Topic #2: Although two very different literary works, both the Shahnameh and Inferno deal centrally with the existence of human suffering and mortality. Discuss how the two deal with such issues as
what causes human suffering;
what seems inevitably tragic about human existence;
how one should deal with suffering;
what one should learn from an understanding of human mortality.
One passage you should include part or all of in your presentation is from the section about Saiawush. Rustem loved Saiawush, the son of Kai Kous. The passage says,
“By the hairs of his head they dragged him [Saiawush] unto a desert place, and the sword of Gersiwaz was planted in the breast of the royal cedar. But when it was done, and they had severed the head from the trunk, a mighty storm arose over the earth, and the heavens were darkened (Saiawush).