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Hystaspes (the Greek form of the Persian Vishtaspa) can refer to two individuals:
- A semi-legendary king (kava), praised by Zoroaster as his protector and a true believer, son of Aurvataspa (Lohrasp). The later tradition and the Shahnama of Firdousi makes him (in the modern form of his name, Kai Gushtasp) a "king of Iran". As Zoroaster probably preached his religion in eastern Iran, Vishtaspa must have been a dynast in Bactria or Sogdiana. The Zoroastrian religion was already dominant in Media in the time of the Assyrian king Sargon (c. 715 BC), and had been propagated there probably in much earlier times; the time of Zoroaster and Vishtaspa was traditionally put at c. 1000 BC.
- A Persian, father of Darius I, under whose reign he was governor of Parthia, as Darius himself mentions in the Behistun inscription (2. 65). By Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 6. 32, and by many modern authors he has been identified with the actual historical protector of Zoroaster, which runs counter to the traditions of Zoroastrianism itself.
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