SOURCE: “Zoroaster the Herdsman,” Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. X, No. 4, 1968, pp. 261-81.

In the essay below, Cameron argues that Zoroaster's many references to the cow, pasturage, and herdsmen in the Gathas should be read as metaphors, rather than be taken literally—as they often have been by followers and scholars alike.

The message of the prophet Zoroaster would have made strong appeal to those people in any era of time who, in the morass of polytheism, were searching for new approaches toward deity. He taught that there was a single god whom all men should recognize and worship since He, who was present at the beginning and would still be present at the end of time, represented the best in all life. He proclaimed that there was open to every man a free choice for good or evil, and that every man must make that choice. And he was...