Zoroaster

For other uses, see Zoroaster (disambiguation).
"Zarathustra" redirects here. For other uses, see Zarathustra (disambiguation).
Zoroaster
𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 Zaraθuštra

A 3rd century, fresco from the Middle East, depicting Zoroaster; and the faith tradition.
Known for Founder of Zoroastrianism
Spouse(s) Hvōvi (traditional)
Children Freni, Pourucista, Triti;
Isat Vastar, Uruvat-Nara, Hvare Ciϑra (traditional)
Parent(s) Pourušaspa Spitāma, Dughdova (traditional)

Zoroaster (/ˌzɒroʊˈæstər/ or /ˈzɒroʊˌæstər/, from Greek Ζωροάστρης Zōroastrēs), also known as Zarathustra (/ˌzɑːrəˈθuːstrə/; Avestan: 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 (Zaraθuštra); Persian: زرتشت‎‎ Zartosht, زردشت Zardosht), or as Zarathushtra Spitama, was the founder of Zoroastrianism. Though he was a native speaker of Old Avestan and lived in the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau, his birthplace is uncertain. Zoroastrianism was the official religion of Persia and its distant subdivisions from 600 BCE to 650 CE. Zoroaster is often dated to the 10th century BC,[1] though the religion named for him is not attested to historically until the 5th century BC.

He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrian thinking. Most of his life is known through the Zoroastrian texts.

Etymology

Zoroaster's name in his native language, Avestan, was probably Zaraϑuštra. His English name, "Zoroaster", derives from a later (5th century BCE) Greek transcription, Zōroastrēs (Ζωροάστρης),[2] as used in Xanthus's Lydiaca (Fragment 32) and in Plato's First Alcibiades (122a1). This form appears subsequently in the Latin Zōroastrēs and, in later Greek orthographies, as Zōroastris. The Greek form of the name appears to be based on a phonetic transliteration or semantic substitution of Avestan zaraϑ- with the Greek zōros (literally "undiluted") and the Avestan -uštra with astron ("star").

In Avestan, Zaraϑuštra is generally accepted to derive from an Old Iranian *Zaratuštra-; The element half of the name (-uštra-) is thought to be the Indo-Iranian root for "camel", with the entire name meaning "he who can manage camels".[3][a] Reconstructions from later Iranian languages—particularly from the Middle Persian (300 BCE) Zardusht, which is the form that the name took in the 9th- to 12th-century Zoroastrian texts—suggest that *Zaratuštra- might be a zero-grade form of *Zarantuštra-.[3] Subject then to whether Zaraϑuštra derives from *Zarantuštra- or from *Zaratuštra-, several interpretations have been proposed.[b]

If Zarantuštra is the original form, it may mean "with old/aging camels",[3] related to Avestic zarant-.[2] (cf. Pashto zōṛ and Ossetian zœrond, "old"; Middle Persian zāl, "old")[4]

But if Zaratuštra-, meaning "[owner of the] golden camel", is correct, it is derived from old Eastern Iranian word *zar- for gold and ushtra for camel. An Eastern Iranian origin is also suggested by the fact that the Old Persian word dar as a Western-Iranian dialect would be the equal term of Eastern Iranian zar, and Modern Persian uses the Eastern Iranian word for gold.[6]

The interpretation of the -ϑ- (/θ/) in Avestan zaraϑuštra was for a time itself subjected to heated debate because the -ϑ- is an irregular development: As a rule, *zarat- (a first element that ends in a dental consonant) should have Avestan zarat- or zarat̰- as a development from it. Why this is not so for zaraϑuštra has not yet been determined. Notwithstanding the phonetic irregularity, that Avestan zaraϑuštra with its -ϑ- was linguistically an actual form is shown by later attestations reflecting the same basis.[3] All present-day, Iranian-language variants of his name derive from the Middle Iranian variants of Zarϑošt, which, in turn, all reflect Avestan's fricative -ϑ-.

Date

The date of Zoroaster, i.e., the date of composition of the Old Avestan gathas, is unknown. Dates proposed in scholarly literature diverge widely.

