Also Sprach Zarathustra -- Richard Strauss
I remember many years ago when the world was new and exotic creatures still roamed freely, I would pad my class schedule by occasionally enrolling in a philosophy course or two. For reasons which completely elude me now, the somewhat younger college student I once was thought such things important. In one such class, I remember the following snippet from an especially illuminating socratic exchange:
Confused Student: What does Nietzsche mean here?
Sage Professor: I’m not sure what Nietzsche is saying here. I’m not sure if anyone is sure what Nietzsche is saying here. I’m not even sure Nietzsche is sure what Nietzsche is saying here.
Years gone by like the proverbial water under the bridge, and I know even less about Nietzschean philosophy now than I did as a far-too-eager college student so long ago. But I do slightly more of the man himself.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was born in the Prussian Province of Saxony on 15 October 1844. Despite his rather lackluster efforts, he was the recipient of an excellent boyhood education, receiving instruction in history, science, music, mathematics, religion, literature, and languages -- lots and lots of languages. In addition to his native German, young Nietzsche received instruction in French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.
As a young man, Nietzsche employed his linguistic proficiency to great effect, throwing himself into the pursuit of philosophy and theology. As with so many young adults, the sacred and the secular conflicted continually within his mind. Nietzsche’s mother desired him to retrace his late father’s footsteps and enter the clergy. He did consider following that path briefly, but his skepticism would eventually defeat any inclination toward religious devotion.
Nietzsche’s studies took a brief detour in 1867. The young man enlisted for one year of service with a Prussian artillery division. He was an excellent rider and a promising cadet. He seemed assured a brilliant career in the officers corps, but cruel happenstance turned her gaze to the young man:
One day I failed in attempting a smart spring into the saddle; I gave my chest a blow on the pommel and felt a sharp rend in my left side. But I quietly went on riding, and endured the increasing pain for a day and a half. On the evening of the second day, however, I had two fainting fits, and on the third day I lay as if nailed to my bed, suffering the most terrible agony and with a high temperature. The doctors declared that I had torn two of the muscles of my chest. In consequence of this the whole system of chest muscles and ligaments was inflamed, and severe suppuration had supervened owing to the bleeding of the torn tissues. A week later, when my chest was lanced, several cupfuls of matter were removed. From that time onward,three whole months, the suppuration has never ceased, and when at last I left my bed, I was naturally so exhausted that I had to learn to walk again. My condition was lamentable; I had to be helped in standing, walking and lying down, and could not even write. Gradually my health improved, I enjoyed an invigorating diet, took plenty of exercise and recovered my strength. But the wound still remained open and the suppuration scarcely abated. At last it was discovered that the sternum itself had been grazed and this was the obstacle to recovery. One evening I got an undeniable proof of this, in the form of a little piece of bone which came out of the wound with the matter. This has happened frequently since, and the doctor says it is like to occur frequently again. Should a large piece of bone be detached a slight operation would be imperative. The trouble is by no means dangerous, but it is exceedingly slow. The doctors can do nothing but help nature in her work of elimination and fresh growth. In addition to this I make frequent injections of camomile tea and silver nitrate every day and take a warm bath. Our staff doctor will shortly pronounce me "temporarily disabled," and it is not improbable that I may always suffer from some weakness round about the wound.
