Zoroaster—also known as Zarathustra—was a spiritual reformer, philosopher, and prophet who lived around 1200–1000 BCE in the region that is now Iran or Central Asia. He emerged at a time when the world was shaped by tribal rituals, capricious deities, and the belief that divine favor had to be bought with sacrifices.

What made Zoroaster radical for his time wasn’t just his spiritual insight—it was the clarity and moral courage of his message. He taught that there is one supreme god, Ahura Mazda, who embodies wisdom, light, and goodness. Rather than focusing on appeasing many unpredictable gods, Zoroaster called people to live with integrity and purpose, guided by Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds.

• Monotheism – belief in a single, all-good deity

• Moral Dualism – a cosmic struggle between good (Asha) and evil (Druj)

• Free Will – individuals are responsible for choosing between good and evil

• Judgment After Death – souls are judged based on their actions in life

• Spiritual Beings – angels (Amesha Spentas) and demons (Daevas) represent the ongoing struggle

Though much of Zoroaster’s life is wrapped in mystery, his hymns—called the Gāthās—have survived as part of the Zoroastrian sacred texts. Over time, his influence reached far beyond Persia. His ideas about good and evil, divine judgment, and ethical living helped shape early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Greek philosophers like Plato and Pythagoras took note of Persian wisdom, and Zoroaster’s image endured all the way into the Renaissance, where Raphael included him in The School of Athens as a symbol of ancient moral insight.

Zoroaster’s journey didn’t end in the ancient world. More than 1,500 years after his death, his legacy found new life during the European Renaissance—a period when artists and scholars sought to reconnect with the roots of human knowledge. In Raphael’s famous fresco The School of Athens, Zoroaster appears quietly among the great minds of classical antiquity, holding a celestial sphere—symbolizing both his contributions to cosmological thinking and his reputation as a sage of deep insight.

His inclusion in this iconic work of art reflects how Renaissance thinkers viewed Zoroaster: not simply as a religious figure, but as part of the larger human quest to understand the universe. From the glow of sacred fires in ancient Persia to the painted halls of the Vatican, Zoroaster’s message continues to echo—a reminder that wisdom, truth, and moral courage transcend borders, languages, and centuries.