Birth of Tragedy; or, Hellenism and Pessimism (Version 2)

By Friedrich Nietzsche · Running time 07:52:07 · Performing Arts, Philosophy, Social Science (Culture & Anthropology)

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About this book

This is one of Nietzsche's early academic writings - a scholarly theory about Ancient Greek theatre, specifically tragedies. In a nutshell, this work theorizes about why (Greek) spectators enjoy watching actors in a long series of scenes that depict human suffering (i.e., tragedy). It is a curious question, especially at the time since scholars generally thought of the Greeks as "A race of men, well-fashioned, beautiful, envied, life-inspiring, like no other race hitherto" (per Nietzsche's introduction). What did they need tragedy for? The question itself, and the path Nietzsche takes to answe

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