# Who is Zarathustra?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 4, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440 "2005-02-04T22:28:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/1 "2005-02-04T22:28:56Z")

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Who is Zarathustra? 😕  
And what did he speak? :dubious:

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/2 "2005-02-04T22:31:26Z")

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[Thus spake Zarathustra!](http://www.livius.org/za-zn/zarathustra/zarathustra.htm)😃

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/3 "2005-02-04T22:31:58Z")

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[A long read, but there you go](http://www.eserver.org/philosophy/nietzsche-zarathustra.txt)

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/4 "2005-02-04T22:37:31Z")

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> [@ouryL](#):
>
> Who is Zarathustra? 😕

Zarathustra is another way of saying Zoroaster, who was a Persian prophet from the 6th Century BC.

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And what did he speak? :dubious:  
[/QUOTE]

He spoke prophecies, of course. It’s part of the whole prophet gig. It’s how prophets profit. 😉  
Some believe that this religion began the concept of Good vs Evil (Light vs Dark) that influenced (carried into) Judaism and later Christianity. I’m sure there a lot on this at the link above, or if you Google Zoroastrianism.

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**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/5 "2005-02-04T23:17:10Z")

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I heard he also sprach. Y’know, on the weekends.

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**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/6 "2005-02-04T23:27:21Z")

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One of the most enjoyable ways to get a glance at Zoroastrianism is in the excellent Gore Vidal novel, _Creation_. The novel also takes interesting perspectives on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, the Persian Empire and Greek philosophy, from the viewpoint of one of Zoroaster’s kin in the 5th century B. C. E. I recommend it.

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/7 "2005-02-05T00:17:38Z")

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> [@pravnik](#):
>
> I heard he also sprach. Y’know, on the weekends.

He gave that up in 2001. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/8 "2005-02-05T00:47:13Z")

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> [@Polycarp](#):
>
> He gave that up in 2001. 🙂

He’s made a comeback since then and still competes sporadically but mostly acts as a mentor for Helmsley nowadays.

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**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-zarathustra/288440/9 "2005-02-05T03:13:27Z")

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Here’s a good quote, just for chuckles:

“Man shall be trained for war, and woman for the recreation of the warrior: all else is folly.” -  
Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche