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Nietzsche - The Key Ideas: Apollo and Dionysus

by Dr Roy Jackson

Nietzsche’s first major work was The Birth of Tragedy, published in 1871. At the time of writing, Nietzsche was still under the influence of the German composer Richard Wagner (1813–83) and his writings on the importance of art and nature. Wagner argued that art, especially music, can perform the same function as religion as it expresses the essence of nature. Nietzsche, for his part, developed this idea of art and nature using the ancient Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus as metaphors for these two fundamental principles. The Apollonian principle is most clearly expressed through the arts of painting and sculpture which, Nietzsche states, are representations of the world. But these representations are fantastical in nature and, therefore, allow us to escape from the reality of the world, rather like a pleasant dream. The Dionysian principle, however, is more in touch with the cruel realities of nature and is most clearly expressed through ecstatic music and dance. Although it is also a form of forgetting, it is more a relinquishing of the self as one communes with nature. This is not as harmonious as it may seem, for this ‘communing’ is with a nature that is dangerous, cruel, and wild. Nonetheless, this primal state should be revelled in, rather than shunned, if we are to be truly human and experience any form of genuine understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. Ultimately, a person should strive to find a balance between the Apollonian and the Dionysian forces.

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