Thursday, February 17, 2011
The PERSEPOLIS Connection: Deep Question.
I am wondering if anyone has made any connections between the life events of our main character(Persepolis) and her cultural history based on her name? I believe that it could be argued that her life plays out as a microcosm of the ancient soul of all things Persian, the city of Persepolis. I can give this hint for those that have me in other classes this semester, I feel some of the connections involve my favorite historical figure.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mark- no I have not made a connection. But I know you are a history buff and I would be curious to hear more on your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily...I'm not quite up on my Persian history...enlighten us, Mark. :)
ReplyDeleteThe book Persepolis lets us experience the turmoil that Marjane Satrapi experienced while growing-up. Her internal conflicts were matched and compounded by the external conflicts existing in Iran at the time. Cultural conflict, dictatorial government and war were among them.
ReplyDeleteI feel that her own life is symbolically similar to the history of the ancient city of Persepolis. It was the heart and soul of all things Persian and in fact the name Persepolis means "THE city of Persia". It would have been called the most cosmopolitan city of it's age, and was the cutting edge of art, literature (largest collection of cuneiform texts) and culture. Even with all of this, it will always be associated with war first and foremost.
Persepolis was from the booty taken from the looting and burning of Athens, something the Greek city states never forgot. It was taught to a young prince named Alexander by his father and his teacher (aristotle) and evening the score with Persia became his only focus. We know that he went on to unify the independent greek states into one Greek nation and conquer Persepolis and become the King of Persia. From there he used Persia as a staging point to create an empire. When he died, Alexander was buried in what was Persepolis, but his body was eventually taken to Egypt by force.
Persepolis was ruled by the Greeks for centuries and went through a cultural battle to balance traditional Persian culture and the introduction of western lifestyles and ideas on government and religion. The role of women was also challenged. Eventually, Persepolis burned. But Persia was conflicted again when it was conquered by the muslims in the 6th century AD.
It was a city of culture, of sophistication, of energy but it was overshadowed by war and oppressive personalities and was constantly pulled in many directions as it tried to determine what it would become. What it would believe.
That is my understanding anyways. =-)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat connection Mark. When I saw the title I recognized Persepolis as the capital of the Persian Empire and so it made me think of Persian dominance in the 500s B.C. through the mid 300s B.C. Then as you mentioned, you can not forget about Alexander the Great conquering the Persians and bringing Hellenistic culture to them and creating an interesting blend of east and west. So for me, the connection was Iran as being a place where different cultures have historically come into contact. During Marjane's time, the fundamentalists were trying to eradicate western culture which is interesting considering the presence of western culture in Iran since the 300s B.C. Also as a side note, I believe Satrap is the name for a Persian governor of a province. So a connection exists with the Persian empire and the author's last name.
ReplyDeleteNick!!! You totally get me!
ReplyDeleteI was going to make the point about "Satrap". It was not only the name of a persian governor, but a GREEK APPOINTED governor. They were usually compensated well for keeping their territory "quiet". They were, at times, considered to be an ancient version of "sell-outs" by some.