"The Legend of Antara" is a world-famous work that is as famous as "Homer's Epic". In the Arab region, it is a more popular story of heroes and beauties than "One Thousand and One Nights". In Europe it has been likened to "the Arabs' Iliad." In history, Antara is a real person. He lived in the fifth to sixth centuries AD. He was a knightly hero with lofty ambitions, the protagonist of a love story, and a poet with great literary talent. After long-term oral transmission and singing by the people and folk artists, and comprehensive processing and re-creation by a number of literati, it was finally finalized into a book, which has a history of nearly a thousand years. It reflects the ancient and primitive Arab social life and shows the Arab nation's character of yearning for nobility, pursuing virtue, generosity and bravery. Basic introduction Book title: "Antara Legend" Also known as: Antara legend Author: People, folk artists Era: Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258) period Male protagonist: Antara bin Sheddad Heroine: Source of Ablay's story: Egypt, Sham and Iraq "The Legend of Antara" content introduction, Antara character background, "The Legend of Antara" background, work evaluation, comments:, "The Legend of Antara" content introduction Arabia Ancient long story. It is compiled based on the deeds of Antara Ben Sheddad (525-615), a hanging poem poet and knight in the Jahiliya period, which is circulated among the people. It contains many myths and fictional plots. Antara is the son of a tribal leader in the Arabian Peninsula, but because his mother was a black slave girl, he grew up with the slaves herding camels and sheep. He grew up to be tall and powerful, and fell in love with his cousin Ablay. Due to the customs of the time, his father refused to recognize him as his son, and his marriage was also rejected by his uncle. He ran away angrily, practiced riding and shooting hard, and determined to fight for happiness and honor with bravery. He was a heroic hero, fought in the north and south, went deep into enemy lines to rob the camels of the King of Iraq, defeated Roman giants, repelled enemy invasions many times, became a famous and brave knight, and finally got married to Ablay. The story reflects the social life and moral customs of ancient Arabia through Antara's heroic temperament, poetic talent and love and battle deeds. It also incorporates some magical stories and poems. Some Oriental scholars call it "Arabic". "The Chronicles of Ilion". It is difficult to determine the author of this book, but it is generally believed that it was compiled by the Arab storyteller Asmayi in the 9th century based on folklore. It was later processed and supplemented into a book by Yusuf bin Ismaili in the 10th century. The book was finalized no later than the 14th century. There are two popular versions of this book: the Hijaz version is longer, and the Syrian or Iraqi version is shorter. The whole book is in rhyme style, with occasional poems. This work had a great influence on later writers. The modern Egyptian poet Ahmed Shaoji once wrote the poetic drama "Antara" based on it. Antara's character background Antara, whose full name is Antara bin Sheddad, was born in about 525 AD in the Nejd (also translated as Najd) region in present-day Saudi Arabia. His father, Shedad, was a noble of the Abs tribe, and his mother's name was Zebibai, a Habshe that Shedad captured in a battle: the ancient name of Ethiopia. slave girl. The tradition during the savagery period stipulated that the sons of female slaves were naturally slaves. Only after they gave birth to children would their fathers recognize their blood relationship with them. Therefore, Antara did all slave work in her father's house, such as herding cattle, horses, camels, and milking cows, which cultivated a hard-working, brave and strong character. One year, the Tai tribe invaded the Absi tribe and robbed their large herd of camels. Sheddad asked Antara to fight. Antara said: "The slave only knows how to milk cows!" She rejected her father's request. At this time, his father said: "You are a free man, charge into the battle!" Antara responded to the call and recovered the plundered camel. From then on, Antara became famous among the Abs tribe and was praised as a hero. After that, Antara led his troops to attack hostile tribes one after another, winning many battles and achieving outstanding results, and became a famous army commander. However, his illustrious military exploits failed to eliminate the tribe's prejudice against him. Instead, he attracted insults and slander from jealous people. What made him even more painful was that he fell deeply in love with his cousin Ablay. Because of his dark skin, cleft lower lip, and his mother's non-Arab descent, his cousin alienated him, and even the girl's relatives alienated him. However, Antara spent her whole life pleasing her cousin, telling her about her bravery, poetry, generosity and various virtues. Antara is an aspiring knight-hero and the protagonist of a pure, tortured love story. Background of "The Legend of Antara" During the Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258), especially its middle period, the society was stable, the economy was developing, and the merchants and citizens in the city were rising, and they needed literature and literary styles to satisfy their own interests. This need gave birth to the emergence and development of market literature and literature and art. At that time, shadow puppet shows, puppet shows, various singing and dancing performances, juggling, ventriloquism and other entertainment activities were spread across various places. The most important of these is the art of rap.
