Rustam, the 'Persian Hercules'

I have nearly finished reading my mythology anthology. Having read so many myths over the past year, I think I have become a bit desensitised to how bonkers they often are. There are a lot of Badass Hero Myths; here's some of the story of Rustam, the 'Persian Hercules'.

Queen Rudabeh of Zabulistan was pregnant. When the time of the birth came near, the queen grew pale and shrieked and swooned. King Zal summoned the magic Simurgh bird, who explained that the baby was too large for a normal birth and instructed the king on how to perform a Caesarean section. On the day of his birth, Rustam was as big as a one-year-old. He was suckled by ten nurses and, once weaned, ate as much as five people. He was great at killing things; he was a badass.

Fast forward.

One day, King Kai Kaous of Iran, a friend of Rustam's, decided to conquer the Kingdom of Mazanderan. He led his soldiers there, plundered the land and laid waste its cities. The Sorcerer-King of Mazanderan summoned the White Demon, who captured Kai Kaous and his men.

Eventually, Rustam heard about this and was not pleased. He travelled to Mazanderan. In the capital city, Rustam decapitated Arzang, leader of Mazanderan's demon army, and released King Kaous and his men.

Rustam then mounted his trusty steed and galloped to the Seven Mountains, where the White Demon lived. Rustam fought the White Demon, cutting off some of it's limbs. At one point the demon gained the upper hand, grasping Rustam and crushing him until all his bones must surely break...

But then Ohrmazd (God) intervened, increasing Rustam's strength and stamina so that he was able to defeat the demon.

Demons dead, King Kaous wrote a letter to the Sorcerer-King of Mazanderan explaining that Rustam had killed the demons, and Mazanderan now belonged to him. The Sorcerer-King would not give up.
He sent his human army. Rustam uprooted a tree and threw it at the troops, killing many of them and terrifying the rest.

The Sorcerer-King summoned more demons to bolster his forces.

For seven days, the battle raged between the soldiers of Mazanderan and the soldiers of Iran. The screams of the demons, the shouts of the warriors, the clanging of the trumpets, the beating of the drums, the neighing of the horses, and the groans of the dying made the earth hideous with noise. The armies fought until it seemed like pity and mercy had both completely vanished from the world. The plain on which they fought turned into a lake of blood.

And then Rustam faced the Sorcerer-King one-on-one. Just as Rustam was about the kill him, the Sorcerer-King turned himself to stone to survive the fatal blow.

"Return to your true form or be shattered into pieces!" yelled Rustam.

The Sorcerer-King did so, and King Kaous promptly ordered that he be hacked into pieces.

After the execution, there was a massive party.

(Myths are often propagandistic: it is telling that the evil demon-summoning Sorcerer-King kept his prisoners alive, after they had invaded his country and laid its cities to waste...)