Nietzsche’s use of italics accentuates the irony and sarcasm which is spread throughout his writings. But the italics also come into play when Nietzsche seeks to place emphasis on certain points. Nietzsche saw art as a paradox in the sense that art was both a “clash” and “reconciliation” between two different “creative tendencies” which were embodied by the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus. As Nietzsche wrote: “Much will have been gained for esthetics once we have succeeded in apprehending directly – rather than merely ascertaining – that art owes its continuous evolution to the Apollonian-Dionysiac duality, even as the propagation of the species depends on the duality of the sexes, their constant conflicts and periodic acts of reconciliation.”
And in terms of the two different “creative tendencies” which are at play behind the manifestation of art, Nietzsche wrote: “To reach a closer understanding of both these tendencies, let us begin by viewing them as the separate art realms of dream and intoxication, two physiological phenomena standing toward one another in much the same relationship as the Apollonian and Dionysiac.” Art is also a means of challenging traditional notions, as well as a means of challenging and deconstructing both social conventions and the rigidity of culture and ideas.
And just as certain artists and certain works of art are immortal, the philosopher also seeks the kind of immortality which is intrinsic to art, as Nietzsche argued. As Nietzsche wrote in regards to the philosopher: “[Philosophers] address their efforts not to a ‘public,’ to the agitation of the masses and the cheering applause of their contemporaries; it is in their nature to travel the road alone.” Nietzsche added: “Their talent is the rarest and, in a certain respect, the most unnatural in nature, shutting itself off from and hostile even to kindred talents. The wall of their self-sufficiency must be hard as diamond not to be shattered and destroyed, for everything is on the move against them, man and nature.”
Hence, the nexus between the artist and the philosopher lies in the fact that both are on the road to immortality. Nietzsche wrote: “Their journey to immortality is more arduous and impeded than any other, and yet no one can be as sure as the philosopher about reaching his goal, since he knows not where to stand, if not on the wings of all ages; for a disregard of the present and the momentary is of the nature of philosophical contemplation. He has the truth; let the wheel of time roll where it will, it can never escape the truth.”
And the embodiment and symbol of this truth in Nietzschean thought is “Zarathustra,” the Persian or Afghan mystic and wise man who comes to the West and enlightens all with a rare kind of esoteric knowledge and wisdom that has long been lost in the West. As Nietzsche wrote: “O my brothers, Zarathustra comes as a fresh blustering wind to all the way-weary; he will yet make many noses sneeze!”
And the main function or role of this Persian or Afghan mystic and wise man in Western society is to serve as an aid in overcoming the nihilism of the current day and age. As Nietzsche wrote in terms of the basic meaning of nihilism: “What does Nihilism mean? That the highest values are losing their value. There is no bourne. There is no answer to the question: ‘to what purpose?’
Lost is the belief in divinity and transcendence. In turn, a prevailing psychosocial condition and state arises from nihilism, which Nietzsche describes in the following terms: “Nihilism will have to manifest itself as a psychological condition, first when we have sought in all that has happened a purpose which is not there: so that the seeker will ultimately lose courage. Nihilism is therefore the coming into consciousness of the long waste of strength, the pain of ‘futility,’ uncertainty, the lack of an opportunity to recover in some way, or to attain to a state of peace concerning anything – shame in one’s own presence, as if one had cheated oneself too long…”
To conclude, it is by virtue of Zarathustra that Nietzsche had “absolutely no reason to renounce the hope for a Dionysian future of music.” The ideals, values, and genius of Zarathustra are what Nietzsche viewed as the main sources of salvation for the West as well as a diversion from what could be Western self-destruction and self-implosion.
Adam A. Azim 