Lives of Alcyone

him that he should spread the faith over the whole of the mighty
kingdom of Persia, but that before he began to travel abroad he
must await the arrival of one who should come to him from the
West,, and certain signs were given to him by which he was to
recognise this illustrious stranger. Meantime he was to return to the
priestly life in his own country of Bactria. His re-entry was somewhat
dramatic, for just as he had left his cave a volcanic outburst took
place which destroyed it, and the flames of the eruption and the
accompanying earthquake were taken by the people as in some way
connected with his return to ordinary life.
By this time Lohrasp had abdicated in favour of his son,
Zarathushtra’ s old friend Vishtapa (Ulysses). After the death of his
first wife, vishtaspa quarrelled with his father, and left the country in
a fit of anger. He travelled into the western part of Persia, made
friends with a local King there, married his daughter, and came back
home at the head of an army. He practically forced his father into
abdication, and then made many changes in the administration of
the kingdom. He had, however, the wisdom to retain his father’ s
prime minister Jamaspa(Castor), and this gave the people a feeling
of safety which reconciled them to some of his proceedings, to
which they might otherwise have objected.
Ulysses eagerly welcomed Zarathushtra, and soon appointed
him to the office of Zaohta, and later gave him the title of Dastur-I-
Dastur. This gave him great influence, and he preached his reforms
with splendid eloquence and fiery zeal. Since he had the vigorous
support of the King, crowds of disciples gathered round him, and he
had already a considerable following when the expected visitor from
the west arrived in 1489.