Attic Tragedy Nietzsche

Nietzsche uses this section to refine his conception of the epiphany that is reached when the apollonian and the dionysian come together in one art form.

Attic tragedy nietzsche.

Nietzsche believed that attic tragedy was the synthesis of these forces. We have emphasized apollo for so long that it is very difficult for us to embrace dionysus especially if we have been brought up in christianity truly an apollonian religion if there ever was one. While he has not yet reached his main topic attic tragedy he builds closer to it with his discussion of the different layers of appearance and how they are necessary for man in order to persevere in a world of suffering. In order to justify his relentless quest to find dionysus at the heart of attic tragedy nietzsche writes that we must not trust what we find on the surface of sophoclean and aeschylean dialogue.

In the birth of tragedy nietzsche expounds on the origins of greek tragedy and its relevance to the german culture of its time. Firstly the dionysian the passion that overwhelms the character and the apollonian the purely pictorial imagery of the theatrical spectacle. The attic tragedy was born from three separate inanimate ideas that rattled around inside me for two or three years before striking together and sparking a story. Nietzsche stressed the importance of living with a tragic awareness of life and asserted that only through the cultivation of such a state could genuine growth creativity greatness and the capacity to truly affirm life be attained.

Friedrich nietzsche at the end of the 19th century highlighted the contrast between the two main elements of tragedy. Euripides founded new attic comedy and was nietzsche claims the first to bring the spectator onto the stage. His plays in contrast to that of achilles or sophocles focused not on great tragic heroes but the common man dramatic reinterpretations of everyday occurrences similar to modern day soaps.