The Shahnameh cannot be compared solely with the Iliad and the Odyssey; rather, it should be considered alongside the great epics of the world — from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in India to Goguryeo on the Korean Peninsula and the works of Virgil. None of these works can be considered identical or equal to the Shahnameh, because the Shahnameh is fundamentally different. It contains, in a remarkably comprehensive form, the various strands of national identity. Here, the concepts of “country” and “homeland” are not confined merely to a particular geographical territory. They encompass an entire framework of ideals, culture, mythology, history, intellectual thought, virtue, ethics, truthfulness, systems of governance, and ways of life. All of these elements and symbols can be found in the Shahnameh, whereas they do not appear in the Iliad and the Odyssey in the same way.