Mithra

Yazata of covenants, light, and oaths; all-seeing judge whom Ahura Mazda set as worthy of worship as himself.

Domains

• covenant contract
• light sun
• justice judgment

Powers

• Guard all covenants and punish those who break their oath
• Watch over the world with ten thousand eyes, never sleeping
• Judge souls with Sraosha and Rashnu at the Chinvat bridge

Epithets

• vouru.gaoiiaoiti avestan · vouru-gaoyaoiti · hymnicOf the wide pastures/cattle-ranges; the lord of broad cattle-landsMihr Yasht (Yasht 10), the great hymn to Mithra (primary)
• hazaŋra.gaoša avestan · hazangra-gaosha · hymnicThousand-eared; the all-hearing watcher of covenants and oathsMihr Yasht (Yasht 10.7, 10.91) (primary)
• baēvarǝ.čašman avestan · baevare-chashman · hymnicTen-thousand-eyed; the all-seeing judge whom none can deceiveMihr Yasht (Yasht 10.7, 10.82) (primary)

Relations

• equated with: Miiro
• companion: SraoshaJoint judges of the soul at the Chinvat bridge; Sraosha guards the soul along the way Mithra adjudges.Menog-i Khrad 2.118-120 (primary)
• companion: RashnuReciprocal of zoroastrian_rashnu.companion — With Mithra and Sraosha he judges souls at the Chinvat bridge, weighing deeds in his golden balance.Menog-i Khrad 2.118-120 (primary)
• companion: VerethragnaReciprocal of zoroastrian_verethragna.companion — In boar shape Verethragna runs before Mithra's chariot, mowing down the breakers of covenant.Avesta, Mihr Yasht (Yt. 10.70) (primary)
• interpretatio: AphroditeReciprocal of greek_hesiod_aphrodite.interpretatio — Hdt claims Persians call Aphrodite Ourania 'Mitra' — an attested ancient equation, but a famous error: he has confused Mithra with Anahita. Preserved here as evidence of transmission, not of cult reality.Herodotus, Histories 1.131 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Avesta, Yasht 10 (Mihr Yasht) (primary)