rsian Jemshid. Yima, according to the
legend, had dwelt originally in Aryanem vaejo--the primitive seat of the
Arians--and had there reigned gloriously and peacefully for awhile; but
the evils of winter having come upon his country, he had removed from it
with his subjects, and had retired to a secluded spot where he and
his people enjoyed uninterrupted happiness. In this place was "neither
overbearing nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence,
neither poverty nor deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge
teeth nor bodies beyond the usual meassure." The inhabitants suffered no
defilement from the evil spirit. They dwelt amid odoriferous trees and
golden pillars; their cattle were the largest, best, and most beautiful
on the earth; they were themselves a tall and beautiful race; their food
was ambrosial, and never failed them. No wonder that time sped fast with
them, and that they, not noting its night, thought often that what was
really a year had been no more than a single day. Yima was the great
hero of the early Iranians. His titles, besides "the king" (khshaeta),
are "the brilliant," "the happy," "the greatly wealthy," "the leader
of the peoples," "the renowned in Aryanem vaejo." He is most probably
identical with the Yama of the Vedas, who was originally the first man,
the progenitor of mankind and the ruler of the blessed in Paradise, but
who was afterwards transformed into "the god of death, the inexorable
judge of men's doings, and the punisher of the wicked."

Next in importance to Yima among the heroes is Thraetona--the modern
Persian Feridun. He was born in Varena--which is perhaps Atropatene, or
Azerbijan--and was the son of a distinguished father, Athwyo. His chief
exploit was the destruction of Ajis-dahaka (Zohak), who is sometimes
represented as a cruel tyrant, the bitter enemy of the Iranian race,
sometimes as a monstrous dragon, with three mouths, three tails, six
eyes, and a thousand scaly rings, who threatened to ruin the whole of
the good creation. The traditional scene of the destruction was the
mountain of Demavend, the highest peak of the Elburz range south of the
Caspian. Thraetona, like Yima, appears to be also a Vedic hero. He may
be recognized in Traitana, who is said in the Rig-Veda to have slain a
mighty giant by severing his head from his shoulders.

A third heroic personage known in the early times was Keresaspa, of the
noble Sama family. He was the son of Thrita--a