Classical scholarship first attests to Zoroaster in the 5th century BC. Zoroastrian sources themselves (the Bundahishn, "258 years before Alexander") place Zoroaster in the 6th century BC, which coincided with historiographic accounts (Ammianus Marcellinus xxiii.6.32, 4th century CE). The Traditional Zoroastrian date originates in the period immediately following Alexander the Great's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BCE.[9] The Seleucid kings who gained power following Alexander's death instituted an "Age of Alexander" as the new calendrical epoch. This did not appeal to the Zoroastrian priesthood who then attempted to establish an "Age of Zoroaster". To do so, they needed to establish when Zoroaster had lived, which they accomplished by counting back the length of successive generations[10] until they concluded that Zoroaster must have lived "258 years before Alexander". This estimate then re-appeared in the 9th- to 12th-century texts of Zoroastrian tradition.[c]

Some recent scholarship, such as that of Mary Boyce (1700 BC-1200 BC) and Gherhardo Gnoli (1000 BC) has suggested Zoroaster lived much earlier. Their line of inquiry considers linguistic and socio-cultural evidence to place Zoroaster between 1500 and 500 BC. The basis of this theory is based primarily on proposed linguistic similarities between the Old Avestan language of the Zoroastrian Gathas and the Sanskrit of the Rigveda, a collection of early Vedic hymns. For both texts to have a common Indo-Iranian origin, it is implausible that the Gathas and Rigveda could have been composed more than a few centuries apart, thus these scholars suggest that Zoroaster lived and composed the Gathas much earlier than the 6th century BC. A date of 11th or 10th century BCE is sometimes considered among Iranists, who in recent decades found that the social customs described in the Gathas roughly coincide with what is known of other pre-historic peoples of that period.[9]

Another line of inquiry for dating Zoroaster uses literary, historical, and theological evidence, and places Zoroaster between 900 and 400 BC, corresponding to the 6th century dating of Zoroastrian tradition. In addition to the accounts Zoroastrian sources, some circumstantial evidence places Zoroaster in the 6th century BC. For example, the 6th century date corresponds to the observational history of the Pleiades in the Geoponica that indicates Zoroaster as a principal source of some observations. Also, Yasnas 5 & 105 describe how "Zoroaster prayed to Anahita for the conversion of King Vištaspa", this provides further evidence that Zoroaster resided during the reign of King Vištaspa; which would corroborate a chronology of late-6th century BCE. [11][12]

Place

Yasna 9 and 17 cite the Ditya River in Airyanem Vaējah (Middle Persian Ērān Wēj) as Zoroaster's home and the scene of his first appearance. The Avesta (both Old and Younger portions) does not mention the Achaemenids or of any West Iranian tribes such as the Medes, Persians, or even Parthians.

However, in Yasna 59.18, the zaraϑuštrotema, or supreme head of the Zoroastrian priesthood, is said to reside in 'Ragha'. In the 9th- to 12th-century Middle Persian texts of Zoroastrian tradition, this 'Ragha'—along with many other places—appear as locations in Western Iran. While the land of Media does not figure at all in the Avesta (the westernmost location noted in scripture is Arachosia), the Būndahišn, or "Primordial Creation," (20.32 and 24.15) puts Ragha in Media (medieval Rai). However, in Avestan, Ragha is simply a toponym meaning "plain, hillside."[13]

Apart from these indications in Middle Persian sources which are open to interpretations, there are a number of other sources. The Greek and Latin sources are divided on the birthplace of Zarathustra. There are many Greek accounts of Zarathustra, referred usually as Persian or Perso-Median Zoroaster. Moreover, they have the suggestion that there has been more than one Zoroaster.[14] On the other hand, in post-Islamic sources Shahrastani (1086–1153) an Iranian writer originally from Shahristān, present-day Turkmenistan, proposed that Zoroaster's father was from Atropatene (also in Medea) and his mother was from Rey. Coming from a reputed scholar of religions, this was a serious blow for the various regions who all claimed that Zoroaster originated from their homelands, some of which then decided that Zoroaster must then have then been buried in their regions or composed his Gathas there or preached there.[15][16] Also Arabic sources of the same period and the same region of historical Persia consider Azerbaijan as the birthplace of Zarathustra.[17]

By the late 20th century, most scholars had settled on an origin in Eastern Iran. Gnoli proposed Sistan, Baluchistan (though in a much wider scope than the present-day province) as the homeland of Zoroastrianism; Frye voted for Bactria and Chorasmia;[18] Khlopin suggests the Tedzen Delta in present-day Turkmenistan.[19] Sarianidi considered the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex region as "the native land of the Zoroastrians and, probably, of Zoroaster himself."[20] Boyce includes the steppes to the west from the Volga.[21] The medieval "from Media" hypothesis is no longer taken seriously, and Zaehner has even suggested that this was a Magi-mediated issue to garner legitimacy, but this has been likewise rejected by Gershevitch and others.

The 2005 Encyclopedia Iranica article on the history of Zoroastrianism summarizes the issue with "while there is general agreement that he did not live in western Iran, attempts to locate him in specific regions of eastern Iran, including Central Asia, remain tentative."[22]

Life

Zoroaster initially learned the trade of a cobbler and lived by the rivers of Bactria. By the age of 30, he was a preacher of monotheism and his followers were adherents of Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord).

The rings of the Fravashi'.

