Azhi Dahaka

Three-headed serpent-dragon of the Lie created by Angra Mainyu; usurped the throne as the tyrant Zahhak until Thraetaona bound him beneath Mount Damavand.

Domains

• tyranny evil
• chaos druj

Powers

• Menace creation with three maws, three heads, and six eyes
• Feed the serpents sprung from his shoulders on human brains
• Break his bonds at world's end before Keresaspa slays him

Epithets

• θrizafan avestan · thrizafan · avestaThree-jawed, three-headed, six-eyed; the dragon Aži Dahāka of a thousand wilesĀbān Yašt (Yašt 5.34); Yasna 9.8 (primary)
• θrikamǝrǝδa Avestan · thri-kameredha · epithetthree-headedAban Yasht (Yasht 5.34); Hom Yasht (Yasna 9.8) (primary)

Relations

• ally: SpityuraReciprocal of zoroastrian_spityura.ally (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
• ally: Angra MainyuCreated by Angra Mainyu as the mightiest drug against the material world; the destructive spirit's chief instrument.Avesta, Yasna 9.8 (primary)
• enemy: AtarAtar and the three-headed dragon contend for the unseizable khvarenah; the Fire drives him back.Avesta, Zamyad Yasht (Yt. 19.46-51) (primary)
• enemy: ThraetaonaReciprocal of zoroastrian_thraetaona.enemy — Smote the three-headed dragon and, in the Pahlavi and epic tradition, bound him beneath Mount Damavand.Avesta, Yasna 9.7-8; Zamyad Yasht 19.36-37 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Avesta, Yasht 5.29-31 (primary); Avesta, Yasht 9.13-14 (primary); Ferdowsi, Shāhnāmeh (Zahhak) (primary)