Nietzsche und die Worte des Avestā. Lektürespuren parsischer Texte inAlso sprach Zarathustra

Abstract The presence of Persian sources in Nietzsche’sThus Spoke Zarathustrahas been a topic of debate for decades. This paper summarizes the main results of a comparative study of Nietzsche and the ancient Persian scriptureAvestā. In addition to several secondary sources Nietzsche repeatedly encountered, there is strong evidence that he read Johann Friedrich Kleuker’s German translation of theAvestātexts reconstructed by Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron. Analyzing Nietzsche’s diverse sources of Zoroastrianism as well as his knowledge of this religion, this paper shows that many metaphors, references and claims in bothThus Spoke Zarathustraand in Nietzsche’s notebooks can be traced back to Zoroastrianism. Taking these sources into consideration contributes significantly to our understanding of one of Nietzsche’s major works.