83817

神经网络昆斯林的新闻组分类2006

renowned as followers of Zarathushtra (Zoroaster); as the teachers of some of
the greatest Greek thinkers (Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato); as the wise men
who arrived, guided by a star, at the manger of the newborn savior in
Bethlehem; and as the propagators of a cult of the sun in India. But they were
also known as the Chaldeans, the priesthood of Babylon, known for its occultism;
this was perhaps the reason that the term magos had a pejorative sense in Greek,
like "goes," "expert in the magic arts" (Bidez and Cumont, 1938). Indeed, the
Chaldeans were experts in all types of magical arts, especially astrology, and
had a reputation for wisdom as well as knowledge.
  To understand the reasons for such various and sometimes discordant views, it
is necessary to distinguish between the Magi of Iran proper and the so-called
western Magi, who were later hellenized. In the Achaemenid period both must
have been at least in part Zoroastrian, but the western Magi (those of the
Iranian diaspora in Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Armenia), who came in
contact with diverse religious traditions, must have, sooner or later and in
varying degrees, been influenced by syncretic concepts.
  The Greeks were familiar with both kinds of Magi and, depending on their
varying concerns, would emphasize one or the other aspect of them. Classical
historians and geographers, including Herodotus and Strabo, document their
customs, while the philosophers dwell above all on their doctrines: dualism,
belief in the hereafter, Magian cosmology and cosmogony, and their theology
and eschatology. Those sources most interested in the doctrines of the Magi
even speak of Zarathushtra as a Magus. In doing so they are repeating what the
Magi themselves said from the Median and Achaemenid periods, when they adopted
Zoroastrianism. At that time they embraced Zarathushtra as one of their own and
placed themselves under his venerable name.
  Zoroastrianism had already undergone several profound transformations in the
eastern community by the time of the Acheamenids and was already adapting those
elements of the archaic religion that refused to die. It has been said quite
often, in an attempt to characterize the precise role of the Magi in the
Zoroastrian tradition, that the Vendidad (from vi-daevo-data, "the law-abjuring
daivas"), part of the Avesta, should be attributed to them. (This collection of
texts from various periods is primarily concerned with purificatory rules and
practices.) Nonetheless, the hypothesis is hardly plausible, since the first
chapter of the Vendidad - a list of sixteen lands created by Ahura Mazda, the
supreme god of Zoroastrianism, but contaminated by an attack by Ahriman (Pahl.;
Gathic-Avestan, Angra Mainyu), the other supreme god and the ultimate source of
all evil and suffering - does not mention western Iran, Persia, or Media (the
land of Ragha mentioned in the text cannot be Median Raghiana). Furthermore, it
has been noted (Gershevitch, 1964) that if the authors had been Magi the
absence of any reference to western Iranian institutions, including their own
priesthood, would be very strange.
  The Magi were above all the means by which the Zoroastrian tradition and the
corpus of the Avesta have been transmitted to us, from the second half of the
first millennium BCE on. This has been their principal merit. We can attribute
directly to the Magi the new formulation that Iranian dualism assumed, known to
us especially from Greek sources and, in part, from the Pahlavi literature of
the ninth and tenth centuries CE. According to this formulation, the two poles
of the dualism are no longer, as in the Gathas, Spenta Mainyu ("beneficent
spirit") and Angra Mainyu ("hostile spirit") but Ahura Mazda himself and Angra
Mainyu (Gershevitch, 1964). [See Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu.] This trans-
formation was of immense consequence for the historical development of Zoro-
astrianism and was most likely determined by the contact of the Magi with the
Mesopotamian religious world. In this new dualism - which was that later known
to the Greeks (Aristotle, Eudemus of Rhodes, Theopompus, and others) - we can
see the affirmation of a new current of thought within Zoroastrianism, to which
we give the name Zurvanism. [See Zurvanism.]
  Thanks to their adherence to Zoroastrianism, the Magi played an enormously
important role in the transmission of Zarathushtra's treachings, as well as in
the definition of the new forms that these would assume historically. Their
natural propensity to eclecticism and syncretism also helped the diffusion of
Zoroastrian ideas in the communities of the Iranian diaspora. The Greeks began
to study their doctrines and to take an interest in them (Xanthus of Lydia,
Hermodorus, Aristotle, Theopompus, Hermippus, Dinon), even writing treatises
on the Persian religion, of which only the titles and a few fragments have
survived. In the Hellenistic period, the Magi were seen as a secular school of
wisdom, and writings on magic, astrology, and alchemy were lent the authority
of such prestigious names as Zarathushtra, Ostanes, and Hystaspes, forming an
abundant apocryphal literature. (Bidez and Cumont, 1938).
  Later still, eschatology and apocalyptics were a fertile meeting
ground for Iranian and Judeo-Christian religions, as can be seen in the famous
_Oracles of Hystaspes_, a work whose Iranian roots are undeniable and which
most likely dates from the beginning of the Christian era, probably the
second century CE (Widengren, 1968). The Zoroastrian doctrine of the Savior of
the Future (Saoshyant) was the basis for the story of the coming of the Magi
to Bethlehem in the _Gospel of Matthew_ (2:1-12). [See Saoshyant.]
  The Sasanid period saw the Magi once again play a determining role in the
religious history of Iran. Concerned to win back the western Magi (de Menasce,
1956), and eager to consolidate Zoroastrianism as the national religion of
Iran, the priests of Iranian sanctuaries in Media and Persia were able to
establish a true state church, strongly hierarchical and endowed with an
orthodoxy based on the formation of a canon of scriptures. The leading figures
in the development of a state religion and of Zoroastrian orthodoxy were Tosar
and Kerder, the persecutors of Mani in the third century.

