A Cultural Background from Past to Present Persia

Who are the Peries? What are the Peries? Where did they come from? What do they signify (and to whom)?

This section seeks to contextualize the Tales of the Peries by exploring their cultural underpinnings to aid the reader's immediate navigation and comprehension of the text.

The focus of this section is on the mythology of the Peries, in an attempt to instill a basic understanding of what the titular subjects actually are and what established narratives (both Persian and, perhaps earlier European-mediated “Persian”) Leyden is (or isn’t) drawing on as he writes the Tales of the Peries.

The various links under this section provide explanations to a wide array of allusions and cultural references that may be obscure to the typical reader. They are also hyperlinked within the Transcript/Manuscript of the text in order to provide immediate context and easy parsing while reading the Tales.

Contextualizing the Tales of the Peries:
What are the Peries?
Zoroastrianism and the Peries.
The Ancient Persian Ruling System.
The Significance of Particular Animals in Persian Culture.
Cultural Practices in Ancient Persia.
Nomenclature of the Peries Tale

Analysis on the Tales:
Historical and Cultural Accuracy and its effect on the Tales of the Peries.
The Afterlife of the Peries in Western Culture.