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{{Short description|Iranian prophet and spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Zarathustra|other uses|Zarathustra (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| honorific_prefix   = [[Asha|Artu]]
| name               = Zarathushtra Spitama
| venerated_in       = 
| image              = Yazd, Templo del Fuego (2000) 02 (cropped).jpg
| background=#990955
| caption            = Modern depiction of Zoroaster featured at the [[Fire Temple of Yazd]]
| birth_date         = Unknown, traditionally {{circa|624–599 BC}}{{efn|Zoroastrian tradition from no later than the 10th century AD holds that Zoroaster's revelation happened at 30 years old "258 years before the time of Alexander" (almost certainly based on faulty reasoning, see [[Zoroaster#Zoroastrian and Muslim scholarship|the section on Zoroastrian and Muslim scholarship]]), where "time of Alexander" is vague, and could either begin with [[Alexander the Great#Accession|his accession]] (336 BC), [[Battle of the Persian Gate|his conquest of Iran]], or, more likely, with the establishment of the [[Anno Graecorum|{{transliteration|la|Anno Graecorum}}]] following the conquest of [[Babylon]] by [[Seleucus I Nicator]] (312/311 BC).<ref name= "Shahbazi_1977_26">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|1977|p=26}}.</ref>

Most scholars believe this dating to be far too recent based on linguistic and socio-cultural evidence, instead placing Zoroaster's life sometime in the 2nd millennium or early 1st millennium BC, with some suggesting dates as early as the 18th century BC, or as late as the 6th century BC, the latter of which would seemingly match with the tradition.<ref name="auto1">{{harvnb|Lincoln|1991|pp=149–150}}: "At present, the majority opinion among scholars probably inclines toward the end of the second millennium or the beginning of the first, although there are still those who hold for a date in the seventh century."</ref>{{sfn|Boyce|1996|pp=3, 189–191}}{{sfn|Stausberg|Vevaina|Tessmann|2015|p=61}}<ref name="NigosianDate">{{harvnb|Nigosian|1993|pp=15–16}}</ref><ref name="ShahbaziAb">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|1977|pp=25–35}}</ref> Sometime around {{circa|1000 BC}}, give or take a few centuries, is the most conservative estimate.<ref>{{harvnb|Malandra|2005}}: "Controversy over Zaraθuštra's date has been an embarrassment of long standing to Zoroastrian studies. If anything approaching a consensus exists, it is that he lived ca. 1000 BCE give or take a century or so [...]"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kellens|2011}}: "In the last ten years a general consensus has gradually emerged in favor of placing the Gāthās around 1000 BCE [...]"</ref>}}
| birth_place        = [[Greater Iran]]
| death_date         = Unknown, traditionally {{circa|547–522 BC}} (age 77){{efn|Zoroastrian tradition usually places Zoroaster's death at 77 years and 40 days of age. [[Khordad Sal|Celebrations of Zoroaster's birth]] and [[Zartosht No-Diso|death]] place them at around 26 March and 26 December respectively, which contradict the traditional account. It is likely the dates are symbolic at best and conjectural at worst.}}
| known_for          = {{ubl|Spiritual founder and prophet of [[Zoroastrianism]]|Composer of the [[Gathas]]|Prophet in the [[Bahá'í Faith]], [[Ahmadiyya]], and the [[Ahmadi Religion]]}}
| spouse             = {{Hlist|Two unnamed wives|Hvōvi}}
| children           = {{Hlist|Isat Vâstra|Urvatat Nara|Hvare Chithra|Freni|Thriti|Pouruchista}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/zoroastrian/history/zoroaster_1.shtml|title=Zoroaster|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=5 March 2025}}</ref>
| parents            = {{Hlist|Pourushaspa|Dugdōw}}
| burial             = 
| religion           = 
| native_name        = {{nobold|𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀⸱𐬯𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬁𐬨𐬀}}
}}
{{Zoroastrianism sidebar}}

'''Zarathushtra Spitama''',{{efn|{{langx|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀⸱𐬯𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬁𐬨𐬀}}|Zaraθuštra Spitāma}}; also attested as '''{{transliteration|ae|Spitāma Zaraθuštra}}'''. The epithet {{transliteration|ae|Spitāma}} itself means 'abundant strength',{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} and is thought to have been a clan or family name taken from an eponymous ancestor.}} more commonly known as '''Zoroaster'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|ɒr|oʊ|ˌ|æ|s|t|ər|,_|ˌ|z|ɒr|oʊ|ˈ|æ|s|t|ər}}}} or '''Zarathustra''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˌ|z|ær|ə|ˈ|θ|uː|s|t|r|ə}}}} was an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary [[Ancient Iranian religion]], becoming the spiritual founder of [[Zoroastrianism]].{{efn|Known by its adherents as ''Mazdayasnā'' ({{literal translation|[[Ahura Mazda|Mazda]]-worship}}) and ''Beh-dīn'' ({{literal translation|good religion}}).}} In the oldest Zoroastrian scriptures, the [[Gatha (Zoroaster)|Gathas]], which he is traditionally believed to have authored, he is described as a preacher{{Efn|{{langx|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬰𐬀𐬊𐬙𐬀𐬭}}|translit=zaotar}}, cognate with the [[Sanskrit]] term [[wikt:sa:होतृ|होतृ]] (''[[Hotr|hótr]]''), referring to [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] priests.}} and a poet-prophet.{{Efn|{{langx|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬱𐬌𐬱}}|ərəšiš}}, cognate with the Sanskrit term [[wikt:sa:ऋषि|ऋषि]] (''[[Rishi|ṛ́ṣi]]''), describing an enlightened poet of Vedic hymns.}}<ref name="West 2010 17">{{harvnb|West|2010|p=17}}</ref> He also had an impact on [[Heraclitus]], [[Plato]], [[Pythagoras]], and the [[Abrahamic religions]], including [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]], particularly through concepts of [[Dualism in cosmology|cosmic dualism]] and personal morality.<ref name="West Birthplace-Surname">{{harvnb|West|2010|p=4}}</ref>{{Sfn|Boyce|1996|pp=3–4}}

He spoke an [[Eastern Iranian language]], named [[Avestan]] by scholars after the [[Avesta|corpus of Zoroastrian religious texts written in that language]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Avestan language {{!}} Old Iranian language, Zoroastrianism, Indo-European {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Avestan-language |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AVESTAN LANGUAGE I-III |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/avestan-language/ |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref> Based on this, it is tentative to place his homeland somewhere in the eastern regions of [[Greater Iran]] (perhaps in modern-day [[Afghanistan]] or [[Tajikistan]]), but his exact birthplace is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zarathushtra {{!}} Biography, Religion, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zarathustra |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ZOROASTRIANISM i. HISTORICAL REVIEW UP TO THE ARAB CONQUEST |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroastrianism-i-historical-review/ |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=IRAN vi. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-vi-iranian-languages-and-scripts/ |access-date=6 September 2025 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref> His life is traditionally dated to sometime around the 7th and 6th centuries BC; though most scholars, using linguistic and socio-cultural evidence, suggest a dating to somewhere in the second millennium BC.<ref name="Boyce Background96">{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|p= 3}}</ref><ref name="West Dating">{{harvnb|West|2010|pp= 4–8}}</ref><ref name="auto1" />

Zoroastrianism eventually became Iran's most prominent religion from around the 6th century BC, enjoying official sanction during the time of the [[Sassanid Empire]], until the 7th century AD, when the religion itself began to decline following the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arab-Muslim conquest of Iran]].<ref name="Boyce Intro">{{harvnb|Boyce|2001|pp= 1–3}}</ref> Zoroaster is credited with authorship of the Gathas as well as the {{transliteration|ae|[[Yasna Haptanghaiti]]}}, a series of hymns composed in [[Old Avestan]] that cover the core of Zoroastrian thinking. Little is known about Zoroaster; most of his life is known only from these scant texts.<ref name="West Birthplace-Surname" /> By modern standards of historiography, no evidence can place him into a fixed period and the [[historicization]] surrounding him may be a part of a trend from before the 10th century AD that historicizes legends and myths.{{Sfn|Stausberg|Vevaina|Tessmann|2015|pp=60–61}}

His name likely means "he who manages [[Camel|camels]]," though its etymology has multiple interpretations, and the Greek form "Zoroaster" stems from later transliterations. According to Zoroastrian tradition, Zoroaster was trained as a [[priest]] from a young age and, around age 30, experienced a [[Revelation|divine revelation]] introducing him to [[Ahura Mazda]], the Wise Lord, and the dualism of truth ([[Asha|''asha'']]) versus deception (''druj''). He is said to have gained royal [[patronage]] under [[Vishtaspa|King Vishtaspa]], spread his teachings, and founded a community, marrying three times and having six children. Zoroastrian texts portray his philosophy as emphasizing [[free will]], ethical responsibility, and aligning with ''asha'' through good thoughts, words, and deeds.

==Name and etymology==
Zoroaster's name in his native language, [[Avestan]], was probably {{transliteration|ae|Zaraθuštra}}. His translated name, "Zoroaster", derives from a later (5th century BC) [[Greek language|Greek]] transcription, {{transliteration|grc|Zōroastrēs}} ({{lang|grc|Ζωροάστρης}}),<ref name="Schlerath_1977_133_135">{{harvnb|Schlerath|1977|pp=133–135}}</ref> as used in [[Xanthus (historian)|Xanthus]]'s {{transliteration|grc|[[Xanthus (historian)#Lydiaca|Lydiaca]]}} (Fragment 32) and in [[Plato]]'s ''[[First Alcibiades]]'' (122a1). This form appears subsequently in the Latin {{lang|la|Zōroastrēs}}, and, in later Greek orthographies, as {{langx|grc|Ζωροάστρις|Zōroastris|label=none}}. The Greek form of the name appears to be based on a phonetic transliteration or semantic substitution of Avestan {{transliteration|ae|zaraθ-}} with the Greek {{langx|grc|ζωρός|zōros|label=none}} (literally 'undiluted') and the [[Substratum in Vedic Sanskrit|BMAC substrate]] {{transliteration|sa|-uštra}} with {{langx|grc|ἄστρον|astron|[[star]]|label=none}}.

In Avestan, {{transliteration|ae|Zaraθuštra}} is generally accepted to derive from an Old Iranian {{transliteration|ae|*Zaratuštra-}}. The element half of the name ({{transliteration|ae|-uštra-}}) is thought to be the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] root for 'camel', with the entire name meaning 'he who can manage camels'.{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}}{{efn|Originally proposed by Burnouf<ref name= "Burnouf_1833_13">{{harvnb |Burnouf|1833|p=13}}.</ref>}} Reconstructions from later Iranian languages—particularly from the [[Middle Persian]] (300 BC) {{transliteration|pal|Zardusht}},{{explain|date=October 2015}} which is the form that the name took in the 9th- to 12th-century Zoroastrian texts—suggest that {{transliteration|ae|*Zaratuštra-}} might be a [[Indo-European ablaut#Zero grade|zero-grade]] form of {{transliteration|ae|*Zarantuštra-}}.{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} Subject then to whether {{transliteration|ae|Zaraθuštra}} derives from {{transliteration|ae|*Zarantuštra-}} or from {{transliteration|ae|*Zaratuštra-}}, several interpretations have been proposed.{{efn|For refutation of these and other proposals, see Humbach, 1991.<ref name= "Humbach_1991_I18">{{harvnb|Humbach|1991|p=I.18}}.</ref>}}

If {{transliteration|ae|Zarantuštra}} is the original form, it may mean 'with old/aging camels',{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} related to [[Avestan language|Avestic]] {{transliteration|ae|zarant-}}<ref name = "Schlerath_1977_133_135"/> (''cf.'' [[Pashto]] {{transliteration|ps|zōṛ}} and [[Ossetian language|Ossetian]] {{transliteration|os|zœrond}}, 'old'; Middle Persian {{transliteration|pal|zāl}}, 'old'):<ref>Paul Horn, Grundriß der neupersischen Etymologie, Strassburg 1893</ref>
* 'with angry/furious camels': from Avestan {{transliteration|ae|*zarant-}}, 'angry, furious'.<ref name="Mayrhofer_1977_43_53">{{harvnb|Mayrhofer|1977|pp=43–53}}.</ref>
* 'who is driving camels' or 'who is fostering/cherishing camels': related to Avestan {{transliteration|ae|zarš-}}, 'to drag'.<ref name="Bailey_1953_40_42">{{harvnb|Bailey|1953|pp=40–42}}.</ref>
* Mayrhofer (1977) proposed an etymology of 'who is desiring camels' or 'longing for camels' and related to [[Vedic Sanskrit]] {{transliteration|sa|har-}}, 'to like', and perhaps (though ambiguous) also to Avestan {{transliteration|ae|zara-}}.<ref name = "Mayrhofer_1977_43_53"/>
* 'with yellow camels': parallel to [[Younger Avestan]] {{transliteration|ae|zairi-}}.<ref name="Markwart_1930_7ff">{{harvnb|Markwart|1930|pp=7ff}}.</ref>

The interpretation of the {{transliteration|ae|-θ-}} ({{IPA|/θ/}}) in the Avestan {{transliteration|ae|zaraθuštra}} was for a time itself subjected to heated debate because the {{transliteration|ae|-θ-}} is an irregular development: as a rule, {{transliteration|ae|*zarat-}} (a first element that ends in a [[dental consonant]]) should have Avestan {{transliteration|ae|zarat-}} or {{transliteration|ae|zarat̰-}} as a development from it. Why this is not so for {{transliteration|ae|zaraθuštra}} has not yet been determined. Notwithstanding the phonetic irregularity, that Avestan {{transliteration|ae|zaraθuštra}} with its {{transliteration|ae|-θ-}} was linguistically an actual form is shown by later attestations reflecting the same basis.{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} All present-day Iranian-language variants of his name derive from the Middle Iranian variants of {{transliteration|pal|Zarθošt}}, which, in turn, all reflect Avestan's fricative {{transliteration|ae|-θ-}}.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

In Middle Persian, the name is {{langx|pal|𐭦𐭫𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭲|Zardu(x)št|label=none}},<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=MacKenvie |first=D.N. |year=1971 |title=A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-713559-5 |page=98 |url=http://www.rabbinics.org/pahlavi/MacKenzie-PahlDict.pdf |access-date=1 September 2017 |archive-date=3 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203034323/http://www.rabbinics.org/pahlavi/MacKenzie-PahlDict.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> in [[Parthian language|Parthian]] {{transliteration|xpr|Zarhušt}},<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfMMP |title=Dictionary Of Manichean Middle Persian & Parthian |last=Durkin-Meisterernst |first=Desmond |date=2004}}</ref> in Manichaean Middle Persian {{transliteration|xmn|Zrdrwšt}},<ref name="auto"/> in [[Persian language#Early New Persian|Early New Persian]] {{transliteration|fa|Zardušt}},<ref name="auto"/> and in modern (New [[Persian language|Persian]]), the name is {{langx|fa|زرتشت|Zartosht|label=none}}.

The name is attested in [[Classical Armenian]] sources as {{transliteration|xcl|Zradašt}} (often with the variant {{transliteration|xcl|Zradešt}}).{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} The most important of these testimonies were provided by the Armenian authors [[Eznik of Kolb]], [[Elishe]], and [[Movses Khorenatsi]].{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} The spelling {{transliteration|xcl|Zradašt}} was formed through an older form which started with {{transliteration|xcl|*zur-}}, a fact which the German Iranologist [[Friedrich Carl Andreas]] (1846–1930) used as evidence for a Middle Persian spoken form {{transliteration|pal|*Zur(a)dušt}}.{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} Based on this assumption, Andreas even went so far to form conclusions from this also for the Avestan form of the name.{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} However, the modern Iranologist [[Rüdiger Schmitt]] rejects Andreas's assumption, and states that the older form which started with {{transliteration|xcl|*zur-}} was just influenced by Armenian {{transliteration|xcl|zur}} ('wrong, unjust, idle'), which therefore means that "the name must have been reinterpreted in an anti-Zoroastrian sense by the Armenian Christians".{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}} Furthermore, Schmitt adds: "it cannot be excluded, that the (Parthian or) Middle Persian form, which the Armenians took over ({{transliteration|xcl|Zaradušt}} or the like), was merely metathesized to {{abbr|pre-Arm|pre-Armenian}}. {{transliteration|xcl|*Zuradašt}}".{{sfn|Schmitt|2002}}

