L’ombra di Ahriman. La contraddittoriale essenza del male, dalla mitologia persiana alla cultura occidentale

Abstract

The shadow of Ahriman. The contradictorial essence of evil, from Persian mythology to Western culture. At all time human beings have been questioning the possible origin controlling evil impulses and actions resulting from it. The ancient Persian religion called Zoroastrianism suggests a reading key in whichwe can find a complex “dualistic monotheism” which deals with the existence of two contradictorially opposed priciples inside its divinity. The struggle created by the good/evil dichotomy perfectly fits in the definition of “contradictorial” proposed by Gilbert Durand, describing an opposition that cannot be overcome by a subsequent synthesis but remains creating a never-ending energy inside us. This dualism is innate, as pointed out in ancient times religious practices in Persia and yet it reaches us to knock on our doors. The entity which harbours in the god called Ahura Mazda (in the old Avestic language) or Ohrmazd (in modern Persian) is called Angra Mainyu - or Ahriman, in Farsi language. The figure of this entity which harbours in us, creating the natural dualism between good and evil, has influenced many thinkers which have given their contribute to form our Western culture. To mention some of them: Voltaire mentions it in his “Philosophical Dictionary”, Leopardi dedicates his poem “Ad Arimane” to it, it helps Freud to formulate the dualism between Eros and Thanatos and affects Jung while he formulates his archetypes. Therefore, the following essay aims to bring to light the fil rouge connecting apparently distant cultures which are based on the good/evil dichotomy; distinctive characteristic of the present-day society’s atmosphere of overwhelming uncertainty .