'' or ''Aži Zairita'' (Middle Persian ''Az ī Srūwar''), a robber and murderer, devourer of horses and men, "the poisonous yellow one, over whom poison flowed the height of a spear", after mistakenly cooking his lunch on its back! Several other ''aži''s are mentioned in the Avestan literature (''Aži Raoiδita'', ''Aži Višāpa''), but the only other one with a story is Aži Dahāka.
*{{imdb name|id=0920108|name=Audrey Wells}}


==Aži Dahāka (Dahāg) in Zoroastrian literature==
Aži Dahāka is the most significant and long-lasting of the ''aži''s of the [[Avesta]], the earliest religious texts of [[Zoroastrianism]]. He is described as a monster with three mouths, six eyes, and three heads (presumably meaning three heads with one mouth and two eyes each), cunning, strong and demonic. But in other respects Aži Dahāka has human qualities, and is never a mere animal.


[[Category:1960 births|Wells, Audrey]]
Aži Dahāka appears in several of the Avestan myths and is mentioned parenthetically in many more places in Zoroastrian literature.
[[Category:Living people|Wells, Audrey]]
[[Category:American screenwriters|Wells, Audrey]]
[[Category:American film directors|Wells, Audrey]]
[[Category:American film producers|Wells, Audrey]]
[[Category:San Franciscans|Wells, Audrey]]
[[Category:2006 Sundance Film Festival|Wells, Audrey]]


[[ja:オードリー・ウェルズ]]
In a post-Avestan Zoroastrian text, the ''Dēnkard'', Aži Dahāka is identified as an [[Arab]], as the source of the writings of [[Judaism]] (in this context identified as a religion opposed to Zoroastrianism), and possessed of all possible sins and evil counsels, the opposite of the good king [[Jamshid|Jam]]. The name Dahāg (Dahāka) is punningly interpreted as meaning "having ten (''dah'') sins". His mother is Wadag (or Ōdag), herself described as a great sinner, who committed incest with her own son.

In the Avesta, Aži Dahāka is said to have lived in the inaccessible fortress of Kuuirinta in the land of Baβri, where he worshipped the yazatas Arədvī Sūrā ([[Anahita|Anāhitā]]), divinity of the rivers, and Vayu, divinity of the storm-wind. Based on the similarity between Baβri and [[Old Persian]] Bābiru ([[Babylon]]), later Zoroastrians localized Aži Dahāka in Mesopotamia, though the identification is open to doubt. Aži Dahāka asked these two yazatas for power to depopulate the world, which, being representatives of the Good, they of course refused.

In one Avestan text, Aži Dahāka has a brother named Spitiyura. Together they attack the hero Yima ([[Jamshid]]) and cut him in half with a saw, but were then beaten back by the [[yazata]] [[Atar|Ātar]], the divine spirit of Fire.

According to the post-Avestan texts, following the death of Jam ī Xšēd ([[Jamshid]]), Dahāg gained kingly rule. Another late Zoroastrian text, the ''Mēnog ī xrad'', says that this was ultimately good, because if Dahāg had not become king, the rule would have been taken by the immortal demon Xešm, and so evil would have ruled upon earth until the end of the world.

Dahāg is said to have ruled for a thousand years, starting from 100 years after Jam lost his royal glory (see [[Jamshid]]). He is described as a sorcerer who ruled with the aid of demons ([[Div (Persian mythology)|div]]s).

The Avesta identifies the person who finally disposed of Aži Dahāka as [[Fereydun|Θraētaona]] son of Aθβiya, in Middle Persian called Frēdōn. The Avesta has little to say about the nature of Θraētaona's defeat of Aži Dahāka, other than that it enabled him to liberate Arənavāci and Savaŋhavāci, the two most beautiful women in the world. Later sources, especially the [[Denkard|Dēnkard]], provide more detail. Frēdōn is said to have been endowed with the divine radiance of kings (''xvarrah'', modern Persian ''farr'') from birth, and was able to defeat Dahāg at the age of nine, striking him on shoulder, heart and skull with a mace and giving him three wounds with a sword. However, when he did so, vermin (snakes, insects and the like) emerged from the wounds, and the god [[Ahura Mazda|Ormazd]] told him not to kill Dahāg, lest the world become infested with these creatures. Instead, Frēdōn chained Dahāg up and imprisoned him on the mythical Mt. Damāvand (later identified with [[Mount Damavand|Damāvand]], one of the high mountains of the [[Alborz]] chain).

The Middle Persian sources also prophesy that at the end of the world, Dahāg will at last burst his bonds and ravage the world, consuming one in three humans and livestock. [[Garshasp|Kirsāsp]], the ancient hero who had killed the Az ī Srūwar, returns to life to kill Dahāg.

