* I'm taking a class on Friedrich Nietzsche and we do a 2-page essay on our weekly readings. This is one of my essays.
· Discuss the roles of the spirit of Apollo and that of Dionysus in the Birth of Tragedy. What point is Nietzsche making?
Apollo and Dionysus functions as metaphor for differing aspects at work in Greek culture. The Apollonian concerns that which is more rational. It is the realm of order and optimism. It manifests itself in the visual arts such as sculpture—what Nietzsche calls the “plastic arts.” The Dionysian, on the other hand, revolves around sensuality and cruelty. It is the realm of the chaotic and it manifests itself in music which is not dependent on images. These two impulses are inter-related but, according to Nietzsche, “differ in their deepest essence and their highest goals” (NR, 73). In fact, Nietzsche states plainly that “the real goal of our enquiry” is to consider the mystery of the union between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. (NR, 54)
Another way to contrast the Apollonian and the Dionysian is to consider this dialectic as attempting to answer the question of the “One and the Many.” The Apollonian is linked to the Many. It is the impulse of individuation, or as Nietzsche puts it the prinicipium individuationis. The Dionysian concerns the One—the undifferentiated unity of all things. Although both the Apollonian and the Dionysian are at play it seems as though the Dionysian has a primacy. Perhaps it is better to say that what the Dionysian represents is primary. It is as though the flux and undifferentiated “stuff” of the universe is the primal reality upon which individuals place some sort of order. Nietzsche quotes the pre-Socratic philosopher Anaxagoras: “In the beginning all things were mixed together, then came understanding [nous] and created order” (NR, 65). Nietzsche links this philosophical conception to the arena of the arts and sees Euripides as making a transition from the “Aeschylean-Sophoclean tragedy” to a more propositionally oriented play with its introduction of the explanatory prologue.
With these two competing aspects, the Apollonian and the Dionysian, Nietzsche goes on to add to his taxonomy and speak of “three stages of illusion: Socratic knowledge, Apollonian art, and “the metaphysical consolation” (NR, 77). These stages are not to be seen as historically chronological since Nietzsche has already claimed that the Apollonian is historically prior to the Socratic. The Socratic ideal flows out of the Apollonian under the influence of Euripides. Thus, this creates a new tension between the Socratic (with its focus on reason) and the Dionysian (with its focus on emotions). Nietzsche then takes these three stages of illusion and speaks of how differing cultures will mix these components thus creating the major cultural impulses and definitions of that time. In Nietzsche’s words: “… according to the proportions of the mixture we have a predominately Socratic, or artistic or tragic culture; of if I may avail myself of historical examples: either an Alexandrian, or a Hellenic or an Indian (Brahmanic) culture” (NR, 77).
Thus, Nietzsche’s use of the categories of the Apollonian, with its attendant Socratic impulse, and the Dionysian is meant to be not merely of historical interest. By these categories Nietzsche is attempting a cultural analysis and offering a way forward for his German culture. He is clear about this intention when he writes: “I repeat that only from the Greeks can we learn what such a miracle-like awakening of tragedy means for the innermost foundation of the life of a people” (NR, 80). It is through the proper blending and dialectical tension between the Apollonian and the Dionysian that a culture can progress and move forward.
