Culture + Vocab
Cordial has two definitions we reviewed--name both.
Sweet sometimes alcoholic drink + kind/warm person
Name the first obstacle preventing Khosrou II and Shirin from getting married (something she requires him to do).
She will only marry him if he takes his kingdom back from his evil uncles
What does "Shirin" mean in Farsi?
Sweet
Name who Khosrou II has to marry in order to get the army to beat Chobin.
Maryam
Name the term for the extreme, almost competitive politeness between a Persian guest and host.
Tarof (see video!)
Another man named Farhad, who is a talented sculptor, falls in love with Shirin. Khosrou gives him a nearly impossible task, and then causes his death by tricking him. Explain the task + trick.
Task: Carving a staircase into Mount Behistun
Trick: Saying Shirin was dead
Name the reason (a tradition at that time in Iran) why it was a secret that Aziz was a beauty.
Women mostly stayed at home, according to Daniel.
Daniel says that the love story is "poisonous" because of all the killing/betrayal. Explain what Shirin does to Maryam, what Khosrou II’s son does to his father, and what ultimately happens to Shirin.
Shirin poisons Maryam so that Khosrou II can be with her. Khosrou II’s son then kills his father so that he can be with Shirin, who ends up drinking poison at Khosrou’s grave.
In the first few pages of the reading, Daniel says that he will tell three stories to show that "all Persian love stories are tragedies." Name them.
1. The myth of Khosrou and Shirin.
2. The legend of Aziz and her husbands.
3. The story of Daniel breaking his thumb at Mom's church.
Explain what Khosrou I was famous for (according to Daniel), what happened to his son Hormizd IV, and how Khosrou II is related to Khosrou I.
Khosrou I: famous for "spring carpet"
Hormizd IV: killed by evil uncles
Khosrou II: grandson of Khosrou I