==Zahhāk in the Shāhnāma==
In [[Ferdowsi]]'s epic poem, the [[Shahnameh|Shāhnāma]], written c. 1000 AD, the legend of Dahāg is retold with the main character given the name of Zahhāk or Zohhāk. The name is written with the Arabic characters ض and ح, which rarely appear in Persian words of non-Arabic origin, and may have been chosen to emphasize the allegedly Arabic ethnicity of the character.

===Zahhāk in Arabia===
According to Ferdowsi, Zahhāk ([[Arabic language|Arabic]] transliteration: Ḍaḥḥāk or Ḍuḥḥāk) was born as the son of an Arab ruler named Merdās. Because of his Arab origins, he is sometimes called Zahhāk-e Tāzi, "the Arabian Zahhāk". He was handsome and clever, but had no stability of character and was easily influenced by evil counsellors. [[Ahriman]] therefore chose him as the tool for his plans for world domination.

When Zahhāk was a young man, Ahriman first appeared to him as a glib, flattering companion, and by degrees convinced him that he ought to kill his own father and take over his territories. He taught him to dig a deep pit covered over with leaves in a place where Merdās was accustomed to walk; Merdās fell in and was killed. Zahhāk thus became both parricide and king at the same time.

Ahriman now took another guise, and presented himself to Zahhāk as a marvellous cook. After he had presented Zahhāk with many days of sumptuous feasts, Zahhāk was willing to give Ahriman whatever he wanted. Ahriman merely asked to kiss Zahhāk on his two shoulders. Zahhāk permitted this; but when Ahriman had touched his lips to Zahhāk's shoulders, he immediately vanished. At once, two black snakes grew out of Zahhāk's shoulders. They could not be surgically removed, for as soon as one snake-head had been cut off, another took its place.

Ahriman now appeared to Zahhāk in the form of a skilled physician. He counselled Zahhāk that the only remedy was to let the snakes remain on his shoulders, and sate their hunger by supplying them with human brains for food every day. If this were done, eventually the snakes might wither away.

This story is Ferdowsi's way of reconciling the descriptions of Dahāg as a three-headed dragon monster and those stories which treat him as a human king. According to Ferdowsi, Zahhāk is originally human, but through the magic of Ahriman he becomes a monster; he does, in fact, have three heads, the two snake heads and one human head; and the snakes remind us of his original character as a dragon.

The characterization of Zahhāk as an Arab in part reflects the earlier association of Dahāg with the Semitic peoples of Iraq, but probably also reflects the continued resentment of many Iranians at the [[7th century]] [[Arab conquest of Persia]].

===Zahhāk the Emperor===

About this time, [[Jamshid]], who was then the ruler of the world, through his arrogance lost his divine right to rule. Zahhāk presented himself as a savior to those discontented Iranians who wanted a new ruler. Collecting a great army, he marched against Jamshid, who fled when he saw that he could not resist Zahhāk. Zahhāk hunted Jamshid for many years, and at last caught him and subjected him to a miserable death -- he had Jamshid sawn in half. Zahhāk now became the ruler of the entire world.

Zahhāk's two snake heads still craved human brains for food, so every day Zahhāk's spies would seize two men, and execute them so their brains could feed the snakes. But Zahhāk had among his slaves two of Jamshid's daughters, Arnavāz and Shahrnavāz (the Avestan Arənavāci and Savaŋhavāci). They managed things so that the brains of a sheep could be substituted for one of the human beings, but they could not save all of the people whom Zahhāk's servants captured.

Zahhāk's tyranny over the world lasted for centuries. But one day Zahhāk had a terrible dream – he thought that three warriors were attacking him, and that the youngest knocked him down with his mace, tied him up, and dragged him off toward a tall mountain. When Zahhāk woke he was in a panic. Following the counsel of Arnavāz, he summoned wise men and dream-readers to explain his dream. They were reluctant to say anything, but one finally said that it was a vision of the end of Zahhāk's reign, that rebels would arise and dispossess Zahhāk of his throne. He even named the man who would take Zahhāk's place: [[Fereydun]].

Zahhāk now became obsessed with finding this "Fereydun" and destroying him, though he did not know where he lived or who his family was. His spies went everywhere looking for Fereydun, and finally heard that he was but a boy, being nourished on the milk of the marvelous cow Barmāyeh. The spies traced Barmāyeh to the highland meadows where it grazed, but Fereydun had already fled before them. They killed the cow, but had to return to Zahhāk with their mission unfulfilled.

===The Revolution against Zahhāk===
Zahhāk now tried to consolidate his rule by coercing an assembly of the leading men of the kingdom into signing a document testifying to Zahhāk's righteousness, so that no one could have any excuse for rebellion. One man spoke out against this charade, a blacksmith named [[Kaveh|Kāva]]. Before the whole assembly, Kāva told how Zahhāk's minions had murdered seventeen of his eighteen sons so that Zahhāk might feed his snakes' lust for human brains – the last son had been imprisoned, but still lived.

