On the Birth of Tragedy

Early Nietzsche. The Apollonian/Dionysian distinction is an interesting one, and I find it helpful, but I didn’t get much of what he had to say about the ancient Greek art forms — he’s clearly working from a different set of cultural references than mine. The book ends by praising Wagner for reunifying the Dionysian and the Apollonian, in the manner of Greek tragedy, which Nietzsche takes to be the highest art form. He’s wrong about that, honestly, and he figured as much out for himself later. Still, you can watch him playing with chaos and order, creativity and structure, and it’s interesting to bring to bear on my own life.