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Nietzsche and the Spirit of Tragedy pp 1–26Cite as

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Apollo and Dionysus

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Abstract

Nietzsche’s use of Apollo and Dionysus in The Birth of Tragedy shows that he thought of them not as exclusively Greek gods but as gods of all humanity. By ‘gods’ I mean commanding psychological principles. The duality of Apollo and Dionysus expresses an unalterable feature of the human condition.

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Notes and References

  1. F. Nietzsche, The Will to Power, (WP) trans. Walter Kaufmann and R. J. Hollingdale, ed. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, 1968) Section 1050, p. 539.

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  2. Ibid.

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  3. For an interesting discussion of the superficiality of both consciousness and language, and their near-identity (anticipating Freud and Wittgenstein) see Section 354, Book Five, The Gay Science (GS) trans, with commentary by Walter Kaufmann (New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, 1974).

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  4. F. Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (BT) and The Case of Wagner (CW), trans. with commentary by Walter Kaufmann (New York: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, 1967) Section I. p. 33.

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  5. Ibid., p.34.

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  6. Ibid., ‘Attempt at a Self-Criticism’, p. 19. This ‘attempt’ was added to the edition of 1886.

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  7. Ibid., Section 1, p.36.

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  8. Ibid., Section 1, p.37.

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  9. F. Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human — A Book for Free Spirits (HAH), trans. R. J. Hollingdale, with an intro. by Erich Heller (Cambridge University Press, 1986) Section 114, p. 66.

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  10. BT, section 3, p. 41.

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  11. Martin Heidegger, Nietzsche, Volume Two — The Eternal Recurrence of the Same, trans. with notes and an analysis by David Farrell Krell (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1984) p. 8.

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  12. BT, Section 4, p.45.

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  15. BT, Section 4, p. 46.

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  16. Ibid.

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  17. H. D. F. Kitto, Greek Tragedy — A Literary Study (Methuen, 1939) p. 139.

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  18. Ibid.

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  21. Ibid., p. 60.

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  26. Ibid., p.187.

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  27. Ibid., p.367.

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  30. BT, Section 10, p.75.

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  31. Ibid.

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  32. Ibid., p.76.

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  33. WP, Book One, Section 2, p.9.

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  34. F. Nietzsche, ‘Schopenhauer as educator’, Untimely Meditations (UM), trans. R. J. Hollingdale, with an intro. by J. P. Stern, (Cambridge University Press, 1983) p. 141.

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  37. TI, Section 4, p.31.

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  38. Plato, The Republic, trans. with intro. by Desmond Lee (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1979) Part Seven, p. 270.

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Authors
  1. Keith M. May
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© 1990 Keith M. May

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May, K.M. (1990). Apollo and Dionysus. In: Nietzsche and the Spirit of Tragedy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09882-8_1

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