Filicide in the Stories of " Rostam and Sohrab" and " Ibrahim and Ismail"

The present article examines the story of Rostam and Sohrab by Abolghasem Ferdowsi، 4th century Persian poet، and the story of Ibrahim and Ismail in the Quranic tradition. This paper aims firstly to reveal the thematic connectionof the concept of sacrifice and filicide as performed and committed bythe protagonists of these two works، namely، Rostam and Ibrahim; and secondly to explore the resulting ethical dilemmas in the light of Emmanuel Levinas''s notion of responsibility، as such attempting to depict whether filicide is justifiable in the realm of ethics. Thus، the article attempts to show how filicide despite being immoral is considered as amoralct under specific circumstances.