Jawnomicon

Azhi Dahaka

Also called Aži Dahāka, Zahhak, Dahāg.

In Persian and Zoroastrian tradition, Azhi Dahaka is a three-headed serpent-demon and one of the great dragon-adversaries of the Avesta, later recast as the tyrant Zahhak in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh.

At a glance

Tradition
Persian mythology
Region
Persia (place of origin)
Trait family
The Hero-Slain
Symbols
ChainDragon

Near this figure

and 4 more
  • Kabandha Cursed into monstrous form · Superhuman strength
  • Briareos Multi-headed body · Superhuman strength
  • Ash-hrau Multi-headed body
  • Geryon Multi-headed body

Symbols

Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Form

  • Serpentine elongated body
    why

    a three-headed, three-mouthed, six-eyed serpent of immense size

  • Multi-headed body
    why

    In the Avesta, Azhi Dahaka is described as a three-headed, three-mouthed, six-eyed serpent of immense size and supernatural malice, a creature created by the hostile spirit Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) to bring ruin upon the world of Ahura Mazda.

Behaviour

  • Defeated by a god or hero restoring order
    why

    His defeat is one of the central myths of Iranian tradition: the hero-king Fereydun (Avestan Thraētaona) rises up against him, and rather than killing him outright, binds Zahhak in chains upon Mount Damavand, where in some tellings he is prophesied to break free at the end of the world and be slain only then by the hero Garshasp.

  • Demands periodic village sacrifice
    why

    In the Shahnameh's retelling, Zahhak is a human prince seduced by Ahriman into patricide and granted rule, after which Ahriman, disguised as a cook, kisses Zahhak's shoulders and causes two black serpents to sprout from them; in some tellings these serpents must be fed the brains of two young men daily to keep them from devouring Zahhak's own flesh, binding his tyranny to an ongoing demand for human sacrifice.

Omens

  • Bound monster breaks free at worlds end
    why

    His defeat is one of the central myths of Iranian tradition: the hero-king Fereydun (Avestan Thraētaona) rises up against him, and rather than killing him outright, binds Zahhak in chains upon Mount Damavand, where in some tellings he is prophesied to break free at the end of the world and be slain only then by the hero Garshasp.

Offensive powers

  • Superhuman strength
    why

    Azhi Dahaka's central power in the Avestan material is his overwhelming destructive strength and his status as chief instrument of Ahriman against the created world, while in the Shahnameh, Zahhak additionally wields the terror of his court and the serpents on his shoulders as instruments of tyranny over a thousand-year reign.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.