He received revelations and saw a vision of Amesha Spenta, and his teachings were collected in the Gathas and the Avesta. His teachings of the Golden Rule and as a shaman had gained him much attention among the leading figures of his time.

His thoughts about free will[23] earned him a patron ruler named Vishtaspa an early adherent of Zoroastrianism (possibly from Bactria according to the Shahnameh).

Zoroaster was interested in the occult, such as the spirit elements of Water, Air, Earth, and Fire.[24][25] His ideas about the secrets of beauty and health had gained him much prosperity and wealth possibly in gemstones.[25] Persian rulers associated the faith with prosperity and fortune (except Cyrus the Great).

Disciples of Zoroaster centered in Nineveh.

He married Hvōvi (an Avestan high priestess). He opposed the use of the hallucinogenic Haoma plant, polytheism and an oppressive class system in Persia.[26] His followers spread throughout Rsis, Elam, Babylon, Media, Sardis; Fire temples were built in Armenia in his honor and led to the rise of the Achaemenid Empire.

Death

Zoroaster was murdered because he opposed the Daevas.[26] The Shahnameh, however claims an obscure conflict with Turan, in which Zoroaster was murdered.[27] Jamaspa, his son-in-law, then became Zoroaster's successor.[28]

Influences

In Islam

Further information: Daeva, Jinn, Ifrit, Iblis and Angra Mainyu

It is very likely that Zoroaster or his descendants or followers (who unlike most Persians were unharmed by the Diadochi, due to their location in the Desert of Paran) were the progenitors of the monotheistic Ishmaelites such as Quraysh (among whom many supported Sassanid Persia), Rasulids, Alids, Umayyads, and Abbasids.[23]

The similarities between Amesha Spenta and the archangel Gabriel are also evident. So are the mention of Thamud, Iram of the Pillars in the Quran (indicating the vast influence of the Achaemenid Empire).[23]

The Sabaeans who practiced Free Will (somehow coincidentally with Zoroastrians) are also mentioned in the Quran.[23]

Muslim scholastic views

Main article: Shahnameh

Like the Greeks of classical antiquity, Islamic tradition understands Zoroaster to be the founding prophet of the Magians (via Aramaic, Arabic Majus, collective Majusya). The 11th-century Cordoban Ibn Hazm (Zahiri school) contends that Kitabi "of the Book" cannot apply in light of the Zoroastrian assertion that their books were destroyed by Alexander. --> Citing the authority of the 8th-century al-Kalbi, the 9th- and 10th-century Sunni historian al-Tabari (i.648)[29] reports that Zaradusht bin Isfiman (an Arabic adaptation of "Zarathustra Spitama") was an inhabitant of Israel and a servant of one of the disciples of the prophet Jeremiah. According to this tale, Zaradusht defrauded his master, who cursed him, causing him to become leprous (cf. Elisha's servant Gehazi in Jewish Scripture). The apostate Zaradusht then eventually made his way to Balkh (present day Afghanistan) where he converted Bishtasb (i.e. Vishtaspa), who in turn compelled his subjects to adopt the religion of the Magians. Recalling other tradition, al-Tabari (i.681–683[29]) recounts that Zaradusht accompanied a Jewish prophet to Bishtasb/Vishtaspa. Upon their arrival, Zaradusht translated the sage's Hebrew teachings for the king and so convinced him to convert (Tabari also notes that they had previously been Sabis) to the Magian religion.[29]

The 12th-century heresiographer al-Shahrastani describes the Majusiya into three sects, the Kayumarthiya, the Zurwaniya and the Zaradushtiya, among which Al-Shahrastani asserts that only the last of the three were properly followers of Zoroaster. As regards the recognition of a prophet, the Zoroaster has said: "They ask you as to how should they recognize a prophet and believe him to be true in what he says; tell them what he knows the others do not, and he shall tell you even what lies hidden in your nature; he shall be able to tell you whatever you ask him and he shall perform such things which others cannot perform." (Namah Shat Vakhshur Zartust, .5–7. 50–54) Shortly before the advent of the prophet of Islam, [Muhammad], Persia was under the sovereignty of Sasan V. When the companions of the Prophet, on invading Persia, came in contact with the Zoroastrian people and learned these teachings, they at once came to the conclusion that Zoroaster was really a Divinely inspired prophet. Thus they accorded the same treatment to the Zoroastrian people which they did to other "People of the Book". Though the name of Zoroaster is not mentioned in the Qur'an, still he was regarded as one of those prophets whose names have not been mentioned in the Qur'an, for there is a verse in the Qur'an: "And We did send apostles before thee: there are some of them that We have mentioned to thee and there are others whom We have not mentioned to Thee." (40 : 78). Accordingly, the Muslims treated the founder of Zoroastrianism as a true prophet and believed in his religion as they did in other inspired creeds, and thus according to the prophecy, protected the Zoroastrian religion. James Darmestar remarked in the translation of Zend Avesta: "When Islam assimilated the Zoroastrians to the People of the Book, it evinced a rare historical sense and solved the problem of the origin of the Avesta." (Introduction to Vendiad. p. 69.)

