Ancient Religions in the West

1. Zoroastrianism began to flourish in ancient Iran (now known as Persia). It began in the fourth or fifth century from the influence of the Persian Empire. 
2. Zoroastrianism spread beyond its place of origin due to them being conquered by Alexander the Great. 
3. An angel named Good Thought brought Zarathustra a disembodied soul before Ahura Mazda, where he recognized Ahura Mazda as one true god. He then went to preach radical messages of monotheism throughout his polytheistic society.
4. The sacred text of Zoroastrianism is the Avesta. The oldest material in this text is Gathas and was written by Zarathustra. 
5. Ahura Mazda the eternal and universal goodness. He controls the cosmos and destiny of humans and is known to be the creator of everything.
6. Ethical dualism is the belief in universal forces of good and evil. 
7. The Lie is an evil cosmic force. It opposes Ahura Mazda, who is good.  
8. Humans must choose between the truth (good) and lie (evil) in Zoroastrian cosmic scheme. 
9. Zarathustra's understanding of human destiny is the resurrection and judgement of the dead and that a human either goes to heaven or hell, depending on the choices they have made. 
10. The general ethical demands of traditional Zoroastrian life are caring for livestock and fields. 
11. The Parsis are the followers of Zoroastrianism. Most of them live in India today.  
12. The Iliad and the Odyssey are commonly regarded as having been the Bible of the ancient Greeks.
13. The meaning of "the gods of the Olympian pantheon are anthropomorphic" is that they had human attributes such as talents and limitations. 
14. Aeschylus's main contribution to the understanding of the gods of the Olympian pantheon was that he introduced the concept of divine justice. An example of this would be in the play Agamemnon when he writes about how suffering is a necessary part of divine plan of Zeus. 
15. An oracle is a sanctuary at which revelations of a god are received. The most famous oracle of ancient Greece is Delphi. It was consulted because Greeks sought the wisdom of Apollo through her. 
16. The three basic aspects of the mystery religions are that individuals went through an initiation ceremony, the initiates experience an encounter with a deity, and the initiates gain a spiritual renewal. 
17. The mystery religion that honored Demeter and Persephone was Eleusinian religion. 
18. The god Dionysus associated with was the god of fertility. He is often depicted in Greek art by wine and grapes.
19. The goal of the ascetic practices of the Orphics is to lead a pure life. 
20. Plato's theory of knowledge is that we know things in life mainly because we have experienced the same things in a previous life.
21. Platonic dualism is the truth of the world that is independent from any bodily or material ideas in reality. 
22. Jesus seemed to have much in common with the ancient Asclepius because they were both revered as saviors who had a strong relationship with their followers.
23. Numina were supernatural beings that were in charge of specific functions like populating towns. The sorts of things they were thought to inhabit were streams, fields, and doorways.
24. The most powerful Roman deity was Jupiter.
25. The six planes of our solar system that are named after Roman deities are Neptune, Mercury, Jupiter, Satum, Venus, and Mars.
26. The Roman state considered it essential to maintain official worship practices so they would never anger the gods and remain at peace.
27. The mystery religions that were the main rivals of Christianity in the later Roman Empire were Mithraism and the Cult of Iris. 
28. The Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris is about how a man, Osiris, was killed and hacked to pieces by his evil brother. His wife, Iris, found the pieces and mummified them, which caused him to come back to life.
29. The sort of emperor worship encouraged by Augustus was to worship the Roman state and his guardian spirit.
30. Christians and Roman rulers clash over emperor worship because Romans believed the focus of worship should be the state, whereas Catholics believed that it should be God.