Once upon a time, Zoroaster

Abstract

Martin Haug's Essays on the sacred language, writings and religion of the Parsis (Bombay, 1862) seems to be the monument that founds modern Zoroastrian studies, both because it is grounded in the discovery and the study of the Gathas and because it proposes an evolutionist view of the history of Zoroastrianism. If Haug's philological work is the consequence of his belonging to the German school of indo‐iranian and indo‐european studies (Benfey), his methodology was deeply influenced by Ewald, a well‐known historian of the Hebrews, while he retained the Hegelian notions of the acme and of internal evolution drawn from his contacts with the Tübingen school of historical theology. Actually, this modern conceptual apparatus did not lead Haug to break with the conclusions of the 17th and 18th century scholars. Since he was faced with the demands of the Parsis, eager to disprove the accusations of dualism and polytheism, Haug continued to make use of the conceptions of Hyde (1700), Beausobre (1734) and Anquetil (1769): Zoroaster is the great prophet of ancient Iran, he is an author — and the Gathas are his work —, he preached a monotheism, while his dualism is philosophical in nature and the post‐zoroastrian polytheism is the product of decadence. It is this mixture of the ancient and the modem, structured within the dialectic model of evolution that satisfied all at once both the Parsi Reformists and the tradition of Western Zoroastrian studies and that has inspired the most recent research (Gnoli, 1980).