273 
That position he never lost, either in the Avesta , or in the 
earlier portions of the Rig-Veda ; whilst various other divini- 
ties were degraded either by Indian or Iranian. 
II. The authors of the Gdtlxas were perfectly acquainted 
with the worship of Mithra, but it is never condemned by 
them ; and as, moreover, many Gdthas are undoubtedly lost, 
it is quite possible that Mithra may have been mentioned with 
approval in these. The argumentum e taciturnitate is proved 
in countless instances to be one of the weakest that can be 
employed. 
III. There are apparently several indirect references to 
Mithra in the extant Gdthas. Thus, as noticed, his name 
occurs in the sense of ‘contract*; and, as mentioned, refer- 
ence is made to the Bridge of the ‘ Gatherer * or ‘ Judge.* 
Now Mithra, as M. Lenormant notices, was the “ judge after 
death ** ; and the customary mythologico-religious function of 
the Sun-god is to be the judge, guide, and conductor of 
souls, as the one who first passed into the unseen world.* I 
think, therefore, that Mithra is the personage here alluded to. 
IV. In the later portion of the Avesta Mithra reappears in 
a position of the highest honour, a circumstance which I do 
not regard as a “ lapse into idolatry,** because I do not think 
that his concept was originally idolatrous ; this circumstance 
points rather to his having been regarded with unbroken 
respect. 
V. Lastly, the authors of the Gdthas, who were making a 
great monotheistic protest, had an obvious reason for sup- 
pressing the name, lest the nomen should as in countless 
other instances, and as was subsequently actually the case 
here, become the numen. f 
As M. Lenormant observes, there is doubtless a certain 
obscurity connected with the Mithraic concept as it appears 
in the Avesta; but I think with him, that we may without 
hesitation link Mithra with the most ancient phase of the 
Iranian religion; and, further, that a careful analysis of the 
archaic concept of Mithra, and especially bearing in mind his 
intimate relation with Ahuramazda, will make us hesitate ere 
* Vide the case of the Vedic Yama, and the Hymns on the subject in the 
Rig- Veda, books IX. X. The Greek idea was similar. “ Stesichoros, 
B.C. 632-552, sings how Halios [Helios] Hyperion’s sun, went down into his 
golden cup and sailed away o’er ocean to the deep realms of night, to visit 
his beloved ones in the sacred laurel grove.” ( The Great Dionysidk Myth, i. 
317.) 
t Cf. Exodus xxiii. 13 : “ In all things that I have said unto you be 
circumspect : and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let 
it be heard out of thy mouth.” 
