5 - The laughing lions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
Summary
The title of Nietzsche's book, as well as the signature line in nearly every chapter, emphasize Zarathustra's speeches above all. But, as commentators have long pointed out, the book is not a mere collection of didactic speeches. Instead, these speeches are set into a story that from the very start details Zarathustra's search for their appropriate audience. This means that Nietzsche intends us to pay close attention, not only to the content of Zarathustra's speeches, but also to his interactions with his listeners. There are many such listeners, of many different kinds: the sun, his animals, town people, dancing girls, a tarantula, cripples, sailors, a dwarf, the sea, higher men, and even Zarathustra's own heart and soul. Following Plato and the Gospels, however, Nietzsche designs his narrative so as to draw our attention especially to those who listen to the majority of Zarathustra's speeches and who call themselves his “disciples” (Jünger) (I.22:1).
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- Information
- The Death of Nietzsche's Zarathustra , pp. 119 - 147Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010