Ahmadiyya view

Ahmadi Muslims view Zoroaster as a Prophet of God and describe the expressions of Ahura Mazda, the God of goodness and Ahraman, the God of evil as merely referring to the coexistence of forces of good and evil enabling humans to exercise free will. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in his book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth views Zoroaster as Prophet of God and describes such the expressions to be a concept which is similar to the concepts in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.[30]

In Manichaeism

Manichaeism considered Zoroaster to be a figure (along with Jesus and the Buddha) in a line of prophets of which Mani (216–276) was the culmination.[31] Zoroaster's ethical dualism is—to an extent—incorporated in Mani's doctrine, which viewed the world as being locked in an epic battle between opposing forces of good and evil.[32] Manicheanism also incorporated other elements of Zoroastrian tradition, particularly the names of supernatural beings; however, many of these other Zoroastrian elements are either not part of Zoroaster's own teachings or are used quite differently from how they are used in Zoroastrianism.[33][34]

In the Bahá'í Faith

Zoroaster appears in the Bahá'í Faith as a "Manifestation of God", one of a line of prophets who have progressively revealed the Word of God to a gradually maturing humanity. Zoroaster thus shares an exalted station with Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh.[35] Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Bahá'í Faith in the first half of the 20th century, saw Bahá'u'lláh as the fulfillment of a post-Sassanid Zoroastrian prophecy that saw a return of Sassanid emperor Bahram:[36] Shoghi Effendi also stated that Zoroaster lived roughly 1000 years before Jesus.[z]

Philosophy

Detail of The School of Athens by Raphael, 1509, showing Zoroaster (left, with star-studded globe).

In the Gathas, Zoroaster sees the human condition as the mental struggle between aša (truth) and druj (lie). The cardinal concept of aša—which is highly nuanced and only vaguely translatable—is at the foundation of all Zoroastrian doctrine, including that of Ahura Mazda (who is aša), creation (that is aša), existence (that is aša) and as the condition for free will.

The purpose of humankind, like that of all other creation, is to sustain aša. For humankind, this occurs through active participation in life and the exercise of constructive thoughts, words and deeds.

Elements of Zoroastrian philosophy entered the West through their influence on Judaism and Middle Platonism and have been identified as one of the key early events in the development of philosophy.[37] Among the classic Greek philosophers, Heraclitus is often referred to as inspired by Zoroaster's thinking.[38]

In 2005, the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy ranked Zarathustra as first in the chronology of philosophers.[39][40] Zarathustra's impact lingers today due in part to the system of rational ethics he founded called Mazda-Yasna. The word Mazda-Yasna is avestan and is translated as "Worship of Wisdom" in English. Zoroastrians later educated the Greeks, who used a similar term, philosophy, or “love of wisdom,” to describe the search for ultimate truth.[41]

Zoroaster emphasized the freedom of the individual to choose right or wrong and individual responsibility for one's deeds. This personal choice to accept aša or arta (the divine order), and shun druj (ignorance and chaos) is one's own decision and not a dictate of Ahura Mazda. For Zarathustra, by thinking good thoughts, saying good words, and doing good deeds (e.g. assisting the needy or doing good works) we increase this divine force aša or arta in the world and in ourselves, celebrate the divine order, and we come a step closer on the everlasting road to being one with the Creator. Thus, we are not the slaves or servants of Ahura Mazda, but we can make a personal choice to be his co-workers, thereby refreshing the world and ourselves.

Iconography

Zoroastrian devotional art depicts the religion's founder with white clothing and a long beard

Although a few recent depictions of Zoroaster show the prophet performing some deed of legend, in general the portrayals merely present him in white vestments (which are also worn by present-day Zoroastrian priests). He often is seen holding a baresman (Avestan; Middle Persian barsom), which is generally considered to be another symbol of priesthood, or with a book in hand, which may be interpreted to be the Avesta. Alternatively, he appears with a mace, the varza—usually stylized as a steel rod crowned by a bull's head—that priests carry in their installation ceremony. In other depictions he appears with a raised hand and thoughtfully lifted finger, as if to make a point. Zoroaster is rarely depicted as looking directly at the viewer; instead, he appears to be looking slightly upwards, as if beseeching. Zoroaster is almost always depicted with a beard, this along with other factors bearing similarities to 19th-century portraits of Jesus.[42]

A common variant of the Zoroaster images derives from a Sassanid-era rock-face carving. In this depiction at Taq-e Bostan, a figure is seen to preside over the coronation of Ardashir I or II. The figure is standing on a lotus, with a baresman in hand and with a gloriole around his head. Until the 1920s, this figure was commonly thought to be a depiction of Zoroaster, but in recent years is more commonly interpreted to be a depiction of Mithra. Among the most famous of the European depictions of Zoroaster is that of the figure in Raphael's 1509 The School of Athens. In it, Zoroaster and Ptolemy are having a discussion in the lower right corner. The prophet is holding a star-studded globe.

