Zoroaster's detailed biography is preserved in later legends rather than contemporary records.
Imported citation, not independently checked: M. Boyce, Zoroastrians (1979); A. de Jong, Traditions of the Magi
religion · Shared topic · Revision 0
Who Was Zoroaster (Zarathustra)?
Who Was Zoroaster (Zarathustra)?
The current answer
A herdsman-priest who heard one God ask everyone the same question, and a date no one can pin down.
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Old Avestan is closely cognate with the Sanskrit of the Rigveda: same Indo-Iranian parent, similar archaic grammar.
Imported citation, not independently checked: H. Humbach et al., The Gathas of Zarathustra (1991)
The competing tradition (preserved in Greek and later Zoroastrian sources) placed him "258 years before Alexander," i.e. the 6th century BCE.
Imported citation, not independently checked: A. de Jong, Traditions of the Magi (1997)
The hinge is the famous "two spirits" passage of Yasna 30: two primal mentalities, a better and a worse, and the demand that every being choose between them.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Yasna 30.3-6
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