| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
The Persian pronunciation of the name Zoroaster, Zartosht, is composed of two parts “Zard” meaning Yellow and “Oshtor” meaning camel, which together means “Owner of the yellow camel”. These kinds of names were very usual in ancient Persia and there are countless names with the person’s animal mentioned in them, for example “Siavash” (= Owner of the male black horse), “Garshasp” (= Owner of the skim horse) “Gashtasp” (= Owner of the wild horse) and “Lohrasp” which means Owner of the fast horse. Please note that the word “Ishtar” has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Zoroaster’s name and that THE ONLY part of the “Avesta” that is written by Zoroaster and should be considered to be the original Zoroastrian faith is the “Gathas”. The rest were added to the “Avesta” and are the result of the Zoroastrian priest’s imagination and are in many, many ways in contrast with what Zoroaster believed and said!
Zoroaster was already famous in classical antiquity as the founder of the widely renowned wisdom of the Magi. His name is not mentioned by Herodotus in his sketch of the Mado-Persian religion (i. 131 seq.). It occurs, for the first time, in a fragment of Xanthus (29), and in the Alcibiades of Plato (i. p. 122), who calls him the son of Oromazdes. For occidental writers, Zoroaster is always the Magus, or the founder of the whole Magian system ( Plutarch de Is. et Osir. 46 ; Plato loc. cit.; Diogenes Laertius prooem. 2; the passages in Jackson's Zoroaster, 6 seq.). They sometimes call him a Bactrian, sometimes a Median or Persian (cf. Jackson, op. cit. 186). The ancients also recount a few points regarding the childhood of Zoroaster and his hermit-life. Thus, according to Pliny ( Nat. Hist.Pliny the Elder's Natural History is an encyclopedia written by Pliny the Elder. In its present form the natural History consists of thirty-seven books, the first book including a characteristic preface and tables of contents, as well as lists of authorit vii. 15), he laughed on the very day of his birth — a statement found also in the Zardus/it-Năma — and lived in the wilderness upon cheese (xi. 97). Plutarch speaks of his intercourse with the deity, and compares him with LycurgusIn Greek mythology, the name Lycurgus could refer to three people: #An alternate name for Lycomedes. Lycurgus (Thrace): a King of who banned the cult of Dionysus, and paid dearly. Lycurgus (Sparta): the legendary lawgiver. Lycurgus is also the name of an and Numa PompiliusAccording to legend, Numa Pompilius was the second of the Kings of Rome, succeeding Romulus. His wife, the goddess Egeria, met him by a spring in a sacred grove and taught him how to be a wise legislator. He was later celebrated for his piety. Wishing to (Numa, 4). Dio ChrysostomDio or Dio Chrysostom (c 40 AD c 120 AD) was a Greek orator, writer, philosopher and historian of the Romans in the first century. Eighty (80) of his Discourses remain in existence. His surname Chrysostom comes from the Greek chrysostomos which literally, Plutarch's contemporary, declares that neither HomerFor other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). Homer ( Greek Ὅμηρος Hómēros was a legendary (or perhaps mythical) early Greek poet traditionally credited with authorship of the major Greek epics Iliad a nor HesiodThis article discusses the Greek poet. Alternative article: Hesiod (computer system . Hesiod Hesiodos was an early Greek poet, believed to have lived around the year 700 BC. From the 5th century BC literary historians have debated the priority of Hesiod o sang of the chariot and horses of ZeusZeus Kronios (descendant of Cronus), or simply Zeus or Zdeus ( Greek ) or Dias (Greek ) ("divine king") is the leader of the gods and god of the sky and thunder in Greek mythology. Etymology Zeus is the continuation of Dyeus, the supreme god in Indo-Europ so worthily as Zoroaster, of whom the Persians tell that, out of love to wisdom and righteousness, he withdrew himself from men, and lived in solitude upon a mountain. The mountain was consumed by fire, but Zoroaster escaped uninjured and spoke to the multitude (vol. ii. p. 60). Plutarch, drawing partly on TheopompusTheopompus a Greek historian and rhetorician, was born at Chios about 380 BC. In early youth he seems to have spent some time at Athens, along with his father, who had been exiled on account of his Laconian sympathies. Here he became a pupil of Isocrates,, speaks of his religion in his Isis and Osiris (cc. 46–47). He gives a faithful sketch of the doctrines, mythology and dualistic system of the Magian Zoroaster.
As to the period in which he lived, there is much uncertainty. Persian and Greek mythological sources place him anywhere between 10,000 and 1000 BCE. The archaeological, philological and historical work of Kavosji & Bharucha, Hippel & Lassen, Moulton, Mills, Mary Boyce, Thomas Burrow, Shapur Shahbazi, Pour Davoud, B.C. Hummel, Rudolph and Duncker, Bartholomae and Widengren and others yield dates ranging from 6000 to 100 BCE. Zoroastrian tradition holds to a 6th C. BCE dating.
