
A great opening, the first sentence in Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy states the thesis of the book, introduces a critical distinction ("apprehending directly" as superior to "merely ascertaining"), and illustrates the main point with a complex simile, ostensibly a subordinate clause but one that threatens to eclipse all that preceded it. Before you have quite begun to grasp the idea of the "duality" between Apollo and Dionysus, and its significance for understanding why Aeschylus is superior to Euripides, we're asked to accept the casual observation that the sexes are in constant conflict. No wonder a couple in the heat of love concludes its quarrels with nothing resolved but the force of sexual attraction triumphant.
-- DL
I think for an Art class to evolve, it must be born of Apollonian roots and then harness Dionysian passion. If classical music started with the dissonance of Stravinsky rather than the technical genius of Bach, it would not have enough merit to take hold. Just as a child develops mentally before sexually, Beethoven had masters to learn from to channel his passions in music. I think you can find quality in art that is purely Apollonian, but not art that is purely Dionysian. Dionysian is a motivator, but Apollonian is what distinguishes us from animals.
Posted by: Maria | October 13, 2023 at 01:18 PM
The Birth of Tragedy is too often neglected in Nietzsche's work. I've loved it for decades, but of late have come to question some of its central propositions, viz: "Aeschylus is superior to Euripides" and "the sexes are in constant conflict." Both assertions can be legitimately questioned in productive and perhaps even revolutionary ways that N himself would have welcomed.
Nor can I agree with Maria's conclusion that "Apollonian is what distinguishes us from animals." The boundaries between human animals and non-human animals is growing smaller and smaller almost by the day, as I try to suggest in my IN THE COMPANY OF ANIMALS: POETRY & PROSE ON THE PATH TO A PEACEABLE KINGDOM.
Posted by: Ken Luter | October 23, 2023 at 03:28 PM