Nietzsche's Zarathustra and Parodic Style

On Lucian'sHyperanthroposand Nietzsche'sÜbermensch

Bibliographic Data

ID4936082
AuthorsBabette Babich (0000-0002-4499-0718, Fordham University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume58
Issue4
Pages58-74
Publication date2011-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiogenes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0392-1921 • E-ISSN: 1467-7695
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0392192112467410
OpenAlexW2093046827
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited16

It is well-known that as a term, Nietzsche'sÜbermenschderives from Lucian of Samosata'shyperanthropos. I argue that Zarathustra's teaching of the overman acquires new resonances by reflecting on the context of that origination from Lucian'sKataplous- literally, "sailing into port" - referring to the soul's journey (ferried by Charon, guided by Hermes) into the afterlife. TheKataplous he tyrannos, usually translatedDownward Journey or The Tyrant, is a Menippean satire of the "overman" who is imagined to be superior to others of "lesser" station in this-worldly life and the same tyrant after his (comically unwilling) transport into the underworld. As a reflection on the life and the death of Zarathustra, this essay also explores the politics of kingship for Empedocles as reformer in terms of Hölderlin's Death of Empedocles and Nietzsche's unpublished drafts on the same topic. InThus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche points to a perspective beyond the here and now, including the "values" of our all-too-worldly and all-too-human concerns, no matter whether in terms of perceived political/economic advantage, or indeed in the pursuit of more trivial satisfactions

Art · Literature · Style (visual arts) · Zoroaster · Education, Literature, Philosophy Research · German Literature and Culture Studies · Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Hegel · Philosophy

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