In the concluding paragraph of "The Premature Burial", Poe writes:

[Alas! the grim legion of sepulchral terrors cannot be regarded as altogether fanciful- but, like the Demons in whose company Afrasiab made his voyage down the Oxus, they must sleep, or they will devour us- they must be suffered to slumber, or we perish.]

Who is Afrasiab? What is the Oxus? Is this a reference to an ancient myth? If so, which one?

-- Anonymous, July 23, 2000

Answers

Afrasiab is a character from Persian epic (I can't remember who) who appears in Firdausi's classic Shah-Nahma (Book of the Kings). Samarkand, capital of ancient Sogdiana (Eastern Uzbekistan and Northern Tajikistan) was also known in the first Millenium (AD) as Afrasiab. The Oxus river, now known as the Amu Darya traditionally separated the Persian empire from Central Asia (or Transoxiana, the land beyond the Oxus river). Today it pretty much forms the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Don't which myth it refers to but Firdausi will.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2001

>Afrasiab is a character from Persian epic (I can't remember who)

i believe the epic is called 'Tlism Hosh Ruba' which is originating from the magical classic 'Dastan e Amir Hamza' in Tlism... Afrasiab's character is that of an evil sorceror.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001