TYPE: Chthonic God of Darkness
ORIGIN: Zoroastrian (Farsi-Persian)
INFORMATION: The antagonist of Ahura Mazda, god of light, and his attendant, Mithra. The name is a modern derivation of the original Avestan title Angru Mainyu. Ahriman is said to have tried to persuade his attendant animals, including the scorpion, ant and snake, to drink the blood of the bull slain by Mithra in the primeval legend of dualistic conflict (see Mithra); if he had succeeded he would have prevented life from forming on earth. In another legend he tried to thwart Ahura Mazda by sending a flood to destroy the world. Also recognized in Roman Mithraism. Rituals included animal sacrifice. Also Arimanius (Roman).
Angra Mainyu is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism. The Middle Persian equivalent is Ahriman. The name can appear in English-language works as Ahrimanes.