==Date==
[[File:CIMRM_44-Mithraic_pater_(Dura_Europos)_B.jpg|thumb |upright|3rd-century [[Mithraic]] depiction of Zoroaster found in [[Dura Europos]], [[Syria]] by [[Franz Cumont]]]]
There is no consensus on the dating of Zoroaster. The Avesta gives no direct information about it, while historical sources are conflicting. Some scholars base their date reconstruction on the [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language]] and [[Proto-Indo-Iranian religion]], while others use internal evidence.<ref name="Boyce Intro"/> While many scholars today consider a date around 1000 BC to be the most likely,{{Sfn|Malandra |2005|loc=: "Controversy over Zaraθuštra's date has been an embarrassment of long standing to Zoroastrian studies. If anything approaching a consensus exists, it is that he lived ca. 1000 BCE give or take a century or so [...]"}}{{Sfn|Kellens|2011|loc=: "In the last ten years a general consensus has gradually emerged in favor of placing the Gāthās around 1000 BCE [...]"}} others still consider a range of dates between 1500 and 500 BC to be possible.<ref name="auto1">{{harvnb|Lincoln|1991|pp=149–150}}: "At present, the majority opinion among scholars probably inclines toward the end of the second millennium or the beginning of the first, although there are still those who hold for a date in the seventh century."</ref>{{sfn|Boyce|1996|pp=3, 189–191}}{{sfn|Stausberg|Vevaina|Tessmann|2015|p=61}}<ref name="NigosianDate">{{harvnb|Nigosian|1993|pp=15–16}}</ref><ref name="ShahbaziAb">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|1977|pp=25–35}}</ref>

===Classical scholarship===
Classical scholarship in the 6th to 4th century BC believed he existed 6,000 years before [[Xerxes I]]'s invasion of Greece in 480 BC ([[Xanthus (historian)|Xanthus]], [[Eudoxus of Cnidus|Eudoxus]], [[Aristotle]], [[Hermippus]]), which is a possible misunderstanding of the Zoroastrian four cycles of 3,000 years (i.e. 12,000 years).<ref name="WestDate13">{{harvnb|West|2013|pp=89–109}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Stausberg|Vevaina|Tessmann|2015|p=441}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1982|p=260}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=285–292}}</ref> This belief is recorded by [[Diogenes Laërtius]], and variant readings could place it 600 years before Xerxes I, somewhere before 1000 BC.<ref name="NigosianDate"/> However, Diogenes also mentions [[Hermodorus]]'s belief that Zoroaster lived 5,000 years before the [[Trojan War]], which would mean he lived around 6200 BC.<ref name="NigosianDate"/> The 10th-century [[Suda]] provides a date of 500 years before the Trojan War.<ref name="WestDate13"/> [[Pliny the Elder]] cited Eudoxus which placed his death 6,000 years before Plato, {{c.|6300 BC}}.<ref name="NigosianDate"/> Other pseudo-historical constructions are those of [[Aristoxenus]] who recorded Zaratas the [[Chaldea]]ean to have taught [[Pythagoras]] in [[Babylon]],<ref name="WestDate13"/><ref name="Tuplin2007"/> or lived at the time of mythological [[Ninus]] and [[Semiramis]].<ref>{{harvnb|West|2010|p=8}}</ref> According to Pliny the Elder, there were two Zoroasters. The first lived thousands of years ago, while the second accompanied Xerxes I in the invasion of Greece in 480 BC.<ref name="WestDate13"/> Some scholars propose that the chronological calculation for Zoroaster was developed by Persian [[magi]] in the 4th century BC, and as the early Greeks learned about him from the Achaemenids, this indicates they did not regard him as a contemporary of Cyrus the Great, but as a remote figure.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1982|p=261}}</ref>

===Zoroastrian and Muslim scholarship===
Some later pseudo-historical and Zoroastrian sources (the {{transliteration|pal|[[Bundahishn]]}}, which references a date "258 years before Alexander") place Zoroaster in the 6th century BC,{{efn|"258 years before Alexander" is only superficially precise.<ref name= "Shahbazi_1977_26">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|1977|p=26}}.</ref> It has been suggested that this "traditional date" is an adoption of some date from foreign sources, from the Greeks<ref name= "Kingsley_1990_245">{{harvnb|Kingsley|1990|pp=245–265}}.</ref> or the Babylonians<ref name= "Shahbazi_1977_32">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|1977|pp=32–33}}.</ref> 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.{{sfn|Jackson|1896}}{{sfn|Boyce|1996|p={{page needed|date=November 2020}}}}<ref>{{Citation |last = Henning | title = Western Response}}.{{full citation needed|date=November 2020}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Stausberg|Vevaina|Tessmann|2015|p=9}}</ref> which coincided with the accounts by [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] from the 4th century AD. The traditional Zoroastrian date originates in the period immediately following [[Alexander the Great]]'s conquest of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in 330 BC.<ref name="NigosianDate"/> The [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] rulers 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 (erroneously, according to [[Mary Boyce]] some even identified Cyrus with Vishtaspa)<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1982|p=68}}</ref> counting back the length of successive generations, until they concluded that Zoroaster must have lived "258 years before Alexander".<ref name="WestDate13"/><ref name="Shahbazi_1977_25_26">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|1977|pp=25–26}}</ref> This estimate then re-appeared in the 9th- to 12th-century Arabic and Pahlavi texts of Zoroastrian tradition,{{efn|The {{transliteration|pal|[[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."{{sfn|Jackson|1899|p=162}}<ref name = "Shahbazi_1977_26"/>}} like the 10th century [[Al-Masudi]] who cited a prophecy from a lost Avestan book in which Zoroaster foretold the Empire's destruction in 300 years, but the religion would last for 1,000 years.<ref name="West 2010 6"/>

In Zoroastrian scriptures, [[King Yima]] (Jam) and the legendary [[Pishdadian dynasty]] preceded the time when Zoroaster proclaimed his teachings.

===Modern scholarship===
In modern scholarship, two main approaches can be distinguished: a late dating to the 7th and 6th centuries BC, based on the indigenous Zoroastrian tradition, and an early dating, which places his life more generally in the 15th to 9th centuries BC.{{Sfn|Humbach|1991|loc=chap. "The date of Zarathustra"}}

====Late date====
Some scholars<ref name="auto1"/> propose a period between 7th and 6th century BC, for example, {{c.|650–600 BC}} or 559–522 BC.<ref name="NigosianDate"/><ref name="ShahbaziAb"/> The latest possible date is the mid 6th century BC, at the time of Achaemenid Empire's [[Darius I]], or his predecessor [[Cyrus the Great]]. This date gains credence mainly from attempts to connect figures in Zoroastrian texts to historical personages;<ref name="ShahbaziAb"/> thus some have postulated that the mythical [[Vishtaspa]] who appears in an account of Zoroaster's life was [[Darius I]]'s father, also named Vishtaspa (or [[Hystaspes (father of Darius I)|Hystaspes]] in Greek). However, if this was true, it seems unlikely that the Avesta would not mention that Vishtaspa's son became the ruler of the Persian Empire, or that this key fact about Darius's father would not be mentioned in the [[Behistun Inscription]]. It is also possible that Darius I's father was named in honor of the Zoroastrian patron, indicating possible Zoroastrian faith by [[Arsames]].<ref name="West 2010 6">{{harvnb|West|2010|p=6}}</ref>

====Early date====
Scholars such as [[Mary Boyce]] (who dated Zoroaster to somewhere between 1700 and 1000 BC) used linguistic and socio-cultural evidence to place Zoroaster between 1500 and 1000 BC (or 1200 and 900 BC).<ref name="West Dating"/><ref name="ShahbaziAb"/> The basis of this theory is primarily proposed on linguistic similarities between the [[Avestan language|Old Avestan language]] of the Zoroastrian [[Gathas]] and the [[Vedic Sanskrit|Sanskrit]] of the [[Rigveda]] ({{Circa|1700}}–1100 BC), a collection of early Vedic hymns. Both texts are considered to have a common archaic Indo-Iranian origin. The Gathas portray an ancient [[Stone Age|Stone]]-[[Bronze Age#Iranian Plateau|Bronze Age]] bipartite society of warrior-herdsmen and priests (compared to Bronze [[Trifunctional hypothesis|tripartite society]]; some conjecture that it depicts the [[Yaz culture]]),<ref>{{citation|first1=J. P.|last1=Mallory|author2-link=Douglas Q. Adams|first2=Douglas Q.|last2=Adams|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC|year=1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|pages=310–311, 653|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|author1-link=J. P. Mallory}}</ref> and that it is thus implausible that the Gathas and [[Rigveda]] could have been composed more than a few centuries apart. These scholars suggest that Zoroaster lived in an isolated tribe or composed the Gathas before the 1200–1000 BC migration by the Iranians from the steppe to the [[Iranian Plateau]].<ref name="Boyce Background96"/><ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1982|pp=1–7}}</ref><ref name="West Dating"/><ref>{{harvnb|West|2010|p=18}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Stausberg|2008|p=572}}</ref> The shortfall of the argument is the vague comparison, and the archaic language of Gathas does not necessarily indicate time difference.<ref name="WestDate13"/><ref name="NigosianDate"/>

It has been suggested by Silk Road Seattle, using its own interpretations of [[Victor H. Mair]]'s writings on the topic that Zoroaster could have been born in the 2nd millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 May 2002 |title=Zoroastrianism |website=Silk Road Seattle |publisher=[[University of Washington]] |url=https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/religion/zoroastrianism/zoroastrianism.html |access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Mair|1990|p=34}}

[[Almut Hintze]], the [[British Library]], and the [[European Research Council]] have dated Zoroaster to roughly 3,500 years ago, in the 2nd millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An introduction to Zoroastrianism |url=https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/ancient-near-east1/the-ancient-near-east-an-introduction/a/an-introduction-to-zoroastrianism |access-date=12 March 2023 |website=[[Khan Academy]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Place==
{{See also|Airyanem Vaejah}}
The birthplace of Zoroaster is also unknown, and the language of the Gathas is not similar to the proposed north-western and north-eastern regional dialects of Persia. It is also suggested that he was born in one of the two areas and later lived in the other area.<ref name="NigosianPlace">{{harvnb|Nigosian|1993|pp=17–18}}</ref>

{{transliteration|ae|Yasna}} 9 and 17 cite the Ditya River in [[Airyanem Vaejah|Airyanem Vaējah]] (Middle Persian {{transliteration|pal|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]], [[Persian people|Persians]], or even the [[Parthia]]ns. The {{transliteration|ae|[[Fravashi|Farvardin Yasht]]}} refers to some Iranian peoples that are unknown in the Greek and Achaemenid sources about the 6th and 5th century BC Eastern Iran. The {{transliteration|ae|[[Vendidad]]}} contain [[Avestan geography|17 regional names]], most of which are located in north-eastern and eastern Iran.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=190–191}}</ref>

However, in {{transliteration|ae|Yasna}} 59.18, the {{transliteration|ae|zaraθuštrotema}}, or supreme head of the Zoroastrian priesthood, is said to reside in 'Ragha' ([[Badakhshan]]).<ref name="West Birthplace-Surname"/> In the 9th- to 12th-century Middle Persian texts of Zoroastrian tradition, 'Ragha' and 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 the scripture is [[Arachosia]]), the {{transliteration|ae|[[Bundahishn|Būndahišn]]}}, or "Primordial Creation", (20.32 and 24.15) puts Ragha in [[Medes|Media]] (medieval [[Ray, Iran|Rai]]). However, in Avestan, Ragha is simply a toponym meaning 'plain, hillside.'<ref name="Gershevitch_1964_36_37">{{harvnb|Gershevitch|1964|pp=36–37}}.</ref>

Apart from these indications in Middle Persian sources that are open to interpretations, there are a number of other sources. The Greek and Latin sources are divided on the birthplace of Zoroaster. Among the Greek accounts, [[Ctesias]] located him in [[Bactria]], [[Diodorus Siculus]] placed him among Ariaspai (in [[Sistan]]),<ref name="West Birthplace-Surname"/> [[Cephalion (historian)|Cephalion]] and [[Justin (historian)|Justin]] suggests east of greater Iran, whereas [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Origen]] suggest west of Iran as his birthplace.<ref name="NigosianPlace"/> Moreover, there is the suggestion that there has been more than one Zoroaster.<ref>{{cite book |author1=William Enfield |author2=Johann Jakob Brucker |author3=Knud Haakonssen |title=The History of Philosophy from the Earliest Periods: Drawn Up from Brucker's Historia Critica Philosophia |publisher=Thoemmes |year=2001 |isbn=1-85506-828-1 |pages=18, 22}}</ref>

On the other hand, in post-Islamic sources [[Al-Shahrastani|Shahrastani]] (1086–1153), an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] writer originally from Shahristān, in present-day [[Turkmenistan]], proposed that Zoroaster's father was from [[Atropatene]] (also in Medea) and his mother was from [[Rey, Iran|Rey]]. Coming from a reputed scholar of religion, this was a serious blow to the various regions which all claimed that Zoroaster originated from {{em|their}} homelands, some of which had then decided that Zoroaster must have then been buried in their regions or composed his Gathas there or preached there.<ref name="cf_Boyce_1975_2_26">''cf.'' {{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=2–26}}.</ref><ref name="cf_Gronke_1993_59_60">''cf.'' {{harvnb|Gronke|1993|pp=59–60}}.</ref> Arabic sources of the same period and the same region of historical Persia also consider [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]] as the birthplace of Zarathustra.<ref name="NigosianPlace"/>

By the late 20th century, most scholars had settled on an origin in eastern Greater Iran. Gnoli proposed [[Sistan]], [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Baluchistan]] (though in a much wider scope than the present-day province) as the homeland of Zoroastrianism; Frye voted for Bactria and [[Chorasmia]];<ref name="Frye_1992_8">{{harvnb|Frye|1992|p=8}}.</ref> Khlopin suggests the Tedzen Delta in present-day [[Turkmenistan]].<ref name="Khlopin_1992_107_110">{{harvnb|Khlopin|1992|pp=107–110}}.</ref> Sarianidi considered the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]] region as "the native land of the Zoroastrians and, probably, of Zoroaster himself."<ref name="Sarianidi_1987_54">{{harvnb|Sarianidi|1987|p=54}}.</ref> Boyce includes the [[steppe]]s to the west from the [[Volga River|Volga]].<ref name="Boyce_1975_1">{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|p=1}}.</ref> 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".<ref name="Malandra_2005">{{harvnb|Malandra|2005}}</ref>

==Life==
[[File:Zoroaster 1.jpg|thumb|19th century painting depicting the events of Zoroaster's life]]

Zoroaster is recorded as the son of [[Pourushaspa]] of the [[Spitama family]],<ref name="West 2010 17"/> and [[Dugdōw]],<ref name="NigosianPlace" /> while his great-grandfather was [[Haēčataspa]]. All the names appear appropriate to the nomadic tradition. His father's name means 'possessing gray horses' (with the word {{transliteration|ae|aspa}} meaning 'horse'), while his mother's means 'milkmaid'. According to the tradition, he had four brothers, two older and two younger, whose names are given in much later [[Pahlavi literature|Pahlavi]] work.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=182–183}}</ref>

Zoroaster's training for priesthood probably started very early around seven years of age.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=183}}</ref> He became a priest probably around the age of 15, and according to Gathas, gaining knowledge from other teachers and personal experience from traveling when he left his parents at age 20.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=184}}</ref> By the age of 30, Zoroaster experienced a revelation during a spring festival; on the river bank he saw a shining being, who revealed himself as {{transliteration|ae|[[Vohu Manah]]}} (Good Purpose) and taught him about {{transliteration|ae|[[Ahura Mazda]]}} (Wise Lord) and five other radiant figures. Zoroaster soon became aware of the existence of two primal spirits, the second being {{transliteration|ae|[[Angra Mainyu]]}} (Destructive Spirit), with opposing concepts of {{transliteration|ae|[[Asha]]}} (order) and {{transliteration|ae|[[Asha|Druj]]}} (deception). Thus he decided to spend his life teaching people to seek {{transliteration|ae|Asha}}.<ref>{{harvnb|West|2010|pp=19–20}}</ref> He received further revelations and saw a vision of the seven {{transliteration|ae|[[Amesha Spenta]]}}, and his teachings were collected in the {{transliteration|ae|[[Gathas]]}} and the {{transliteration|ae|[[Avesta]]}}.<ref>{{harvnb|West|2010|p=24}}</ref>

[[File:Iranianhistory-tekyemoaven.jpg|left|thumb|The rings of the {{transliteration|ae|[[Fravashi]]}}]]

Eventually, at the age of about 42, Zoroaster received the patronage of queen Hutaosa and a ruler named [[Vishtaspa]], an early adherent of Zoroastrianism (possibly from Bactria according to the [[Shahnameh]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=187}}</ref>

According to the tradition, he lived for many years after Vishtaspa's conversion, managed to establish a faithful community,<ref>{{harvnb|West|2010|p=9}}</ref> and married three times. His first two wives bore him three sons, Isat Vâstra, Urvatat Nara, and Hvare Chithra, and three daughters, Freni, Thriti, and Pouruchista. His third wife, Hvōvi, was childless.<ref name="Boyce 1975 188">{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=188}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|West|2010|p=31}}</ref> Zoroaster died when he was 77 years and 40 days old.<ref name="Boyce 1975 188"/> There are conflicting traditions on Zoroaster's manner of death. The most common is that he was murdered by a {{transliteration|fa|karapan}} (priest of the [[Ancient Iranian religion|old religion]]) named Brādrēs, while performing at an altar. The [[Dēnkart|{{transliteration|pal|Dēnkart}}]], and the [[Epic poem|epic]] {{transliteration|fa|Shahnameh}}, ascribe his death to a [[Turya (Avesta)|Turanian]] soldier named Baraturish, potentially a spin on the same figure, while other traditions combine both accounts or hold that he died of [[Death by natural causes|old age]].<ref>{{harvnb|Boyce|1996|pp=192}}</ref>

=== Cypress of Kashmar ===
{{Main|Cypress of Kashmar}}

The Cypress of Kashmar is a mythical cypress tree of legendary beauty and gargantuan dimensions. It is said to have sprung from a branch brought by Zoroaster from Paradise and to have stood in today's [[Kashmar]] in northeastern Iran and to have been planted by Zoroaster in honor of the conversion of [[Vishtaspa|King Vishtaspa]] to Zoroastrianism. According to the Iranian physicist and historian [[Zakariya al-Qazwini]], King Vishtaspa had been a patron of Zoroaster who planted the tree himself. In his {{transliteration|ar|[[ʿAjā'ib al-makhlūqāt wa gharā'ib al-mawjūdāt]]}} ('The Wonders of Creatures and the Marvels of Creation'), he further describes how the [[Al-Mutawakkil]] in 247 AH (861 AD) caused the mighty cypress to be felled, and then transported it across Iran, to be used for beams in his new palace at [[Samarra]]. Before, he wanted the tree to be reconstructed before his eyes. This was done in spite of protests by the Iranians, who offered a very great sum of money to save the tree. Al-Mutawakkil never saw the cypress, because he was murdered by a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] soldier (possibly in the employ of his son) on the night when it arrived on the banks of the Tigris.<ref name="cypress of kashmar">{{cite web|url=http://www.zoroastrian.org.uk/vohuman/Library/The%20Cypress%20of%20Kashmar%20and%20Zoroaster.htm|title=The Cypress of Kashmar and Zoroaster|publisher=www.zoroastrian.org.uk|access-date=6 February 2020}}</ref>

==Influences==
===In Christianity===
{{main|Christianity and other religions|Second Temple Judaism|Cyrus the Great in the Bible}}

[[Athanasius Kircher]] identified Zoroaster with [[Ham (Bible)|Ham]].<ref name="Mungello Ham">{{Harvcolnb|Mungello|1989|p=144}} and {{Harvcolnb|Mungello|1989|p=182}}</ref> The French [[figurist]] [[Jesuit missions to China|Jesuit missionary to China]] [[Joachim Bouvet]] thought that Zoroaster, the Chinese cultural hero [[Fuxi]] and [[Hermes Trismegistus]] were actually the Biblical patriarch [[Enoch]].<ref name="Mungello Enoch">{{Harvcolnb|Mungello|1989|p=321}}</ref>

===In Islam===
{{main|Religious influences on Zoroastrianism|101 names of God|Cyrus the Great in the Quran}}

{{further|Daeva|Jinn|Ifrit|Iblis|Angra Mainyu}}

The ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' claims that the stories of Zoroaster's life were attributed to him by quoting stories from Christianity and Judaism, but the most quotations were from Islam after the entry of Muslims into Persia, as it was a means for the Zoroastrian clergy to strengthen their religion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=ZOROASTRIANISM II. HISTORICAL REVIEW: FROM THE ARAB CONQUEST TO MODERN TIMES |url=https://iranicaonline.org/ |access-date=18 May 2024 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

The orientalist [[Arthur Christensen]] in his book <nowiki>''</nowiki>''Iran During The Sassanid Era<nowiki>''</nowiki>''''',''' mentioned that the sources dating back to the era of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] state in [[Old Persian|ancient Persian]] that refer to the Zoroastrian doctrine do not match the sources that appeared after the collapse of the state, such as the Pahlavi source and others. The reason is that because of the fall of the Sasanian state, the Zoroastrian clerics tried to save their religion from extinction through modifying it to resemble the religion of Muslims to retain followers in the Zoroastrian religion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christensen |first=Arthur |title=Book Iran During The Sassanid Era |date=1936 |pages=421}}</ref>

[[Gherardo Gnoli]] comments that the Islamic conquest of Persia caused a huge impact on the Zoroastrian doctrine:<ref>{{Cite web |title=DUALISM |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dualism/ |access-date=18 May 2025 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |language=en-US}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=After the Islamic conquest of Persia and the migration of many Zoroastrians to India and after being exposed to Islamic and Christian propaganda, the Zoroastrians, especially the Parsis in India, went so far as to deny dualism and consider themselves completely monotheists. After several transformations and developments, one of the distinctive features of the Zoroastrian religion gradually faded away and almost disappeared from modern Zoroastrianism|source=|title=|author=}}

[[Maneckji Nusserwanji Dhalla]] described the doctrine of the [[Gayomarthians]] sect as another attempt to mitigate the dualism that has always been the essence of Zoroastrianism. This was due to the Prophet Muhammad’s emphasis on monotheism and the Muslims’ mockery of the doctrine of worshipping two gods, which made the Zoroastrians view dualism as a defect, so they added monotheism, which led to the Zoroastrians’ division into sects and he mentions examples of the Zoroastrian attempt to establish a monotheistic belief by diminishing the importance of Ahriman, including that Ahura Mazda and Ahriman were created from time, or that Ahura Mazda himself allowed the existence of evil, or that Ahriman was a corrupt angel who rebelled against Ahura Mazda. Then he mentions the name of a Persian book from the 15th century in which it is written that the Magi (Zoroastrians) believe that Allah and Iblis are brothers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=M.N. Dhalla: History of Zoroastrianism (1938), part 6, CHAPTER XLVI, DOWNFALL OF THE SASANIANS, AND THE AFTERMATH |url=https://www.avesta.org/dhalla/history6.htm |access-date=17 May 2025 |website=www.avesta.org}}</ref>

This provides an explanation of why a number of parallels have been drawn between Zoroastrian teachings and Islam.{{original research inline|date=November 2025}} Such parallels include the evident similarities between [[Amesha Spenta]] and the archangel [[Gabriel]], praying five times a day, covering one's head during prayer, and the mention of [[Thamud]] and [[Iram of the Pillars]] in the [[Quran]].{{original research inline|date=November 2025}} 

The [[Sabians]], who believed in [[free will]] coincident with [[Zoroastrians]], are also mentioned in the Quran 22:17.<ref name="Hinnel 1997">{{Citation |last=Hinnel |first=J |title=The Penguin Dictionary of Religion |year=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books UK}}</ref>

====Muslim scholastic views====
{{main|Shahnameh}}

Like the Greeks of classical antiquity, Islamic tradition understands Zoroaster to be the founding prophet of the Magians (via Aramaic, Arabic {{transliteration|ar|Majūsiyya}}, collective {{transliteration|ar|[[Majūs]]}}). The 11th-century Cordoban [[Ibn Hazm]] (Zahiri school) contends that the designation {{transliteration|ar|kitābī}} "[follower] of the Scripture [of God]" cannot apply in light of the Zoroastrian assertion that their books were destroyed by Alexander. Citing the authority of the 8th-century [[Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi|al-Kalbi]], the 9th- and 10th-century Sunni historian [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|al-Tabari]] (I, 648){{citation needed|date=October 2023}} reports that Zara<!-- with 'a' -->dusht bin Isfiman (an [[Arabic]] adaptation of "Zarathushtra Spitama") was an inhabitant of Israel and a servant of one of the disciples of the prophet [[Jeremiah]].<ref name="IbnKathir">[[Ibn Kathir]], ''Stories of the Prophets'', ''The Story of the Prophet Jeremiah''</ref> According to this tale, Zaradusht defrauded his master, who cursed him, causing him to become leprous (cf. [[Elisha]]'s servant [[Gehazi]] in Jewish scripture).{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} According to [[Ibn Kathir]], Zoroaster came into conflict with Jeremiah which resulted in angry Jeremiah cast a curse upon Zoroaster, causing him to suffer [[Leprosy]], and exiling him. Zoroaster later moved to a place of modern-day [[Azerbaijan]] which ruled by Bashtaasib ([[Vishtaspa]]), governor of Nebuchadnezzar, and spread his teaching of Zoroastrianism there. Bashtaasib then followed his teaching, forces the inhabitants of [[Persia]] to convert to Zoroastrianism and killed those who refused.<ref name="Ibn Kathir; chapter Jeremiah">{{cite web |author1=Ibn Kathir |title=The Reconstruction of Jerusalem In the Era of Jeremiah |url=https://www.islamawareness.net/Prophets/reconstruction.html |website=islamawareness |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Muhammad Al-Munajjid |author1-link=Muhammad Al-Munajjid |title=هل زاردشت كان نبيا ؟ |trans-title=Was Zoroaster a prophet? |year=2017 |url=https://islamqa.info/ar/answers/258698/%D9%87%D9%84-%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B4%D8%AA-%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7 |website=[[IslamQA.info|islamqa.info]] |publisher=islamqa.info |access-date=3 August 2024 |language=Ar}}</ref>

Ibn Kathir has quoted the original narrative was borrowed from Tabari's record of the "History of Jerusalem". He also mentioned that Zoroastrian was synonymous with [[Majus]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ibn Kathir |translator=Dar Al Kalam Staff |title=Stories of the Prophets (Peace be upon them): Qasas Al-Anbiya |year=2018 |publisher=دار القلم للطباعة و النشر و التوزيع - بيروت |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3hjDwAAQBAJ |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Ibn Kathir |title=Stories Of The Prophets |url=https://islambasics.com/chapter/prophet-aramaya-jeremiah/ |website=islambasics |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=En}}</ref>

[[Sibt ibn al-Jawzi]] instead stated that some older narration said that Zoroaster was a former disciple of [[Uzair]].<ref>{{cite web |title=هل بوذا" أو "زرادشت" من الأنبياء؟ |url=https://www.islamweb.net/ar/fatwa/425695/ |website=إسلام ويب |publisher=Islamweb |year=2020 |access-date=22 July 2024 |language=Ar}}</ref>

[[Al-Tabari]] (I, 681–683){{citation needed|date=October 2023}} 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 {{transliteration|ar|[[Sabians|Sabis]]}}) to the Magian religion.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The 12th-century [[heresiology|heresiographer]] [[al-Shahrastani]] describes the Majusiya into three sects, the {{transliteration|ar|Kayumarthiya}} (an otherwise undocumented sect that – per Sharastani – seems to have had a stronger doctrine of Ahriman's "non-reality"), the {{transliteration|ar|[[Zurvanism|Zurwaniya]]}} and the {{transliteration|ar|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, 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)

====Ahmadiyya view====
The [[Ahmadiyya Community]] views Zoroaster as a Prophet and describe the expressions of the all-good Ahura Mazda and evil Ahriman as merely referring to the coexistence of forces of good and evil enabling humans to exercise free will.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alislam.org/library/books/revelation/part_2_section_5.html|title=Zoroastrianism|website=www.alislam.org}}</ref>

===In Manichaeism===
[[File:Manichaean Diagram of the Universe (Detail 12).jpg|thumb|The four primary prophets of Manichaeism in the ''[[Manichaean Diagram of the Universe]]'', from left to right: [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]], [[Zarathushtra in Manichaeism|Zoroaster]], [[The Buddha in Manichaeism|Buddha]] and [[Jesus in Manichaeism|Jesus]].]]
[[Manichaeism]] considered Zoroaster to be a figure in a line of prophets of which [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] (216–276) was the culmination.<ref name="Widengren_1961_76">{{harvnb|Widengren|1961|p=76}}.</ref> Zoroaster's ethical dualism is—to an extent—incorporated in Manichaeism's doctrine which, unlike Mani's thoughts,<ref>Amin Maalouf 1991, The Gardens of Light</ref> viewed the world as being locked in an epic battle between opposing forces of good and evil.<ref name="Widengren_1961_43-45">{{harvnb|Widengren|1961|pp=43–45}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="Widengren_1961_44-45">{{harvnb|Widengren|1961|pp=44–45}}.</ref><ref name="Zaehner_1972_21">{{harvnb|Zaehner|1972|p=21}}.</ref>

===In the Bahá'í Faith===
Zoroaster appears in the [[Bahá'í Faith]] as a "[[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|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]].<ref name="Taherzadeh_1976_3">{{harvnb|Taherzadeh|1976|p=3}}.</ref> [[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 I|Bahram]];<ref name="Buck_1998">{{harvnb|Buck|1998}}.</ref> Effendi also stated that Zoroaster lived roughly 1000 years before Jesus.{{efn|From a letter of the Universal House of Justice, Department of the Secretariat, 13 May 1979, to Gayle Woolson published in {{harvp|Hornby|1983|p=501}}.}}

==Philosophy==
[[Image:Sanzio 01 Zoroaster Ptolmey.jpg|thumb|Detail of [[The School of Athens]] by [[Raphael]], 1509, showing what may be Zoroaster (left, with star-studded globe)]]

In the {{transliteration|ae|Gathas}}, Zoroaster sees the human condition as the mental struggle between {{transliteration|ae|[[aša]]}} and {{transliteration|ae|[[Nasu (Zoroastrianism)|druj]]}}. The cardinal concept of {{transliteration|ae|aša}}—which is highly nuanced and difficult to translate—is at the foundation of all Zoroastrian doctrine, including that of {{transliteration|ae|[[Ahura Mazda]]}} (who is {{transliteration|ae|aša}}), creation (that is {{transliteration|ae|aša}}), existence (that is {{transliteration|ae|aša}}), and as the condition for free will.

The purpose of humankind, like that of all other creation, is to sustain and align itself to {{transliteration|ae|aša}}. For humankind, this occurs through active ethical participation in life, ritual, and the exercise of constructive/good thoughts, words, and deeds.

Elements of Zoroastrian philosophy entered the West through their influence on [[Judaism]] and [[Platonism]] and have been identified as one of the key early events in the development of philosophy.{{sfn|Blackburn|1994|p=405}} Among the classic Greek philosophers, [[Heraclitus]] is often referred to as inspired by Zoroaster's thinking.<ref name="August Gladisch">{{Citation|title=Herakleitos Und Zoroaster: Eine Historische Untersuchung|first=August |last=Gladisch |year=1859|page=IV|hdl=2027/hvd.32044085119394|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

In 2005, the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy ranked Zoroaster as first in the chronology of philosophers.{{sfn|Blackburn|2005|p=409}}<ref>Frankfort, H., Frankfort, H. A. G., Wilson, J. A., & Jacobsen, T. (1964). Before Philosophy. Penguin, Harmondsworth.</ref> Zoroaster's impact lingers today due in part to the system of religious ethics he founded called {{transliteration|ae|Mazdayasna}}. The word {{transliteration|ae|Mazdayasna}} is [[Avestan]] and is translated as 'Worship of Wisdom/Mazda' in English. The encyclopedia [[Natural History (Pliny)]] claims that Zoroastrians later educated the Greeks who, starting with [[Pythagoras]], used a similar term, philosophy, or "love of wisdom" to describe the search for ultimate truth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pliny Natural History Vol 8; Book XXX |last=Jones |first=W.H.S. |date=1963 |publisher=Heinemann |url=http://www.masseiana.org/pliny.htm#BOOK%20XXX |access-date=28 December 2016 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101063545/http://www.masseiana.org/pliny.htm#BOOK%20XXX |archive-date=1 January 2017}}</ref>

Zoroaster emphasized the freedom of the individual to choose right or wrong and individual responsibility for one's deeds. This personal choice to accept {{transliteration|ae|aša}} and shun {{transliteration|ae|druj}} is one's own decision and not a dictate of {{transliteration|ae|Ahura Mazda}}. For Zoroaster, by thinking good thoughts, saying good words, and doing good deeds (e.g. assisting the needy, doing good works, or conducting good rituals) one increases {{transliteration|ae|aša}} in the world and in themselves, celebrating the divine order, and coming a step closer on the everlasting road to {{transliteration|ae|[[Frashokereti]]}}. Thus, mankind are not the slaves or servants of {{transliteration|ae|Ahura Mazda}}, but can make a personal choice to be co-workers, thereby perfecting the world as saoshyants ("world-perfecters") and eventually achieving the status of an {{transliteration|ae|Ashavan}} ("master of {{transliteration|ae|Asha}}").{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}}

==Iconography==
[[File:ClavisArtis.MS.Verginelli-Rota.V1.003r.jpg|thumb|upright|Depiction of Zoroaster in ''{{ill|Clavis Artis|it}}'', an alchemy manuscript published in Germany in the late 17th or early 18th century and [[Pseudepigrapha|pseudoepigraphically]] attributed to Zoroaster]]

Although a few recent depictions of Zoroaster show him 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 collection of unbound rods or twigs, known as a {{transliteration|ae|[[barsom|baresman]]}} (Avestan; Middle Persian {{transliteration|pal|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 {{transliteration|ae|varza}}—usually stylized as a steel rod crowned by a bull's head—that priests carry in their installation ceremony<!-- the bares*num*-->. In other depictions he appears with a raised hand and thoughtfully lifted finger, as if to make a point. Alternatively, this could be an Islamic influence, drawing parallels between both religions' conception of the oneness of God.{{Citation needed|date=September 2016}}

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 along with other factors bearing similarities to 19th-century portraits of [[Jesus]].{{sfn|Stausberg|2002|loc=vol. I, p. 58}}

[[File:Persia_past_and_present;_a_book_of_travel_and_research,_with_more_than_two_hundred_illustrations_and_a_map_(1906)_(14577344417).jpg|left|upright|thumb|[[Parsis|Indian Zoroastrian]] depiction of Zoroaster from a 1906 travel guide. Derived from a [[:File:Taq-e Bostan - High-relief of Ardeshir II investiture.jpg|figure]] that appears in a 4th-century sculpture at [[Taq-e Bostan]] in South-Western Iran. The original is now believed to be either a representation of [[Mithra]] or [[Hvare-khshaeta]].{{sfn|Stausberg|2002|loc=vol. I, pp. 58–59}}]]
Many modern depictions of Zoroaster derive from a Sassanid-era rock-face carving at [[Taq-e Bostan]]. In this depiction, a figure is seen to preside over the coronation of either [[Ardashir I]] or [[Ardashir II|II]]. The figure is standing on a lotus, with a {{transliteration|ae|baresman}} in hand and with a [[Halo (religious iconography)|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]].

==Western references to Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism==
===In classical antiquity===
{{multiple issues|section=yes|
{{primary sources | section|date=March 2017}}
{{original research|section|date=March 2017}}
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2017}}
}}

The Greeks—in the [[Hellenization|Hellenistic sense]] of the term—had an understanding of Zoroaster as expressed by [[Plutarch]], [[Diogenes Laertius]], and [[Agathias]]<ref>See [[Plutarch]]'s ''Isis and Osiris'' 46-7, [[Diogenes Laertius]] 1.6–9, and [[Agathias]] 2.23-5.</ref> that saw him, at the core, to be the "prophet and founder of the religion of the Iranian peoples," Beck notes that "the rest was mostly fantasy".<ref name="Beck_525">{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=525}}.</ref> Zoroaster was set in the ancient past, six to seven millennia before the Common Era, and was described as a king of [[Bactria]] or a [[Babylonia]]n (or teacher of Babylonians), and with a biography typical of a [[Neopythagorean]] sage, i.e. having a mission preceded by ascetic withdrawal and enlightenment.<ref name = "Beck_525"/> However, at first mentioned in the context of dualism, in [[Moralia]], Plutarch presents Zoroaster as {{anchor|Zaratras}}"Zaratras," not realizing the two to be the same, and he is described as a "teacher of [[Pythagoras]]".<ref name=PlutarchMoraliaBrenk/><ref name="Tuplin2007">{{cite book |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cwFPDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 246] |year=2007 |first=Christopher |last=Tuplin |publisher=ISD LLC |title=Persian Responses: Political and Cultural Interaction with(in) the Achaemenid Empire |isbn=9781910589465 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cwFPDgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

Zoroaster has also been described as a sorcerer-astrologer{{snd}}the creator of both magic and astrology. Deriving from that image, and reinforcing it, was a "mass of literature" attributed to him and that circulated the [[Mediterranean]] world from the 3rd century BC to the end of antiquity and beyond.<ref name = "Beck_491"/><ref>{{harvnb|Beck|2003|loc=para. 4}}.</ref>

The language of that literature was predominantly [[Greek language|Greek]], though at one stage or another various parts of it passed through [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Coptic language|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."<ref name="Beck_491">{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=491}}.</ref> The attributions to "exotic" names (not restricted to magians<!--cf Arnaldo Momigliano /Alien Wisdom/, Cambridge UP, 1975 -->) conferred an "authority of a remote and revelatory wisdom."<ref name="Beck 1991 p=493">{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=493}}.</ref>

Among the named works attributed to "Zoroaster" is a treatise ''On Nature'' ({{transliteration|grc|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 (philosopher)|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 BC version had the Sun in second place above the Moon. [[Colotes]] accused [[Plato]] of plagiarizing Zoroaster,{{sfn|Nock|1929|p=111}}{{sfn|Livingstone|2002|pp=144–145}} and [[Heraclides Ponticus]] wrote a text titled ''Zoroaster'' based on his perception of "Zoroastrian" philosophy, in order to express his disagreement with Plato on [[natural philosophy]].{{sfn|Livingstone|2002|p=147}} With respect to substance and content in ''On Nature'' only two facts are known: that it was crammed with astrological speculations, and that [[Ananke (mythology)|Necessity (''Ananké'')]] was mentioned by name and that she was in the air.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

[[Pliny the Elder]] names Zoroaster as the inventor of magic (''[[Pliny's Natural History|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."<ref name="Beck_2003_para7">{{harvnb|Beck|2003|loc=para. 7}}.</ref> Although Pliny calls him the inventor of magic, the Roman does not provide a "magician's persona" for him.<ref name = "Beck_2003_para7"/> Moreover, the little "magical" teaching that is ascribed to Zoroaster is actually very late, with the very earliest example being from the 14th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=522}}.</ref>

Association with astrology according to Roger Beck, were based on his [[Babylon]]ian origin, and Zoroaster's Greek name was identified at first with star-worshiping ({{transliteration|grc|astrothytes}}, 'star sacrificer") and, with the {{transliteration|grc|Zo-}}, even as the 'living' star.<ref name="Beck_523">{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=523}}.</ref>{{verify source|date=March 2017}} Later, an even more elaborate mythoetymology evolved: Zoroaster died by the living ({{transliteration|grc|zo-}}) flux ({{transliteration|grc|ro-}}) of fire from the star ({{transliteration|grc|astr-}}) which he himself had invoked, and even, that the stars killed him in revenge for having been restrained by him.<ref name="Beck_523" />{{verify source|date=March 2017}}

The alternate Greek name for Zoroaster was {{anchor|Zaratras}}Zaratras<ref name=PlutarchMoraliaBrenk>{{cite book|author = Brenk, Frederick E. | date = 1977 | title = In Mist Apparelled: Religious Themes in Plutarch's Moralia and Lives, Volumes 48–50 | page = 129 | series = Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava [Vol. 48: Supplementum] | location = Leiden, NDL | publisher = Brill Archive | isbn = 9004052410 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=9004052410 | access-date = 19 March 2017 }}</ref> or Zaratas/Zaradas/Zaratos.<ref>Cf. Agathias 2.23–5 and [[Clement of Alexandria|Clement]]'s ''[[Stromata]]'' I.15.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref> [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagoreans]] considered the mathematicians to have studied with Zoroaster in Babylonia.<ref>See [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s ''Life of Pythagoras'' 12, Alexander Polyhistor apud Clement's ''Stromata'' I.15, Diodorus of Eritrea and Aristoxenus apud [[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] VI32.2, for the primary sources.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref> [[Joannes Laurentius Lydus|Lydus]], in ''On the Months'', attributes the creation of the seven-day week to "the Babylonians in the circle of Zoroaster and [[Hystaspes (father of Darius I)|Hystaspes]]," and who did so because there were seven planets.<ref>[[Joannes Laurentius Lydus|Lydus]], ''On the Months'', II.4.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref> [[Lucian|Lucian of Samosata]], in ''Mennipus'' 6, reports deciding to journey to Babylon "to ask one of the magi, Zoroaster's disciples and successors," for their opinion.<ref>[[Lucian|Lucian of Samosata]], ''Mennipus'' 6.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref>

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 {{em|not}}"; they were not expressions of Zoroastrian doctrine, they were not even expressions of what the Greeks and Romans "{{em|imagined}} the doctrines of Zoroastrianism to have been".<ref name="Beck 1991 p=493" /> The assembled fragments do not even show noticeable commonality of outlook and teaching among the several authors who wrote under each name.<ref name="Beck_495">{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=495}}.</ref><!-- "...[The lack of commonality, it] must be emphasized, between ''and among'' the several authors who wrote under the name of the former and the several who wrote under the name of the latter."<ref name="Beck_495"/> -->

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",<ref name = "Beck_526"/> and on the authority of the 2nd-century [[Galen|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.<!-- "This, says Galen, was the origin of much of the spurious literature still in circulation in his day. It cannot of course be proved, but it seems not unlikely that Zoroaster, bearing as fabled and antique a name as one might wish, and moreover never having written any real books against which to test the false, would have been an ideal author for the inventions of these entrepreneurs of the book trade."--><ref name="Beck_526">{{harvnb|Beck|1991|p=526}}.</ref>

The exception to the fragmentary evidence (i.e. reiteration of passages in works of other authors) is a complete Coptic [[Tract (literature)|tractate]] titled {{transliteration|cop|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 [{{transliteration|grc|logos}}]. Words of Zoroaster."<ref>{{harvnb|Sieber|1973|p=234}}.</ref> 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."<ref name="Beck_495"/>

Another work circulating under the name of "Zoroaster" was the {{transliteration|grc|Asteroskopita}} (or {{transliteration|grc|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."<ref name="Beck 1991 p=493"/> A third text attributed to Zoroaster is ''On Virtue of Stones'' ({{transliteration|grc|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{{who|date=March 2017}} conclude that it was in verse). Numerous other fragments preserved in the works of other authors are attributed to "Zoroaster", but the titles of those books are not mentioned.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

These pseudepigraphic texts aside, some authors did draw on a few genuinely Zoroastrian ideas. The ''Oracles of Hystaspes'', by "[[Vishtaspa|Hystaspes]]", another prominent magian pseudo-author, is a set of prophecies distinguished from other Zoroastrian pseudepigrapha in that it draws on real Zoroastrian sources.<ref name="Beck 1991 p=493"/> Some allusions are more difficult to assess:{{Original research inline|date=March 2017}} in the same text that attributes the invention of magic to Zoroaster,{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Pliny states that Zoroaster laughed on the day of his birth, although in an earlier place, Pliny had sworn in the name of [[Hercules]] that no child had ever done so before the 40th day from his birth.<ref>Pliny, VII, I.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref> This notion of Zoroaster's laughter also appears in the 9th– to 11th-century texts of genuine Zoroastrian tradition, and for a time it was assumed{{weasel inline|date=March 2017}} that the origin of those myths lay with indigenous sources.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} Pliny also records that Zoroaster's head had pulsated so strongly that it repelled the hand when laid upon it, a presage of his future wisdom.<ref>Pliny, VII, XV.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref> The Iranians were however just as familiar with the Greek writers, and the provenance of other descriptions are clear.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} For instance, Plutarch's description of its dualistic theologies reads thus: "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 [[Ahura Mazda|Horomazes]] and the other [[Angra Mainyu|Areimanius]]".<ref>Plutarch's ''Isis and Osiris'', 46–7.{{primary source inline|date=March 2017}}</ref>

===In the modern era===
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2017}}
An early reference to Zoroaster in English literature occur in the writings of the physician-philosopher Sir [[Thomas Browne]] who asserted in his ''[[Religio Medici]]'' (1643):

{{blockquote|I believe, besides Zoroaster, there were divers{{efn|meaning "various"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/divers |title=DIVERS Definition & Usage Examples |publisher=Dictionary.com}}</ref>}} that writ before Moses, who notwithstanding have suffered the common fate of time.|''Religio Medici'', Part 1, Section 23<ref>Religio Medici Part 1 Section 23</ref>}}

In [[E. T. A. Hoffmann]]'s novel ''[[Little Zaches|Klein Zaches, genannt Zinnober]]'' (1819), the mage Prosper Alpanus states that Professor Zoroaster was his teacher.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelhaldane.com/kleinzaches.htm |title=Klein Zaches Genannt Zinnober |publisher=Michaelhaldane.com |access-date=19 November 2013}}</ref>

In ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'' (1885), considered to be his seminal work, the philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] gives to the central character the native Iranian name "Zarathustra".<ref name="eiashouri">{{harvnb|Ashouri|2003}}.</ref> Nietzsche explained the choice of the name in his autobiographical work ''[[Ecce Homo (book)|Ecce Homo]]'': "Zarathustra was the first to see in the struggle of good and evil the true driving-wheel in the machinery of things [...] Zarathustra ''created'' the disastrous error that is morality: thus he must also be the first to ''acknowledge'' the mistake."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nietzsche |first1=Friedrich |title=Ecce Homo |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Chapter 4, Section 3 |pages=89 |edition=2007 Duncan Large translation}}</ref> Though the naming of Zarathustra is an acknowledgement of the lineage of moralism, Nietzsche advocates atheism and moral nihilism, directly contradicting the philosophy of Zoroaster, and makes subversive allusions to Zoroastrianism. Despite Nietzsche's iconoclasm, some admirers of pre-Islamic Persian culture see his use of the name "Zarathustra" as a mark of uncritical respect towards the historical figure.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ashouri |first1=Daryoush |title=Nietzsche and Persia |url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIRO/COM-1082.xml |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica Online}}</ref>

== Notable influence on modern Western culture ==
[[File:2010 Appellate courthouse statues 1&2.jpg|thumb|Zoroaster statue (left) atop the Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State]]
A sculpture of Zoroaster by [[Edward Clark Potter]], representing ancient Persian judicial wisdom and dating to 1896, towers over the [[Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State]] at East 25th Street and Madison Avenue in [[Manhattan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Clark Potter |url=https://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions/edward-clark-potter |website=New York Public Library |publisher=The New York Public Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iroon.com/irtn/photo/1756/ | title = Tall Statue of Zoroaster in New York | script-title=fa:ایرون دات کام: عکس ها: مجسّمهٔ تمام قّدِ زرتشت در نیویورک |language=fa |publisher=Iroon.com |access-date=19 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/legal-history-new-york/documents/Courthouse_Appellate-First-Courthouse.pdf| title = Pages 9–12 of}}</ref> A sculpture of Zoroaster is included among other prominent religious figures in a procession representing major faith traditions on the south side of [[Rockefeller Chapel|Rockefeller Memorial Chapel]] at the [[University of Chicago]]. It features figures from Abraham to the Reformation, illustrating a historical continuum of religious thought that includes the likes of Zoroaster, [[Moses]], Plato and others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockefeller.uchicago.edu/architecture/exterior.shtml |title=Rockefeller Memorial Chapel &#124; the University of Chicago |access-date=17 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111062530/http://rockefeller.uchicago.edu/architecture/exterior.shtml |archive-date=11 January 2014 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Poetry|Religion|History}}
* [[List of founders of religious traditions]]
* [[Criticism of Zoroastrianism]]
* [[List of unsolved deaths]]
* [[Zartosht Bahram-e Pazhdo]], author of a Persian epic biography on Zoroaster.
* Zoroaster and the [[Sabalan#Savalan and the end of time|Mount Savalan]]
* {{lang|fr|[[Zoroastre]]}}, an opera by [[Jean-Philippe Rameau]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
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{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zoroaster-index Zoroaster] at ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''
* [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zoroaster-Iranian-prophet Zoroaster] at ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
* {{Internet Archive author |search=( Zoroaster OR Zarathustra)}}
* {{Librivox author |id=8938}}

{{Zoroastrianism}}
{{Avesta}}
{{Ancient Near East}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient Iranian philosophers]]
[[Category:Founders of religions]]
[[Category:Iranian prophets]]
[[Category:Iranian religious leaders]]
[[Category:Miracle workers]]
[[Category:People from Balkh]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Prophets in Ahmadiyya]]
[[Category:Simple living advocates]]
[[Category:Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints]]
[[Category:Unsolved deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
[[Category:Zoroastrianism]]