HIST 1001 Chapter : Zoroastrianism/Early Greeks
Document Summary
Founded by zoroaster: birth ranges from 1750 bc to 500 bc. One of the first real theologians: responsible for creating this system of religious belief. Very popular and prominent throughout persia: there are still zoroastrians living in iran today. Judgment day: those who followed ahura mazda were given eternal life in paradise, those who followed ahriman well it wasn"t pleasant, not totally monotheistic, but not polytheistic, either. Prior to zoroastrianism, most of persia was polytheistic. Men could choose which path to take: were certainly encouraged to follow ahura mazda. Spinoff of zoroastrianism became popular in the roman republic: ahura mazda begat a son/lieutenant (depending on the version, mithras, was at first a minor deity, became more and more popular amongst romans. Lived an earthly life of sacrifice and suffering: performed miracles, stopped a drought and a flood, proclaimed sunday to be the holiest of days, birthdate was celebrated around december 25th.
