Fereydun (; New Persian: , Fereydà «n/Farëdà «n), also known as ThraÃÂtaona (), is a hero from Iranian mythical history and king from the Pishdadian dynasty. He is known as an emblem of victory, justice, and generosity in Persian literature.
According to Abolala Soudavar, Fereydun is partially a reflection of Cyrus the Great (), the first Achaemenid King of Kings.
All of the forms of the name shown above derive, by regular sound laws, from Proto-Iranian *ÃÂraitauna- (Avestan ÃÂraÃÂtaona-) and Proto-Indo-Iranian *Traitaunas.
Traitaunas is a derivative (with augmentative suffix -una/-auna) of Tritas, the name of a deity or hero reflected in the Vedic Trita and the Avestan ÃÂrita. Both names are identical to the adjective meaning "the third", a term used of a minor deity associated with two other deities to form a triad. In the Indian Vedas, Trita is associated with thunder gods and wind gods. Trita is also called ÃÂptya, a name that is probably cognate with ÃÂøòiya, the name of Thraetaona's father in the AvestÃÂ, Zoroastrian texts collated in the third century. Traitaunas may therefore be interpreted as "the great son of Tritas". The name was borrowed from Parthian into Classical Armenian as '.
In the Avesta, Thraetaona is the son of Aøòiya, and so is called ÃÂøòiyÃÂni, meaning "from the family of Aøòiya". He was recorded as the killer of the dragon Zahhak (Aà ¾i DahÃÂk). In Middle Persian texts, DahÃÂka/DahÃÂg was instead imprisoned on Mount Damavand in Amol.
According to Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Fereydun was the son of ÃÂbtin, one of the descendants of Jamà ¡id. Fereydun, together with KÃÂve, revolted against the tyrannical king, ZahÃÂk, defeated and arrested him in the Alborz Mountains. Afterwards, Fereydun became the king, married ArnavÃÂz and, according to the myth, ruled the country for about 500 years. At the end of his life, he allocated his kingdom to his three sons, Salm, Tur, and Iraj.
Iraj was Fereydun's youngest and favored son, and inherited the best part of the kingdom, namely Iran. Salm inherited Anatolia ("Rûm", more generally meaning the Roman Empire, the Greco-Roman world, or just "the West"), and Tur inherited Central Asia ("TurÃÂn", all the lands north and east of the Amu Darya, as far as China), respectively. This aroused Iraj's brothers' envy, and encouraged them to murder him. After the murder of Iraj, Fereydun enthroned Iraj's grandson, ManuÃÂehr. ManuÃÂehr's attempt to avenge his grandfather's murder initiated the IranianâÂÂTuranian wars.