Zahhak
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Zahāk is a personification of evil in Iranian mythology and historiography. In the Avesta and Zoroastrian tradition, Zahāk is considered the son of Ahriman, the foe of Ahura Mazda. In the Shāhnāmeh of
Persian miniature depiction of Zahhak in the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, from either 1525 or 1535
Zahhak awakens in terror from his nightmare at the birth of Fereydun.
12th–13th century bowl depicting King Zahhak with snakes protruding from his shoulders, likely from Northwestern Iran. Modified c. 1926, as many medieval pieces were to make them more attractive.
Persian painting, depicting Zahhāk ascending on the royal throne.
Fereydun
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Fereydun is a hero and king in Iranian mythology. Although the details vary, his portrayal is broadly similar in the Zoroastrian sacred book Avesta, Middle Persian texts, and the 11th century Persian
Zahhak
…is described as a sorcerer who ruled with the aid of demons, the daevas (divs). The Avesta identifies the person who finally disposed of Aži Dahāka as Θraētaona son of Aθβiya, in Middle Persian called Frēdōn. The Avesta has little to say about the nature of Θraētaona's defeat of Aži Dahāka, other than that it…
Oil painting of Fereydun. Made in Qajar Iran during the mid-19th-century
A Sasanian amulet depicting a hero holding a bull-headed mace and subduing a demon, possibly meant to represent Fereydun's battle with Azi Dahak.
Zahhak bound by Fereydun, while Kaveh the Blacksmith is holding a apron-banner. From a mid-17th-century Safavid miniature.
Bahram Gur Fights the Horned Wolf, folio from the Great Ilkhanid Shahnama