These rap places existed in various public places, later cafes, and places where passers-by gathered. Whether they were foreign stories or stories of the nation, they were all told by rap artists, and these stories became It is getting more and more extended and larger, and finally formed several long legends and story collections, among which is "The Legend of Antara". The story of "The Legend of Antara" mainly comes from three countries, namely Egypt, Sham and Iraq. The linguist Asmayi, also known as Abu Said Abd al-Malik ibn Guraib, was the first person to write about the story of Antara. Antara's story is widely circulated in Persia, Sham, Ethiopia, Rome and even Sudan and Algeria, although the plot is not a true portrayal of Antara's life. Evaluation of the work "The Legend of Antara" is a world-famous work that is as famous as "Homer's Epic", "Song of Cid" and "Song of Roland". In the Arab region, it is a more popular story of heroes and beauties than "One Thousand and One Nights". Many stories in "One Thousand and One Nights" originate from India, Persia and other countries, and are mixed with a lot of imported elements, while "The Legend of Antara" is a home-grown epic work that purely praises the heroes of the Arab nation. In Europe it has been likened to "the Iliad of the Arabs." In history, Antara is a real person. He lived in the fifth to sixth centuries AD. He was a knightly hero with lofty ambitions, the protagonist of a love story, and a poet with great literary talent. There are endless myths and legends about him, and he has become the highest example of heroic knights and outstanding poets. Comment: The West translated it and studied it very early. Call it the "Arab Iliad (Homer's epic)". It is said that it praises the role of beautiful women, and Able is like Helena in "The Iliad". And his brother Shabubo, who is always by Antara's side, has been likened to Sancho Panza in "Don Quixote". Lebanese scholar Hanna Fahhouri commented on this: "Many adventure stories were fabricated around him that were inspired by the environment of the savage period and the Arab qualities of advocating heroism, loyalty and dedication. Historical Antara is portrayed as perfect The supreme example of a knight, an all-powerful hero, and a great poet. He is generous and generous to those in need. He is the ever-conquering hero, the sword of the oppressed, and he sacrifices everything for the pursuit of eternal glory. His feelings for her are so strong that they cannot be more profound. The difficulties that lie ahead of him are extremely dangerous. The enemies are extremely powerful, the battles are countless, and the disasters are immeasurable..." He believes that there are at least four factors that can arouse readers' interest: 1. Antara's skin color; 2, his love; 3, the praise of heroic deeds; 4, the admiration of birth and family status. Some critics believe that "The Legend of Antara" has three aspects of value: 1. Criticism of racism (a black hero falls in love with a white woman); 2. The protagonist achieves success through struggle, bravery, and adventure; 3. Fight with Persia and Rome to win honor for the nation. (See "A Brief Introduction to Arabic Literature" by Lebanese writer LaRaif Houri) French esthete Danner said that this book can be compared with world-famous heroic epics such as "Song of Roland", "Song of Cid" and "Odyssey" . ——Ji Xianlin, editor-in-chief of "Dictionary of Oriental Literature" The "Legend of Antara" in the hands of readers is the first full text translation in the world. Chinese readers who are not familiar with Arabic can finally see the full picture of this masterpiece describing heroes and beauties nearly a thousand years after the true "original" Arabic version of "The Legend of Antara" came out. ——Translator's Preface Li Weizhong, Professor of the University of International Business and Economics, I saw a spirit of self-defense in this masterpiece. It was a defense statement submitted by a loyal lawyer for the innocent enslaved people at an unfair trial. His own determination and will set him free. ——Ambassador's Preface Yahya Abdulkarim Zaid, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to China Scholars who study folk tales regard "The Legend of Antara", a masterpiece of mythological and heroic love, as Arab of "The Iliad". "The Legend of Antara" is originally a story passed down orally among the people, so it combines imaginary things that happened in different periods. ——Ph.D. Preface by Professor Mohammed Abdullah Kebul Surumai of Riyadh University, Saudi Arabia. Although "Legend" appears to be about the life of Antara before Islam, it actually reflects the period of Jahiliyah. A history of more than 500 years of struggle between heroes and the Crusaders in the late Abbasid Dynasty. This legend, which is based on fiction and imagination and has a strong mythological color, transformed Antara from a black slave into a heroic knight of the Abus tribe, and then became a heroic knight of the entire Arab nation. Later, he conquered the Sudan, Ethiopia and Ethiopia. Asia, India, Egypt, North Africa until Andalusia (today's Spain and Portugal). This seems to be a preview of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's unification of the Arabian Peninsula, and the Arab Muslims reaching their peak after opening up territories and establishing a great Arab empire spanning Asia, Africa and Europe. ——Zhong Jikun, Professor of the Department of Oriental Languages, Peking University, "The Legend of Antara" can better reflect the ancient primitive Arab social life, and can better show the Arab nation's yearning for nobility, pursuit of virtue, generosity, and bravery. Spiritual character. Antara represents it all. Coupled with the euphemistic and lingering love story of never giving up, it has the widest readership.
——Zhi Puhao, researcher at the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences