Zoroaster

c. 1000 BCE – 600 BCE · Iranian plateau · Persian tradition

The prophet of the Iranian plateau whose vision of truth against falsehood shaped Persian religion and, indirectly, the Abrahamic ones.

Core ideas

Existence is a moral struggle: truth (asha) against the lie (druj)
Thoughts, words and deeds are the three registers of the battle
The good mind (vohu manah) can be cultivated

Historical context

Dating is contested — anywhere from the second millennium BCE to the sixth — but his hymns are among humanity's oldest surviving poetry of moral choice.

Key works

Gathas

Questions they speak to

What is the good life?
Why do we suffer?
How should I live?

Minds in conversation

RumiBalkh → Konya
SuhrawardiSohrevard → Aleppo
Omar KhayyamNishapur

Sources

Encyclopædia Iranica — Zarathustra