From the very beginning of life on earth, man has learned that life by itself is valuable. The notion of invulnerability is a reflection of human beings' desire to live as longer as possible in this world and to achieve immortality. The idea may as well be approached in terms of man’s desire to achieve supremacy over other human beings. There are a few heroes in world mythology who are famous for their invulnerability, among whom one may mention Achilles—the famous Greek hero in the Trojan War, who, according to myths, was invulnerable except for the heel—and the other, named Esfandiar, the legendary Persian prince and a heroic figure in Ferdowsi's Shah-nameh—the national epic of Persia—whose invulnerability owed to Zoroaster, the ancient Iranian prophet. It seems that, from among the invulnerable heroes in world mythology, these two, possessing certain distinguishing characteristics, look more similar than other heroes in many respects. For instance, enjoying a distinguished royal origin; being young, brave, adventurous, arrogant, and unrivalled; enjoying supernatural, divine attributes; being out for fame; being vulnerable in a certain point of the body; and, finally, dying a tragic, premature death. This study compares and contrasts Achilles and Esfandiar on the basis of Greek and Persian mythology.

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