Western civilization

In classical antiquity

Although, at the core, the Greeks (in the Hellenistic sense of the term) understood Zoroaster to be the "prophet and founder of the religion of the Iranian peoples" (e.g. Plutarch Isis and Osiris 46-7, Diogenes Laertius 1.6–9 and Agathias 2.23-5), "the rest was mostly fantasy".[43] He was set in the impossibly ancient past, six to seven millennia before the Common Era, and was variously a king of Bactria, or a Babylonian (or teacher of Babylonians), and with a biography typical for every Neopythagorean sage, i.e. a mission preceded by ascetic withdrawal and enlightenment.[43]

Most importantly however, was their picture of Zoroaster as the sorcerer-astrologer non-plus-ultra, and indeed as the "inventor" of both magic and astrology. Deriving from that image, and reinforcing it, was a "mass of literature"[44] attributed to him and that circulated the Mediterranean world from the 3rd century BCE to the end of antiquity and beyond. "The Greeks considered the best wisdom to be exotic wisdom" and "what better and more convenient authority than the distant—temporally and geographically—Zoroaster?"[45]

The language of that literature was predominantly Greek, though at one stage or another various parts of it passed through Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic or Latin. Its ethos and cultural matrix was likewise Hellenistic, and "the ascription of literature to sources beyond that political, cultural and temporal framework represents a bid for authority and a fount of legitimizing "alien wisdom". Zoroaster and the magi did not compose it, but their names sanctioned it."[44] The attributions to "exotic" names (not restricted to magians) conferred an "authority of a remote and revelation wisdom."[46]

Once the magi were associated with magic in Greek imagination, Zoroaster was bound to metamorphose into a magician too. The 1st-century Pliny the Elder names Zoroaster as the inventor of magic (Natural History 30.2.3). "However, a principle of the division of labor appears to have spared Zoroaster most of the responsibility for introducing the dark arts to the Greek and Roman worlds." That "dubious honor" went to the "fabulous magus, Ostanes, to whom most of the pseudepigraphic magical literature was attributed."[47] Although Pliny calls him the inventor of magic, the Roman does not provide a "magician's persona" for him.[47] Moreover, the little "magical" teaching that is ascribed to Zoroaster is actually very late, with the very earliest example being from the 14th century.[48]

One factor for the association with astrology was Zoroaster's name, or rather, what the Greeks made of it. Within the scheme of Greek thinking (which was always on the lookout for hidden significances and "real" meanings of words) his name was identified at first with star-worshiping (astrothytes "star sacrificer") and, with the Zo-, even as the living star. Later, an even more elaborate mythoetymology evolved: Zoroaster died by the living (zo-) flux (-ro-) of fire from the star (-astr-) which he himself had invoked, and even, that the stars killed him in revenge for having been restrained by him.

Similar ideas about Zoroaster also appear in early Christian literature, beginning with the Clementine Homilies 9.4–5, which identifies him with a parallel series of traditions about Nimrod having been the founder of astrology. In this account, Nimrod is killed by lightning and posthumously deified by the Persians as "Zoroaster, on account of the living (zosan) stream of the star (asteros) being poured upon him."[49]

The second, and "more serious"[50] factor for the association with astrology was the notion that Zoroaster was a Babylonian. The alternate Greek name for Zoroaster was Zaratas/Zaradas/Zaratos (cf. Agathias 2.23-5, Clement Stromata I.15), which—so Cumont and Bidez—derived from a Semitic form of his name. The Pythagorean tradition considered the mathematician to have studied with Zoroaster in Babylonia (Porphyry Life of Pythagoras 12, Alexander Polyhistor apud Clement's Stromata I.15, Diodorus of Eritrea, Aristoxenus apud Hippolitus VI32.2). Lydus (On the Months II.4) attributes the creation of the seven-day week to "the Babylonians in the circle of Zoroaster and Hystaspes," and who did so because there were seven planets. The Suda's chapter on astronomia notes that the Babylonians learned their astrology from Zoroaster. Lucian of Samosata (Mennipus 6) decides to journey to Babylon "to ask one of the magi, Zoroaster's disciples and successors," for their opinion.

