Lesson 13: Ancient Persia: The Exotic Land

• The name Persia, from the ancient province Persis, was given by the Greeks to the entire land occupied by various Iranian tribes
• The government requested use of the older and correct name Iran, meaning land of the Aryans


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• Ancient Persia had a literature strongly influenced by the Arabic language and the culture of its Arab conquerors
• Classical literature in Persia flourished from the 9th century until the 14th century, after which it ebbed until the 19th century
• Poetry is traditionally the more important literary form in Persia
• Omar Khayyam, a poet from the 12th century, is probably Persia's most famous poet
• Epic poetry was an indigenous Iranian literary form
• Firdawsi's heroic epic, Shah Nameh or Book of Kings, was the first and greatest national epic in Persia
• In the field of lyric poetry, the best exponents were Sheik Moslehoddin Sa'di and Shamsoddin Hafez
• Persian prose includes stories, fables, histories, and manuals of conduct
• The earlier Persian prose was characterized by rhyme, but this declined, paving the way for Western literary forms in the early 20th century
• The most influential figure of the modernistic movement in Persia is Nima Yushij (1895-1959)
• Omar Khayyam was a mathematician and astronomer who led a group of scholars who revised the Persian calendar
• Omar Khayyam was a pessimist whose philosophy was to make the most of life as we do not know where we come from or where we are going
• Interpreting Epigrams: Short, thought-provoking verses which are usually sarcastic are called epigrams
• Forming New Words: Language is constantly changing, discarding old or archaic words
• The Gulistan by Sa'di is a collection of proverbial wisdom
• Sa'di was more realistic in his poetry than the average visionary Persian poet
• Sa'di wrote in a light, charming style, even in his maxims, moral tales, and fables
• Sa'di wrote two major volumes of poetry: the Bustan (Orchard or Garden of Perfume) and the Gulistan (The Rose Garden)
• Sa'di's poetry may have been influenced by his wanderings in Asia Minor and Egypt
• Epigrams seek to teach a moral or a truth
• To interpret an epigram, one should look up the meanings of unfamiliar words and reflect on the relationship of symbols with the realities of life
• Language discards words it no longer needs
• Old or archaic English words

  • thou
  • hast
  • thee
  • naught
  • perchance
  • canst
• Language is constantly changing. It discards words it no longer needs and replaces them with new ones depending on new situations
• Language borrows words from other languages, like blitzkrieg from German meaning lightning war
• Ways new words are formed

  • Clipped words
  • Blended words
  • Acronyms
• Legend has it that the thrilling adventures in the Arabian Nights were told by a beautiful and intelligent queen to escape execution from her husband
• Scheherazade told fascinating stories to postpone her beheading by the king for a thousand days and nights
• The king realized his foolishness and declared Scheherazade would be his wife forever
• An adventure story focuses on exciting events where the main character risks his or her life in mighty struggles to survive
• In an adventure story, the setting is very important as it is the source of the conflict that challenges the main character
• Ways to enjoy reading an adventure story

  • Guess meanings of unfamiliar words through context
  • Create mental pictures of the setting
  • Imagine being part of the adventure
  • Predict what will happen
• Listening for cause-effect phrasal signals is important in understanding relationships in sentences
• Cause-effect phrasal signals


  • as a consequence
  • inasmuch as
  • as a result
• Expressions like 'as a consequence', 'inasmuch as', and 'as a result' are cause-effect phrasal signals
• Study the content and stand of a newspaper by analyzing the information on the front page, back page, and other sections
• Scarcity of food


  Too much rain and sunshine in different parts of the country
• Cause-effect phrasal signals


  Expressions: as a consequence, inasmuch as, as a result