Did pre-axial religions, such as the Greek pantheon, Zoroastrianism etc have universal laws in equivalence to the 10 Commandments in Christianity? What were the moral arbiters in a system that worshiped many different Gods rather than one God who held all moral authority?

by LordCreamCheese

(I did search around for an answer for this but nothing really came up, please let me know if anyone find an response that already answered my question!)

So, I'm a bit of a nerd, and I'm currently trying to think about religion in my DnD game and where people's morality would come from in a pantheon-based religion? As people in say, Ancient Greece, worshiped many different divine authorities, were there particular moral rules that transcended whichever God you were worshiping at any given time? Would people who particularly honored one deity have a different moral compass to someone worshiping a different deity?

I'm sure that part of this question is based on a probable deep misunderstanding of ancient religion, but hopefully I can gain some more insight from this!

lcnielsen

In Zoroastrianism this very much exists, but not necessarily in a format that's immediately transferable to the legalistic Torah format. The closest thing to the Torah that exists in Zoroastrianism is really the Vendidad, which is a quasi-legal/moral code that mostly dates to the early centuries AD. The problem with looking at the Vendidad is that while it has a number of laws about ordinary crimes, purity rites, etc, it also has completely bizarre things like chapter 14, dedicated entirely to a long list of extremely implausible punishments to be meted out to the murderer of an otter.

But the liturgy (yasna) also does have some explicit pledges laid out in the so-called Zoroastrian creed, Y.12:

  1. I curse the Daevas. I declare myself a Mazda-worshipper, a supporter of Zarathushtra, hostile to the Daevas, fond of Ahura's teaching, a praiser of the Amesha Spentas, a worshipper of the Amesha Spentas. I ascribe all good to Ahura Mazda, 'and all the best,' Asha-endowed, splendid, xwarena-endowed, whose is the cow, whose is Asha, whose is the light, 'may whose blissful areas be filled with light'.
  1. I choose the good Spenta Armaiti for myself; let her be mine. I renounce the theft and robbery of the cow, and the damaging and plundering of the Mazdayasnian settlements.
  1. I want freedom of movement and freedom of dwelling for those with homesteads, to those who dwell upon this earth with their cattle. With reverence for Asha, and (offerings) offered up, I vow this: I shall nevermore damage or plunder the Mazdayasnian settlements, even if I have to risk life and limb.
  1. I reject the authority of the Daevas, the wicked, no-good, lawless, evil-knowing, the most druj-like of beings, the foulest of beings, the most damaging of beings. I reject the Daevas and their comrades, I reject the demons (yatu) and their comrades; I reject any who harm beings. I reject them with my thoughts, words, and deeds. I reject them publicly.

Even as I reject the head (authorities), so too do I reject the hostile followers of the druj.

  1. As Ahura Mazda taught Zarathushtra at all discussions, at all meetings, at which Mazda and Zarathushtra conversed;
  1. as Ahura Mazda taught Zarathushtra at all discussions, at all meetings, at which Mazda and Zarathushtra conversed — even as Zarathushtra rejected the authority of the Daevas, so I also reject, as Mazda-worshipper and supporter of Zarathushtra, the authority of the Daevas, even as he, the Asha-endowed Zarathushtra, has rejected them.
  1. As the belief of the waters, the belief of the plants, the belief of the well-made (Original) Cow; as the belief of Ahura Mazda who created the cow and the Asha-endowed Man; as the belief of Zarathushtra, the belief of Kavi Vishtaspa, the belief of both Frashaostra and Jamaspa; as the belief of each of the Saoshyants (saviors) — fulfilling destiny and Asha-endowed — so I am a Mazda-worshipper of this belief and teaching.
  1. I profess myself a Mazda-worshipper, a Zoroastrian, having vowed it and professed it. I pledge myself to the well-thought thought, I pledge myself to the well-spoken word, I pledge myself to the well-done action.
  1. I pledge myself to the Mazdayasnian religion, which causes the attack to be put off and weapons put down; [which upholds khvaetvadatha], Asha-endowed; which of all religions that exist or shall be, is the greatest, the best, and the most beautiful: Ahuric, Zoroastrian. I ascribe all good to Ahura Mazda. This is the creed of the Mazdayasnian religion.

The teachings are most famously summed up by the mantra of "good words, good thoughts, good deeds". This terse formulation isn't stated explicitly in the Gathas of Zarathustra, but the general principles rejecting violence, theft, war and so forth are there, and probably later teachings were in part derived from exegesis of the Gathas. The earliest Avestan material, like the mantra ashem vohu, state a kind of moral attitude, but not really codes. It can be translated something like,

Asha is the greatest of all that is good//As desired, what is desired//Is asha for they who represent the greatest asha

Asha is a fundamental moral-natural concept in Indo-Iranian religion (the vedic equivalent is Rta), that can be translated truth, harmony or righteousness in some contexts, but is better rendered as the natural order of things. Asha is also one of the six Holy Immortal Ones, the others being Vohu Manah (Good Thought), Armaiti (Devotion), Haurvatat (Health), Ameretat (Immortality) and Khshathra (Power), and these divinities represent the most important concepts in Zoroastrian thought.

But because the archaic lliterature is mostly in the form of hymns addressed to divinities, there is relatively little that is composed to directly instruct people. Instead, it makes allusions to ideas that would already have been familiar to practicioners of the beliefs (although they seem to have grown obscure with time, judging by Middle Persian exegesis).

I'm really tired right now, so I'm not going to turn this into a monster-post going over every single thing that could be understood as a moral teaching adjacent to Zoroastrianism, but if there's anything specific you would like me to expand on or address, just let me know and I will get to it tomorrow.