While the division along the lines of Zoroaster/astrology and Ostanes/magic is an "oversimplification, the descriptions do at least indicate what the works are not." They were not expressions of Zoroastrian doctrine, they were not even expressions of what the Greeks and Romans "imagined the doctrines of Zoroastrianism to have been."[46] The assembled fragments do not even show noticeable commonality of outlook and teaching among the several authors who wrote under each name.

Almost all Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha is now lost, and of the attested texts—with only one exception—only fragments have survived. Pliny's 2nd- or 3rd-century attribution of "two million lines" to Zoroaster suggest that (even if exaggeration and duplicates are taken into consideration) a formidable pseudepigraphic corpus once existed at the Library of Alexandria. This corpus can safely be assumed to be pseudepigrapha because no one before Pliny refers to literature by "Zoroaster",[51] and on the authority of the 2nd-century Galen of Pergamon and from a 6th-century commentator on Aristotle it is known that the acquisition policies of well-endowed royal libraries created a market for fabricating manuscripts of famous and ancient authors.[51]

The exception to the fragmentary evidence (i.e. reiteration of passages in works of other authors) is a complete Coptic tractate titled Zostrianos (after the first-person narrator) discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. A three-line cryptogram in the colophones following the 131-page treatise identify the work as "words of truth of Zostrianos. God of Truth [logos]. Words of Zoroaster."[52] Invoking a "God of Truth" might seem Zoroastrian, but there is otherwise "nothing noticeably Zoroastrian" about the text and "in content, style, ethos and intention, its affinities are entirely with the congeners among the Gnostic tractates."[53]

Among the named works attributed to "Zoroaster" is a treatise On Nature (Peri physeos), which appears to have originally constituted four volumes (i.e. papyrus rolls). The framework is a retelling of Plato's Myth of Er, with Zoroaster taking the place of the original hero. While Porphyry imagined Pythagoras listening to Zoroaster's discourse, On Nature has the sun in middle position, which was how it was understood in the 3rd century. In contrast, Plato's 4th-century BCE version had the sun in second place above the moon. Ironically, Colotes accused Plato of plagiarizing Zoroaster,[54][55] and Heraclides Ponticus wrote a text titled Zoroaster based on (what the author considered) "Zoroastrian" philosophy in order to express his disagreement with Plato on natural philosophy.[56] With respect to substance and content in On Nature only two facts are known: that it was crammed with astrological speculations, and that Necessity (Ananké) was mentioned by name and that she was in the air.

Another work circulating under the name of "Zoroaster" was the Asteroskopita (or Apotelesmatika), and which ran to five volumes (i.e. papyrus rolls). The title and fragments suggest that it was an astrological handbook, "albeit a very varied one, for the making of predictions."[46] A third text attributed to Zoroaster is On Virtue of Stones (Peri lithon timion), of which nothing is known other than its extent (one volume) and that pseudo-Zoroaster sang it (from which Cumont and Bidez conclude that it was in verse). Numerous other fragments (preserved in the works of other authors) are attributed to "Zoroaster," but the titles of whose books are not mentioned.

These pseudepigraphic texts aside, some authors did draw on a few genuinely Zoroastrian ideas. The Oracles of Hystaspes, by "Hystaspes", another prominent magian pseudo-author, is a set of prophecies distinguished from other Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha in that it draws on real Zoroastrian sources.[46] Some allusions are more difficult to assess: in the same text that attributes the invention of magic to Zoroaster, Pliny states that Zoroaster laughed on the day of his birth, although in an earlier place (VII, I), Pliny had sworn in the name of Hercules that no child had ever done so before the 40th day from his birth. This notion of Zoroaster's laughter (like that of "two million verses") also appears in the 9th– to 11th-century texts of genuine Zoroastrian tradition, and for a time it was assumed that the origin of those myths lay with indigenous sources. Pliny also records (VII, XV) that Zoroaster's head had pulsated so strongly that it repelled the hand when laid upon it, a presage of his future wisdom. The Iranians were however just as familiar with the Greek writers. The provenance of other descriptions are clear, so for instance, Plutarch's description of its dualistic theologies: "Others call the better of these a god and his rival a daemon, as, for example, Zoroaster the Magus, who lived, so they record, five thousand years before the siege of Troy. He used to call the one Horomazes and the other Areimanius" (Isis and Osiris 46-7).

In the post-classical era

An early 19th-century perception of Zoroaster derived from the portrait of a figure that appears in a 4th-century sculpture at Taq-e Bostan in south-western Iran. In both the original (seen here) and the 19th-century interpretation, the figure bears a barsom in hand. In the original, the barsom solemnizes an investiture ceremony. In the reinterpretation, the figure wears the ceremonial headgear of a Zoroastrian high priest. In the academic literature of 19th and early 20th centuries, the figure in the original 4th-century carving was indeed assumed to be an depiction of Zoroaster. That assumption is no longer followed today.