Greek poet and historian Agathias (c. CE 536-582), remarks (ii. 24) that it is not possible to determine with any certainty when Zarathustra lived and legislated. "The Persians," he adds, "say that Zoroaster lived under Hystaspes , but do not make it clear whether by this name they mean the father of Darius I or another Hystaspes." It is argued that Hystaspes, patron of Zarathustra and Hytaspes, father of Darius are distinct persons, but such an argument relies on the validity of an early dating of Zarathustra. That Hystaspes is referred to as both satrap of Aria and satrap of Parthia is evidence that all such references could be to the same person, for Aria was a region of Parthia.
If, by the name "Hystaspes" (OP. Vištâspa), the Gathas do refer to the father of Darius I, then according to Zoroastrian scripture, Zarathustra lived during the 6th C. BCE. Another traditional Zoroastrian source corroborates. The Pahlavi of the Bundahishn, a scripture written around the time of the Arab conquest of Persia (CE 637), contains the most specific extant dating of Zarathustra, stating that he was born in 588 BCE., 258 years before Alexander's conquest of Persia. Also, while it appears that Cyrus and Cambyses adhered to the pantheistic beliefs of their ancestors, leaving no mention of Zarathustra in their inscriptions, it is clear that Darius and his successors were Zoroastrian. In addition, the very nature of the Zoroastrian reformation, a transformation of an ancient religion from pantheism to monotheism, may be seen as supportive of a 6th C. dating, because such a dating corresponds with the cohabitation of Persia by significant numbers of a monotheistic peope--the exiled Jews.
While the Avesta is the principal source of information about Zarathustra's doctrine, on the subject of his person and details of his life it is comparatively reticent. The 13th section, or Spena Nash, which was dedicated mainly to the account of his life, has perished; while the biographies founded upon it in the 7th book of the Dinkard ( 9th century AD), The Shahnameh, and the Zardusht-Năma ( 13th century), are thoroughly legendary — full of wonders, fabulous histories and miraculous deliverances.
Although there is historical evidence for his biological existence, Zarathustra is regarded by some as a purely mythical creation (for instance, by Kern and by Darmesteter, in the Sacred Books of the East, vol. iv. 1880, introd. 76). According to Darmesteter, the Zarathustra of the Avesta is a mere myth, a divinity invested with human attributes, an incarnation of the storm-god, who with his divine word, the thunder, comes and smites the demons. Darmesteter has failed to realize sufficiently the distinction between the Zoroaster of the later Avesta and the Zoroaster of the Gathas. It cannot be denied that in the later Avesta, and still more in writings of more recent date, he is presented in a legendary light and endowed with superhuman powers. At his appearing all nature rejoices (Yasht, 13, 93); he enters into conflict with the demons and rids the earth of their presence (Yasht, 17,19); Satan approaches him as tempter to make him renounce his faith (Vendidad, 19, 6).
The Gathas alone within the Avesta make claim to be the ipsissima verba of the prophet; in the rest of that work they are put into Zoroaster's own mouth (Yasna, 9, I) and are expressly called "the Gathas of the holy Zoroaster" (Yasea, 57, 8). The litanies of the Yasna, and the Yashts, refer to him as a personage belonging to the past. The Vendidad also merely gives accounts of the dialogues between Ormazd and Zoroaster. The Gathas alone claim to be authentic utterances of Zoroaster, his actual expressions in presence of the assembled congregation. They are the last genuine survivals of the doctrinal discourses with which — as the promulgator of a new religion — he appeared at the court of King Vishtaspa .
The person of the Zoroaster whom we meet with in these hymns differs toto coelo from the Zoroaster of the younger Avesta. He is the exact opposite of the miraculous personage of later legend — a mere man, standing always on the solid ground of reality, whose only arms are trust in his God and the protection of his powerful allies, At times his position is precarious enough. He whom we hear in the Găthăs has had to face, not merely all forms of outward opposition and the unbelief and lukewarmness of adherents, but also the inward misgivings of his own heart as to the truth and final victory of his cause. At one time hope, at another despondency, now assured confidence, now doubt and despair, here a firm faith in the speedy coming of the kingdom of heaven, there the thought of taking refuge by flight — such is the range of the emotions which find their immediate expression in these hymns. And the whole breathes such a genuine originality, all is psychologically so accurate and just, the earliest beginnings of the new religious movement, the childhood of a new community of faith, are reflected so intuitively in them all, that it is impossible for a moment to think of a later period of composition by a priesthood whom we know to have been devoid of any historical sense, and incapable of reconstructing the spiritual conditions under which Zoroaster lived. So soon as the point of view is clear — that in the Gathas we have firm historical ground on which Zoroaster and his surroundings may rest, that here we have the beginnings of the Zoroastrian religion — then it becomes impossible to answer otherwise than affirmatively every general question as to the historical character of Zoroaster. Yet we must not expect too much from the Gathas in the way of definite detail. They give no historical account of the life and teaching of their prophet, but rather are, so to say, versus inemoriales, which recapitulate the main points of interest, often again in brief outlines. They are more of general admonitions, asseverations, solemn prophecies, sometimes directed to the faithful flock or to the princes, but generally cast in the form of dialogues with God and the archangels, whom he repeatedly invokes as witnesses to his veracity. Moreover, they contain many allusions to personal events that later generations have forgotten. It must be remembered, too, that their extent is limited, and their meaning, moreover, frequently dubious or obscure.