Exercises on Zoroastrianism

(PUC-SP) It can be said that one of the fundamental elements of the Persian religion in Antiquity, after Zarathustra, is:

a) polytheism characterized by the practice of worshiping zoomorphic idols in religious temples.

b) the local character of the cult, since each region had its own supreme deities.

c) the dualism represented by the opposition between the principle of good and evil.

d) strict obedience by the entire population of the religious precepts contained in the Vedas

e) disbelief in the immortality of the soul and in the resurrection.

Zarathustra's doctrines, as well as his poetic expressiveness, influenced many generations of poets and thinkers. In 19th century Germany, one thinker in particular became famous for writing an entire book centered on the figure of the Persian prophet. The name of the book and the thinker referred to are:

a) Hegel's Phenomenology of Zoroastrianism.

b) Thus Spoke Zarathustra, by F. W. Nietzsche.

c) Poems of Zarathustra, by Hölderlin.

d) Schelling's Notes on Zarathustra.

e) The dualistic world of Zoroastrianism, by Arthur Schopenhauer.

Zarathustra would have written a book called “Zend-Avest” or simply “Avesta”. One of the teachings of that book was:

a) the belief that Ormuzd was the god of darkness and evil in the world.

b) belief in the redeeming figure of Christ.

c) belief in the idea that Ahriman had created everything good in the world.

d) the belief in a single god, personified in the Persian king Cyrus the Great.

e) the belief in the opposition between a good god (Ormuzd) and an evil god (Ariman).

One ​​of the ritual activities dedicated to the god Ormuzd was:

a) the cult in dark caves.

b) the cult in the woods.

c) the sacrifice of babies in Gehenna.

d) the sacrifice of lambs at Passover.

e) the worship in fire temples.

Letter C

The dualism between good and evil or between, specifically, a good and an evil deity is the main characteristic of the doctrinal system of Zoroastrianism or the religion developed by the Persian poet and prophet Zarathustra.

Letter B

Nietzsche was one of the main German philosophers of the 19th century and, in 1883, he published a book that mixed elements of philosophy, prophetic poetry and historical research, centered on the figure of the Persian poet Zarathustra or Zoroaster. That book was entitled "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

Letter E

The book “Avesta” contains the main doctrines and main rites of Zoroastrianism. One of the pillars of Zarathustra's thought is the belief in the opposition between a good god (Ormuzd) and an evil god (Ariman). Ormuzd, the good god, in Zarathustra's understanding, would, after all, emerge victorious in this clash with his antagonist, Ahriman.

Letter B

The god Ormudz was considered the god of light and all that is good in the world. The fire temples were dedicated to his cult precisely because the fire element carries the symbology of light, of virtuous illumination.