Zoroaster was known as a sage, magician, and miracle-worker in post-Classical Western culture. Although almost nothing was known of his ideas until the late 18th century, his name was already associated with lost ancient wisdom. Statements by Sir Thomas Browne as early as 1643 are the earliest recorded references to Zoroaster in the English language.

He is also the subject of the 1749 opera Zoroastre, by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Enlightenment writers such as Voltaire promoted research into Zoroastrianism in the belief that it was a form of rational Deism, preferable to Christianity. With the translation of the Avesta by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron, Western scholarship of Zoroastrianism began.

In E. T. A. Hoffmann's novel Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober, the mage Prosper Alpanus states that Professor Zoroaster was his teacher.[57]

In his seminal work Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) (1885) the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche uses the native Iranian name Zarathustra which has a significant meaning[s] as he had used the familiar Greek-Latin name in his earlier works.[58] It is believed that Nietzsche invents a characterization of Zarathustra as the mouthpiece for Nietzsche's own ideas against morality.[f] Richard Strauss's Opus 30, inspired by Nietzsche's book, is also called Also sprach Zarathustra.

Zoroaster was mentioned by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. He and his wife were said to have claimed to have contacted Zoroaster through "automatic writing".[59]

Zoroaster (left) standing over the First Judicial Department of The New York Supreme Court.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York has a sculpture of Zoroaster towering over the building on E. 25th St. and Madison Ave in Manhattan, representing the ancient Persian judicial wisdom. The sculpture was made by Edward Clarke Potter in 1896.[60][61] Also on the south side of the exterior of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel in the campus of the University of Chicago, there is a sculpture of Zoroaster among other prominent religious figures.[62]

The protagonist and narrator of Gore Vidal's 1981 novel Creation is described to be the grandson of Zoroaster.

Zarathustra, the mythic hero in Giannina Braschi's 2011 dramatic novel "United States of Banana", joins forces with Shakespeare's Hamlet.

See also

Notes

a:^ Originally proposed by Burnouf[63]
b:^ For refutation of these and other proposals, see Humbach, 1991.[64]
c:^ The Bundahishn computes "200 and some years" (GBd xxxvi.9) or "284 years" (IBd xxxiv.9). That '258 years' was the generally accepted figure is however noted by al-Biruni and al-Masudi, with the latter specifically stating (in 943/944 AD) that "the Magians count a period of two hundred and fifty-eight years between their prophet and Alexander."[65][66]
d:^ "258 years before Alexander" is only superficially precise.[66]

It has been suggested that this "traditional date" is an adoption of some date from foreign sources, from the Greeks[67] or the Babylonians[68] for example, which the priesthood then reinterpreted. A simpler explanation is that the priests subtracted 42 (the age at which Zoroaster is said to have converted Vistaspa) from the round figure of 300.

Some classical sources attributed to the account of Xanthus of Lydia place Zoroaster "600 years before Xerxes" (i.e. before his invasion of Greece), i.e. 1080 BC, which would then coincide with the linguistic dating of the Gathas. Similarly, the 10th-century Suda, which cites no one but provides a date of "500 years before Plato" for one of its two Zoroasters.
f:^ Ecce Homo quotations are per the Ludovici translation.[69] Paraphrases follow the original passage (Warum ich ein Schicksal bin 3), available in the public domain on page 45 of the Project Gutenberg EBook.
s:^ By choosing the name of 'Zarathustra' as prophet of his philosophy, as he has expressed clearly, he followed the paradoxical aim of paying homage to the original Iranian prophet and reversing his teachings at the same time. The original Zoroastrian world view interprets being essentially on a moralistic basis and depicts the world as an arena for the struggle of the two fundamentals of being, Good and Evil, represented in two antagonistic divine figures.[58]
z:^ From a letter of the Universal House of Justice, Department of the Secretariat, May 13, 1979 to Mrs. Gayle Woolson published in
Hornby, Helen, ed. (1983), Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í Reference File, New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, ISBN 81-85091-46-3 . p. 501.

