The Birth of Tragedy by Nitzsche

November 11, 2025 | 998 words | 5min read

Paper Title: The Birth of Tragedy

Link to Paper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Tragedy

Date: 1872

Paper Type: Philosophy, Philosophy of Art,

Short Abstract: In this paper, Nietzsche criticizes the modern overemphasis on logic and develops an account of where this comes from and what its problems are.

0. An Attempt at Self-Criticism

The preamble is a much later addition to this work, which was Nietzsche’s first major book. In it, Nietzsche tells us that although he regrets the way he wrote this text, that it is rather obscure and mystical , he still agrees with the overall point it tries to make. He also criticizes himself for misusing Schopenhauer’s terminology.

In this section, the main thesis of the book is also explained: what he calls the problem of science: for the first time, science itself becomes problematic. He wants to look at science through the lens of the artist and art through the lens of life.

Lastly, he addresses the question of whether his book belongs to the Romantic movement, even though he criticizes that movement himself. His answer is that what he argues for is a combination of logic and emotion, while the Romantics valued only emotion. Thus, Romanticism is not necessary, though he admits that people will most likely end up in Romanticism anyway, as they flee there for comfort.

1. Text

Nietzsche differentiates between two Greek gods, Apollo and Dionysus, who stand in stark contrast to each other. Apollo, the messenger god, represents order, logic, clarity, morality, objectivity, and structure. Dionysus, the god of festivals and wine, represents chaos, the irrational, the immoral, subjectivity, and emotional excess.

He associates these gods with two different artistic directions: Apollo corresponds to structured art, such as sculpture or poetry, that follows clear rules; Dionysian art, on the other hand, is unstructured, emotional, and ruleless. Apollo is the dream; Dionysus is intoxication.

Importantly, these two aspects are part of human nature itself, they do not come from culture but exist within us. Every artist (where “art” is meant in the broadest possible sense, i.e. anything aesthetically pleasing, even a mathematical formula) imitates either the Dionysian or the Apollonian. For example, a mathematician imitates Apollo.

These two forces were also part of Greek culture. While it is easy to see the Dionysian element in festivals (which include cruelty, orgies, sadism, barbarism, incest, and forbidden impulses), the Apollonian dream aspect is quieter and harder to perceive.

The preference for Apollo’s dreaming over waking life is most clearly seen in Friedrich Schiller, and Nietzsche points to Homer’s Odyssey as an example. The state of dreaming is: “It is a dream, I want to continue dreaming it.” Apollo represents a kind of beautiful lie of reality.

The origin of Greek tragedy was purely Dionysian, with plays like Oedipus the King and Prometheus Bound. These earliest forms expressed only the suffering of Dionysus. Over time, the myths depicted in the plays became religion, myth turned into belief.

With later playwrights like Euripides, Greek tragedy died. Euripides diverged from the tragic tradition by bringing audience members onto the stage; the plays became less Dionysian and more Apollonian. They lost their mythical, mysterious element and instead followed Socrates’ idea that “everything must be understandable to be beautiful”, that beauty must be intelligible.

Nietzsche disliked Socrates and the impact he had on history. Socrates, he says, disliked art because he could not make logical sense of it; he was a non-mystic with an overdeveloped sense of logic. Dionysian pleasure was foreign to him. Since then, Greek culture and with it our broader culture has shifted further and further away from the Dionysian and placed ever greater emphasis on logic. Socratic reasoning was the turning point in universal history.

This led to the rise of the theoretical man, in contrast to the artist, and with that a shift away from creation and art toward an egoistic and individual outlook. The theoretical man’s main goal is to separate “true perception from error and illusion”, this becomes the foundation of science, which grows ever broader.

Nietzsche believed that with the composer Richard Wagner, the Dionysian returned. Apollonian art delights in the beauty of form; Dionysian music celebrates eternity. Dionysian art seeks to convince us to embrace the eternal joy of existence.

The theoretical man, on the other hand, with his Socratic optimism that the whole world is intelligible, lives in fear and trembling of false conclusions. His god is machinery.

“It is a sad spectacle to behold how the dance of its thought always rushes longingly to new forms, to embrace them, and then, shuddering, lets them go.”

Modern art exhibitions are, for Nietzsche, cheap copies that no longer evoke the Dionysian spirit. Neither do operas, they are poor imitations of Greek tragedy.

Myth serves as a mediator between the subject and the music, between the subject and Dionysian experience. Direct contact with the abyss of Dionysian truth would be too terrifying for humans; thus, myth is needed as a mediator.

2. What is this text about?

For Nietzsche, humans are not purely logical beings (in the broadest possible sense, i.e., objective, moral, structured, ordered), but also beings of emotion (in the broadest possible sense, i.e., subjective, chaotic, unstructured, amoral). Since Socrates, the dominant force in our culture has been logic, which has led to the suppression of the emotional aspect. This domination is evident in the value our society places on science and STEM fields, and the comparatively little value it places on the humanities.

Nietzsche illustrates this through the example of Greek tragedy. In his view, we should return to valuing both aspects equally.

For him, art is the merging of these two dispositions. In art, the subject is not only the artist but also the artwork itself; the subject becomes the object. Art is not merely for entertainment, it forms a bridge between logic and emotion, Apollo and Dionysus, subject and object, morality and immorality, order and chaos. Art is more important than truth, it is the stimulant of life.

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