Oxford Dictionary of World Mythology

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Ahriman

Ahriman West Asia
The principle of evil in Persian mythology. As Angra Mainya, ‘the destructive spirit’, who first introduced death into the world, he led the forces of evil against the host of Spenta Mainya, ‘the holy spirit’, who assisted Ahura Mazdah, ‘the wise lord’–the final victor of the cosmic struggle.‘In the beginning,’ said Zoroaster, ‘the twin spirits were known as the one good and the other evil, in thought, word, and deed. Between them the wise chose rightly, not so the fools. And when these spirits met they established life and death so that in the end the followers of deceit should meet with the worst existence, but the followers of truth with the wise lord.’

Ahura Mazdah told Zoroaster that Angra Mainya had upset his plans for making Persia into a terrestrial paradise. All the creatures of ‘the wise lord’ were created with free-will: both spiritual beings and men. Angra Mainya, the twin brother of ‘the holy...

[The entire page is 545 words long]

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