SAOSHYANT:
  The Avestan term saoshyant ("future benefactor"; MPers., soshans) designates
the savior of the world, who will arrive at a future time to redeem humankind.
The concept of the future savior is one of the fundamental notions of Zoro-
astrianism, together with that of dualism; it appears as early as in the Gathas.
Zarathushtra (Zoroaster), as the prophet of the religion, is himself a Sao-
shyant, one who performs his works for the Frashokereti, the end of the present
state of the world, when existence will be "rehabilitated" and "made splendid."
[See Frashokereti]
  Later Zoroastrian doctrine developed this notion into a true eschatological
myth and expanded the number of Saoshyants from one to three. All the saviors
are born from the seed of Zarathushtra, which is preserved through the ages in
Lake Kansaoya (identified with present-day Lake Helmand, in Seistan, Iran),
protected by 99,999 fravashis, or guardian spirits. The greatest of the awaited
Saoshyants, the victorious Astvatereta ("he who embodies truth"), the son of
the Vispataurvairi ("she who conquers all"), is the third, who will make
existence splendid; he appears in Yashts 19. Upon his arrival humankind will
no longer be subject to old age, death, or corruption, and will be granted
unlimited power. At that time the dead will be resurrected, and the living will
be immortal and indestructable. Brandishing the weapon with which he kills the
powerful enemies of the world of truth (that is, the world of the spirit, and
of asha), Astvatereta will look upon the whole of corporeal existence and
render it imperishable. He and his comrades will engage in a great battle with
the forces of evil, which will be destroyed.
  The name Astvatereta is clearly the result of theological speculation
(Kellens, 1974), as are those of his two brothers, Ukhshyatereta, "he who makes
truth grow," and Ukhshyatnemah, "he who makes reverence grow"; the names of the
three virgins (Yashts 13) who are impregnated with the seed of Zarathushtra
when they bathe in Lake Kansaoya and give birth to the Saoshyants, are equally
speculative. Each of these Saoshyants will arrive at the beginning of a
millennium, initiating a new age and a new cycle of existence; Astvatereta will
appear in the third and final millennium to save mankind.
  The doctrine of the future savior had already taken shape in the Archaemenid
period (sixth to fourth century BCE). It was not, perhaps the principal element
in the formation of the messianic idea, but it was certainly a determining
factor, one that enjoyed great success in the Hellenistic period beyond the
confines of the Iranian world. A similar concept, that of the future Buddha,
Maitreya, was most likely indebted to it, and Christian messianism can trace
its roots to the same source.