Zoroaster Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. A sculpture of Zoroaster appears with other prominent religious figures on the south side of the exterior of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago. Although a few recent depictions of Zoroaster show the prophet performing some deed of legend, in general the portrayals merely present him in white vestments (which are also worn by present-day Zoroastrian priests). He often is seen holding a "baresman" (Avestan; Middle Persian "barsom"), which is generally considered to be another symbol of priesthood, or with a book in hand, which may be interpreted to
Thus Spoke Zarathustra onwards. The critic Harold Bloom, writing in "" (1994), criticized "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", calling the book "a gorgeous disaster" and "unreadable". Other commentators have suggested that Nietzsche's style is intentionally ironic for much of the book. This irony relates to an internal conflict of Nietzsche's: he hated religious leaders but perceived himself as at least somewhat akin to one. The first English translation of "Zarathustra" was published in 1896 by Alexander Tille. Thomas Common published a translation in 1909 which was based on Alexander Tille's earlier attempt. Common wrote in the style of Shakespeare or the King James Version of