The Structural Analysis of the Gem of Zarathustra Based on the Story of His Birth in Dēnkard and The Selections of Zadspram

In the book seven of Dēnkard and The Selections of Zadspram, some legendary stories are narrated about the birth of Zarathustra, the Persian Prophet. In these stories, his mother plays an important and fundamental role in accepting and transmitting the prophetic light more than the father. To analyze this role, the present study presupposes two assumptions: In Iranian thought, everyone's specific function is a result of his/her essential nature; in pre-Zoroastrian thought, heroic action is to break the darkness and take it out of the Ahuraian universe. Zarathustra creates a new myth called “the pious man” that has the characteristics of a Mobad (Zoroastrian cleric); he performs the task of a hero and breaks the darkness. By using mythological and analytical approach, the present article attempts to study “the myth of hero”, as one of the cultural teachings of ancient Iran, and focuses on the concept of the heroic gem. After examining the story of Zarathustra's birth in Dēnkard and The Selections of Zadspram, we come to the conclusion that the heroic gem is so rooted in Iranian thought that the Zoroastrians, despite the teachings of their prophet, have given this gem to him to make his role in driving Ahreman out of the Ahuraian universe more believable. The heroic gem, as a dual gem, is the result of a combination of light and darkness; it is provided in the essence of Asho Zardosht (the righteous Zarathustra) by combining the gems of Ahura Mazda and Dughdova, the mother of Zarathustra.