The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c41.s1.16

v2.c41.s1.16

It remains, therefore, impossible to establish with any certainty Zoroaster’s date. The views of Hertel rest on a *priori* reasoning so far as they have any validity; the tradition which supports them as regards date contradicts them on the vital point of ancestry, and there are certain considerations of high importance to be set against his contentions. In the first place, we find Greek reports as early as the fifth century B.C. placing Zoroaster in the very remote past; in the second place, the younger Avesta already treats Zoroaster as a mythical figure. It is very difficult to reconcile these facts with the theory that Zoroaster was alive as late as 522 B.C., and it must be recognized that even the Parsi tradition declines to place him as late as that, for it is out of the question to take seriously the suggestion of Anquetil, on which Hertel relies for his upper date of 559 B.C. as the beginning of the work of the prophet.