Chapter 17 The Birth of Tragedy Chapter Three

birth of tragedy third chapter To understand this, we must dismantle the artistic edifice of the Oneiroi culture, brick by stone, until we see the foundation upon which it rests.First, we find the majestic Olympians perched on the gables of the mansion, their deeds carved in radiant reliefs, adorning the loins.We should not be misled by the fact that Apollo was merely a god alongside the gods, with no right to superior status.Since the whole Olympian world, in general, was born from the same impulse embodied in the god Apollo, in this sense Apollo can be called the father of the divine world.So, by what inconceivable request did such a glorious Olympian God Realm come into being?

If someone approached the gods of Olympus with other religious beliefs, and wanted to find moral nobility, holy piety, spirituality beyond the flesh, and benevolent glances from them, he would be disappointed and turn his head away immediately. up.For there is nothing here to suggest recluse, spirituality, discipline: here we hear only the triumphant triumph of energy and business, and everything that exists here, good or bad, is enshrined as a god.Therefore, those who watch quietly, standing in front of such a wonderful scene full of vitality, must be stunned. He has to ask himself: What kind of magic medicine did these unrestrained people drink to be able to live like this, so they don't care about it? Wherever one looks, one sees the smile of Holena, who is the ideal picture for their own "floating and falling" lives?However, we must cry out to the spectators who have turned their heads away: "Don't run away, please listen to the ancient Greek folk wisdom to explain this life that unfolds before your eyes with such indescribable joy."There is an old story that says: "Once upon a time King Midas searched for a long time in the forest for Bacchus' companion, the wise Se-lenus, but he did not find it. When Silenus finally fell to When he was in his hand, the king asked him: What is the most wonderful thing for human beings? The god was dumbfounded and said nothing. When the king forced him, he finally said these words with loud laughter: Chaosheng Poor twilight wretch, son of impermanence and sorrow, why do you force me to say what you had better not listen to? The best thing in the world is something you will never have—that is, don't be born, don't exist, To nothing. But the next best thing for you is to die early."

What is the relationship of the Olympian gods to this folk wisdom?Like a dying martyr having a vision of ecstasy over his suffering. Now, as if the Olympian mountain opened up to us, revealing its foundation.The Greeks knew and felt the dread of existence; in order to be able to live they had to conceive the birth of this splendid Olympian dream in the face of terror.That great terror in the face of the violence of nature, that fate which rules mercilessly over all knowledge, that goshawk that afflicted Prometheus, the great lover of mankind, that dreadful fate of wise Oedipus, that drives The plagues of the house of Atreus, to whom Orestes went to kill his mother; in short, the whole philosophy of all the Goblins, with its mystical instance in which the melancholy Etruscans finally perish--all this is given The Greeks have triumphed over and over again with the buffer world of Olympian art; all this is, after all, concealed and receded from sight.In order to be able to live, the Greeks had to create these gods because of this urgent demand; we may imagine the process of this creation roughly as follows. From the original dreadful iron dan lineage arose, as the rose-bud sprouts from the thorny jungle.If the Greeks had not been inspired by the meaning of existence from the glorious Greek gods, how could this people, who are so sensitive, so passionate about desires, and able to bear all kinds of tribulations alone, endure life?It is this artistic impulse that produces art, makes life rich and colorful, and lures people to live, which leads to the birth of the Olympian god world, and the Greek "will" uses this god world as a mirror to see itself radiant.Therefore, God is the proof of life, because God himself lives human life—this is the only satisfactory theodicy.Living under the light of such gods makes people feel that existence itself is worth pursuing.For the heroes of Homer, there is no real sorrow greater than death, especially early death: so now we may turn the epigram of Silenus in reverse for the Greeks: "For them. The worst is early death, and the next is final." One day I shall die." Once this cry had been uttered, it was echoed again by the short-lived Achilles, who complained of the vicissitudes of life like the autumn leaves, and the waning of the age of heroes.The hero of the world should not be attached to life, let alone he would rather be born as a slave.However, the Greek "will" reached the stage of Oneiroi's appearance, so eagerly longed for the life of the world, and the Homeric hero felt that he was one with the will to live, so the lament of life became the eulogy of life.

①According to ancient Greek mythology, the Iron Gods were the gods before the rule of Zeus and were overthrown by Zeus. Nietzsche used the word "Iron" in this article to refer to the natural state, natural impulse, and natural state of the primitive society before the Greek civilization era. Morality and so on. ②In Homer's epic, the hero Achilles knew that his life was short, so he lamented the impermanence of life, and after his death, he said that he would rather be born as a slave than die as a ghost. At this point, we should point out that the harmony that modern people are eager to contemplate, that is, the unity of man and nature (Schiller uses the term "simple" to express this artistic conception), is by no means simple, natural and spontaneous. It seems to be an unavoidable state, and it is not a paradise on earth that must be seen in front of any kind of culture.This was believed only in the age of the Romantics; at that time the artist was imagined to be like Rousseau's Emile.It is a delusion to find in Homer an artist who, like Emile, was raised in the bosom of nature.Wherever "naiveness" is found in art, we think it is the greatest effect of the Oneiroi culture, which must first overthrow the primitive iron kingdom, kill the monsters, and then, with its powerful vision and loveliness, The fantasy of contemplating the eerie abyss of the world and the sensitivity of compassion have overcome.However, we seldom reach this naive state of fascination with the beauty of illusion. Homer's sublime is really indescribable: he personally treats the folk culture of the Oneiroi type, just as individual dream artists treat the dreams of ordinary people and nature. ability like that.The so-called "naiveness" of Homer can only be understood as the absolute victory of dream fantasy, which is a fantasy that nature often uses to achieve its goals.When you reach out to grasp the illusion that hides the real purpose, you naturally use your illusion to achieve its purpose.Among the Greeks, the "will" demanded contemplation of oneself in the beautification of the realm of genius and art; in order to glorify oneself, the multitude must first feel glorified; To urge or blame.This is the realm of beauty, where the Greeks saw their own reflections—the gods of Olympus.By virtue of this beautiful reflection, the "will" of Greece was able to counter its compassionate talent and wisdom in art; and Homer, the naive artist, stood like a triumphal monument!