TEHRAN – Iranian cartoonist Jamal Rahmati has used characters from Persian poet Ferdowsi’s magnum opus, the Shahnameh, to make an animation series named “The Seven Adventures of Coronavirus”.

“Rustam and Zakariya against Corona”, the first part of the seven-episode comedy series, was released on Saturday.

In this episode, Rustam, the most celebrated legendary hero in the Shahnameh, and his horse Rakhsh ally with Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi (Rhazes), the great physician of the Islamic world during the ninth century CE, to fight coronavirus.

The animation aims at entertaining children, who have been kept in quarantine at their homes over the past three weeks due to the coronavirus epidemic in the country, while teaching them how to protect themselves against the new virus. 

“The Seven Adventures of Corona” refers to “The Seven Adventures of Rustam”, one of the compelling stories from the Shahnameh.

Photo: A scene from “Rustam and Zakariya against Coronavirus”, the first episode of Iranian animator Jamal Rahmati’s series “The Seven Adventures of Coronavirus”.

ABU/MMS/YAW