The Shahnamah and the importance of oral hygiene

[this is actually something I wrote on my Neo last summer but forgot to upload into Sententiae]

This morning I read a six page chunk of the Shanamah and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is now clearly into the historical period with the story of Ardeshir's victory over Ardavan. Thus, in the beginning of the reign of the Sassanians. The story of Sekander, which I finished the day before was fascinating in its mix of history and fantasy. To salve their pride, apparently, the medieval Persians made Alexander, or Sekander as they call him, the secret son of the Persian king by his wife, the daughter of Filqis the king of Greece, whom once he had impregnated he sent back to Greece because of her bad breath. So history turns on its tracks because a bride's oral hygiene is not up to Macedonian royal standards.

Very interesting.

so if the Persians knew the use of antibacterial mouthwash history would have turned in its tracks.