Resumen
Resumen de El nacimiento de la tragedia; o, helenismo y pesimismo
Go deeper: the whole of El nacimiento de la tragedia; o, helenismo y pesimismo
About 3 h 10 min to read.Para quién es
For readers who love philosophy, Greek drama, music and the roots of modern thought, and anyone drawn to bold ideas about art, suffering and the human spirit.
De qué trata este libro
The Birth of Tragedy is the first book by Friedrich Nietzsche. It appeared in 1872, when he was a young professor of classical philology at the University of Basel. How did Greek tragedy arise, and why did it fade? It becomes a claim about what art is for, how people can live with pain, and what went wrong in modern culture.
Nietzsche wrote under the spell of two men. One was the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who saw the world as blind striving and suffering. The other was the composer Richard Wagner, then his close friend, whose music dramas Nietzsche hoped would revive the spirit of the Greeks. Let us begin with the two forces at the heart of the book.
En este resumen
- 1Art grows from two opposed Greek forcesFree
- 2Beauty was how the Greeks faced suffering
- 3Tragedy was born from music and the chorus
- 4Socrates and Euripides killed tragedy
- 5Modern culture is stuck in the theoretical mind
- 6The book was attacked yet shaped later thought
Idea clave 1 de 6
Art grows from two opposed Greek forces
He says art develops through the tension between two drives, which he names after two Greek gods. Apollo is the god of light, form, measure and the beautiful image. Dionysus is the god of wine, ecstasy, music and the loss of the self.
He links each drive to a state we all know. Apollo belongs to dreams. In a dream we see clear shapes and feel they are real, yet we half know they are only appearances. Sculpture, painting and epic poetry, such as the poems of Homer, are the arts of this dreamlike clarity. They give each thing its outline and its calm.
Dionysus belongs to intoxication. In festivals of drink, dance and song, the walls between person and person fall away, and so does the wall between human and nature.
Nietzsche claims that Greek art was great because it held both forces together, and that they spur each other on. Apollo without Dionysus becomes cold and rigid. Dionysus without Apollo becomes wild and formless, and he describes barbarian festivals of raw excess as an example.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of El nacimiento de la tragedia; o, helenismo y pesimismo
About 3 h 10 min to read.About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 55,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 3 h 40 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about El nacimiento de la tragedia; o, helenismo y pesimismo
What is The Birth of Tragedy about?
It is about how Greek tragedy arose from the meeting of two forces, the orderly Apollonian and the ecstatic Dionysian. Nietzsche also argues that rationalism ended tragedy and that modern culture needs a new tragic art.
Who are Apollo and Dionysus in Nietzsche's book?
They are Greek gods used as symbols. Apollo stands for dreams, beauty, clear form and restraint. Dionysus stands for intoxication, music, ecstasy and the loss of the self. Nietzsche says great art needs both.
Why did Nietzsche blame Socrates for the death of tragedy?
He says Socrates trusted reason above instinct and held that only what can be understood is good. Through Euripides, this attitude turned tragedy into clear argument and drained away its dark, musical depth.
Is The Birth of Tragedy hard to read?
No. The book starts from one plain question: how did Greek tragedy arise, and why did it fade? Its big idea is easy to hold, because it rests on two Greek gods, Apollo for clear form and Dionysus for music and ecstasy.
Why was The Birth of Tragedy criticised when it was published?
Many classical scholars said it was weak on evidence and mixed philosophy with musical advocacy for Wagner. A harsh pamphlet by Wilamowitz-Moellendorff attacked it. Nietzsche himself later criticised its style and its debt to Schopenhauer.