References

  1. ↑ Atlas of World History
  2. 1 2 Schlerath 1977, pp. 133–135
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schmitt 2003.
  4. ↑ Paul Horn, Grundriß der neupersischen Etymologie, Strassburg 1893
  5. 1 2 Mayrhofer 1977, pp. 43–53.
  6. ↑ For example zairi- (golden/yellow), zairitem (golden/green), zaranaênem (golden, of gold). Old Iranian/Avestan:Base Form Dictionary and Dictionary of most common AVESTA words.
  7. ↑ Bailey 1953, pp. 40–42.
  8. ↑ Markwart 1930, pp. 7ff.
  9. 1 2 Nigosian, Solomon (1993), The Zoroastrian faith: tradition and modern research, McGill-Queen's University Press, p. 15, ISBN 978-0-7735-1144-6
  10. ↑ Shahbazi 1977, pp. 25–26.
  11. ↑ Shabazi, A. Shapur (2003), "Goštāsp", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 11, Costa Mesa: University of California Press, pp. 171–176.
  12. ↑ Williams Jackson, A.V. (1899), Zoroaster, the prophet of ancient Iran, New York: Columbia UP
  13. ↑ Gershevitch 1964, pp. 36–37.
  14. ↑ William Enfield, Johann Jakob Brucker, Knud Haakonssen, The History of Philosophy from the Earliest Periods: Drawn Up from Brucker's Historia Critica Philosophia, Published by Thoemmes, 2001, ISBN 1-85506-828-1, pages: 18, 22. Note: Cephalion and Justin suggest east of greater Iran whereas Pliny and Origen suggest west of Iran as his birthplace.
  15. ↑ cf. Boyce 1975, pp. 2–26.
  16. ↑ cf. Gronke 1993, pp. 59–60.
  17. ↑ Solomon Alexander Nigosian, The Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research, Published by McGill-Queen's University Press – MQUP, 1993, ISBN 0-7735-1144-X, p. 17.
  18. ↑ Frye 1992, p. 8.
  19. ↑ Khlopin 1992, pp. 107–110.
  20. ↑ Sarianidi 1987, p. 54.
  21. ↑ Boyce 1975, p. 1.
  22. ↑ Malandra 2005
  23. 1 2 3 4 Hinnel, J (1997), The Penguin Dictionary of Religion, Penguin Books UK
  24. ↑ Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, Bhau Kalchuri, Manifestation, Inc. 1986. p. 6124
  25. 1 2 Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher, The Biography of the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba, Bhau Kalchuri, Manifestation, Inc. 1986. p. 6121
  26. 1 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/history/zoroaster_1.shtml
  27. ↑ The CIA World Factbook 2010 - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  28. ↑ Great Saviors of the World - Swami Abhedānanda - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  29. 1 2 3 Qtd. in Büchner 1936, p. 105.
  30. ↑ Revelation, Rationality Knowledge & Truth
  31. ↑ Widengren 1961, p. 76.
  32. ↑ Widengren 1961, pp. 43–45.
  33. ↑ Widengren 1961, pp. 44–45.
  34. ↑ Zaehner 1972, p. 21.
  35. ↑ Taherzadeh 1976, p. 3.
  36. ↑ Buck 1998.
  37. ↑ Blackburn, Simon (1994), "Philosophy", The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 405
  38. ↑ August Gladisch (1859), Herakleitos Und Zoroaster: Eine Historische Untersuchung, p. IV
  39. ↑ Blackburn, S. (2005). p 409, The Oxford dictionary of philosophy. Oxford University Press.
  40. ↑ Frankfort, H., Frankfort, H. A. G., Wilson, J. A., & Jacobsen, T. (1964). Before Philosophy. Penguin, Harmondsworth.
  41. ↑ http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Zoroaster
  42. ↑ Stausberg 2002, p. I.58
  43. 1 2 Beck 1991, p. 525.
  44. 1 2 Beck 1991, p. 491.
  45. ↑ Beck 2003, para. 4.
  46. 1 2 3 4 Beck 1991, p. 493.
  47. 1 2 Beck 2003, para. 7.
  48. ↑ Beck 1991, p. 522.
  49. ↑ Clementine Homilies, Book 9, Compassionatespirit.com
  50. ↑ Beck 1991, p. 523.
  51. 1 2 Beck 1991, p. 526.
  52. ↑ Sieber 1973, p. 234.
  53. ↑ Beck 1991, p. 495.
  54. ↑ Nock 1929, p. 111.
  55. ↑ Livingston 2002, pp. 144–145.
  56. ↑ Livingston 2002, p. 147.
  57. ↑ "Klein Zaches Genannt Zinnober". Michaelhaldane.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  58. 1 2 Ashouri 2003.
  59. ↑ Watkins 2006, pp. 3–4.
  60. ↑ ایرون دات کام: عکس ها: مجسّمهٔ تمام قّدِ زرتشت در نیویورک (in Persian). Iroon.com. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
  61. ↑ Pages 9–12 of
  62. ↑ http://rockefeller.uchicago.edu/architecture/exterior.shtml
  63. ↑ Burnouf 1833, p. 13.
  64. ↑ Humbach 1991, p. I.18.
  65. ↑ Jackson 1899, p. 162.
  66. 1 2 Shahbazi 1977, p. 26.
  67. ↑ Kingsley 1990, pp. 245–265.
  68. ↑ Shahbazi 1977, pp. 32–33.
  69. ↑ Nietzsche/Ludovici 1911, p. 133

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