Creation

"The hero-narrator, Cyrus Spitama, grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is brought up in a fifth-century B.C. Persian court and educated with his closest friend, Xerxes, who is destined to become master of the empire that stretches from India to the Mediterranean. As an ambassador for Xerxes, Cyrus embarks on journeys far beyond the boundaries of the known world, seeking wealth and trade routes.". "Creation witnesses a blind and aged Cyrus relating to his grandson the tales of his astonishing travels and encounters. On his extensive missions to Cathay and India, Cyrus seeks not only riches and political gains for his monarch but also the answers to the questions that dominate his life: How was the universe created, and why was evil created along with good? His quest brings him to the park in India to which the Buddha has retreated, to the riverbank in Cathay where he fished with Confucius, and finally to the shaded courtyard in Athens where a young stonemason named Socrates comes to repair his wall, and where Cyrus will live the last days of his life. And in this restored edition of Creation readers will find material, left out of the original edition, that further elaborates on the lineages of the major figures in the book - most notably the kings Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes - and the conspiracy, duplicity, and intrigue that surround their ascent to power, as well as an expanded account of the Battle of Sardis."--BOOK JACKET.