In front of the assembly Zahhāk had to pretend to be merciful, and so released Kāva's son. But when he tried to get Kāva to sign the document attesting to Zahhāk's justice, Kāva tore up the document, left the court, and raised his blacksmith's apron as a standard of rebellion – the [[Derafsh Kaviani|Kāviyāni Banner]], ''derafsh-e Kāviyānī'' (درفش کاویانی). He proclaimed himself in support of Fereydun as ruler.

Soon many people followed Kāva to the Alborz mountains, where Fereydun was now living. He was now a young man and agreed to lead the people against Zahhāk. He had a mace made for him with a head like that of an ox, and with his brothers and followers, went forth to fight against Zahhāk. Zahhāk had already left his capital, and it fell to Fereydun with small resistance. Fereydun freed all of Zahhāk's prisoners, including Arnavāz and Shahrnavāz.

Kondrow, Zahhāk's treasurer, pretended to submit to Fereydun, but when he had a chance he escaped to Zahhāk and told him what had happened. Zahhāk at first dismissed the matter, but when he heard that Fereydun had seated Jamshid's daughters on thrones beside him like his queens, he was incensed and immediately hastened back to his city to attack Fereydun.

When he got there, Zahhāk found his capital held strongly against him, and his army was in peril from the defense of the city. Seeing that he could not reduce the city, he sneaked into his own palace as a spy, and attempted to assassinate Arnavāz and Shahrnavāz. Fereydun struck Zahhāk down with his ox-headed mace, but did not kill him; on the advice of an angel, he bound Zahhāk and imprisoned him in a cave underneath [[Mount Damavand|Mount Damāvand]], binding him with chains tied to great nails fixed into the walls of the cavern, where he will remain until the end of the world. Thus, after a thousand years' tyranny, ended the reign of Zahhāk.

{{Shahnameh}}

{{start box}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Jamshid]] |
title=Legendary Kings of the [[Shahnameh|Shāhnāma]] |
years='''800-1800 (after [[Keyumars]])'''|
after=[[Fereydun]]|
}}
{{end box}}

== Aži Dahāka in popular culture ==

*In the [[Prince of Persia]] video-game series from Ubisoft, the Dahaka appears as the monstrous guardian of chronal continuity, hunting down and killing anomalies in the timeline of history.
*In Suikoden V, there is a massive ship named Dahak--given its 3 dragon figureheads, it's likely a reference to Azhi Dahaka.
*In Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber for the Nintendo 64, the Azhi Dahaka is the green, scaley final form of the "earth" elemental dragons in the game.
*In the role playing game [[Vampire the Masquerade]], certain members of the [[Tzimisce]] clan strive to become like Azhi Dahaka.
*In the TV series [[Xena, Warrior Princess]] and [[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]], the evil deity [[Dahak]] is based on Azhi Dahaka.
*He also appears on Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (game by Interplay,2003) as a guardian of his lair in the Fortress at Alamut.
*In the PlayStation 2 video game [[Final Fantasy X-2]], three fiends called Azi Dahaka guard the direct routes to Vegnagun.
*In his Empire from Ashes-trilogy, David Weber wrote of an immense sentient starship by the name of Dahak, whose crest was a three-headed dragon.

==Place names==

"Zahak Citadel" is the name of an ancient ruin in [[East Azarbaijan]], [[Iran]] which according to various experts, was inhabited from the second millenia BC until the Timurid era. First excavated in the 1800s by British archeologists, [[Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization]] has been studying the structure in 6 phases.[http://www.chn.ir/news/?section=2&id=31507]

== See also ==
* [[Sassanid dynasty]]
* [[Persian literature|Iranian literature]]
* [[Vritra]]
* [[Zilant]]

==References==
''Encyclopaedia Iranica'', article '''Aždahā''', pp. 191-205

==External link==
*[http://www.cais-soas.com/articles/mythology_articles.htm Ancient Iranian Mythology (CAIS)]

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{{Asia-myth-stub}}
[[Category:Demons]]
[[Category:Dragons]]
[[category:History of Iran]]
[[Category:Legendary creatures]]
[[category:Persian literature]]
[[Category:Persian mythology]]
[[category:Shahnameh Characters]]

[[cv:Зогак]]
[[fr:Zahhak]]
[[ja:ザッハーク]]
[[ru:Зогак]]

Revision as of 23:56, 5 June 2006

Audrey Wells (born April 29, 1960 in San Francisco, California) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer.

A former disc jockey at jazz radio station KJAZ FM in San Francisco, Wells has written a number of successful screenplays and has directed three for which she had created the script. Among her notable works is 1996's The Truth About Cats & Dogs and 2003's Under the Tuscan Sun both of which she also produced. Her works to date have been primarily comedies and/or romance films.

Wells is currently working on the romantic comedy, Rearranged, for which she wrote the script and will direct. The film is scheduled for release in 2006.


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