The Shah and the Ayatollah

As far back as I remember, I was always steeped in Iranian
mythology. I was three years old, in Damascus. My mother and
the servants who had been brought from Iran would tell me the
deeds and fates of our legendary kings and heroes. To them these
fearless champions had really existed and were part of our history.
Hence my surprise when in grade two in the French Lycée of
Beirut (I was six years old) I noticed that our teacher did not
mention them in his version of Iran’s history. To my query she
answered: “Oh that! It’s mythology!” At home my nanny
shrugged her shoulders: “Your teacher is an ignorant! Don’t listen
to her!” Years passed on and we schoolkids became acquainted
with Greek mythology and other legends. But I discovered that
they were not told at home to European kids and at any rate their
legends were very different from ours. For one thing, they referred
to multiple gods who were not always morally right like
our Wise Lord who continuously fought against Ahriman, the
evil spirit.