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« "They say a man's shoes are the first thing a person notices. . ." | Main | Mr. X [by Mary Jo Salter] »

October 13, 2023

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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.

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.

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"Lively and affectionate" Publishers Weekly

Radio

I left it
on when I
left the house
for the pleasure
of coming back
ten hours later
to the greatness
of Teddy Wilson
"After You've Gone"
on the piano
in the corner
of the bedroom
as I enter
in the dark


from New and Selected Poems by David Lehman

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