Nietzsche’s studies took a brief detour in 1867. The young man enlisted for one year of service with a Prussian artillery division. He was an excellent rider and a promising cadet. He seemed assured a brilliant career in the officers corps, but cruel happenstance turned her gaze to the young man:
One day I failed in attempting a smart spring into the saddle; I gave my chest a blow on the pommel and felt a sharp rend in my left side. But I quietly went on riding, and endured the increasing pain for a day and a half. On the evening of the second day, however, I had two fainting fits, and on the third day I lay as if nailed to my bed, suffering the most terrible agony and with a high temperature. The doctors declared that I had torn two of the muscles of my chest. In consequence of this the whole system of chest muscles and ligaments was inflamed, and severe suppuration had supervened owing to the bleeding of the torn tissues. A week later, when my chest was lanced, several cupfuls of matter were removed. From that time onward,three whole months, the suppuration has never ceased, and when at last I left my bed, I was naturally so exhausted that I had to learn to walk again. My condition was lamentable; I had to be helped in standing, walking and lying down, and could not even write. Gradually my health improved, I enjoyed an invigorating diet, took plenty of exercise and recovered my strength. But the wound still remained open and the suppuration scarcely abated. At last it was discovered that the sternum itself had been grazed and this was the obstacle to recovery. One evening I got an undeniable proof of this, in the form of a little piece of bone which came out of the wound with the matter. This has happened frequently since, and the doctor says it is like to occur frequently again. Should a large piece of bone be detached a slight operation would be imperative. The trouble is by no means dangerous, but it is exceedingly slow. The doctors can do nothing but help nature in her work of elimination and fresh growth. In addition to this I make frequent injections of camomile tea and silver nitrate every day and take a warm bath. Our staff doctor will shortly pronounce me "temporarily disabled," and it is not improbable that I may always suffer from some weakness round about the wound.
Nietzsche enjoyed the life of a soldier, but now it was a life denied him. Artillery's loss would become academia’s gain.
Friedrich Nietzsche Rocking an Undeniably Remarkable Mustache
Shortly after being invalided from the artillery, Nietzsche received an employment offer that surely lifted the young man’s spirits. Although he had not completed his doctorate, Nietzsche’s keen and piercing intellect had won the attention of many intellectual notables: Hie circle of contacts and friends included Erwin Rohde, Richard Wagner, Paul Deussen, Ernst Ortlepp, Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl. It would be Ritschl who directed the avid attention of the University of Basel toward Nietzsche. The University of Basel is Switzerland's oldest university and then, as now, one of the world’s finest. In 1869 at the age of only 24, Friedrich Nietzsche became the youngest person to ever hold the university’s Chair of Classical Philology. Immediately after taking his new post, the new professor took a brief leave-of-absence to serve as a volunteer medical orderly in the Franco-German War. It was a short war, yet long enough to adversely impact Nietzsche. He had the misfortune to contract both dysentery and diphtheria, and very possibly syphilis as well.
Nietzsche remained at Basel for merely a decade before being forced by his failing body to resign. Despite being betrayed by the body, Nietzsche would continue his academic labors until 1889 when, at the age of 44, he collapsed in an Italian street. Despite his clinging to life for another decade, he would never recover. His mind had fled. He would never regain his lucidity.
Nietzsche remained at Basel for merely a decade before being forced by his failing body to resign. Despite being betrayed by the body, Nietzsche would continue his academic labors until 1889 when, at the age of 44, he collapsed in an Italian street. Despite his clinging to life for another decade, he would never recover. His mind had fled. He would never regain his lucidity.
On 25 August 1900 died, apparently from syphilis-related illnesses.
Sadly, through no fault of his own, Nietzsche’s posthumous reputation has been soiled by association with fascist nationalism and anti-semitism, two sins to which the great philosopher had adamantly rejected. Indeed, his friendship with Richard Wagner fell victim to Nietzsche’s resentment of the composer’s outspoken anti-semitism. Nietzsche was badly used by both family and nation after his death.
His sister, a vicious anti-semite and pan-German nationalist, edited his writings after his death, inserting her own bigotry where none was found before. And much later, Hitler and his National Socialists, seeking to buttress their own pretense of legitimacy by hitching their ideological cart to Nietzsche’s philosophical horse, a linking that would have horrified the great scholar.
Despite any unfair associations, Nietzsche’s legacy still holds up well. We encounter the fruits of his genius on an almost daily basis although we rarely recognize it. His influence on modern philosophy staggers the imagination --likewise his contribution to politics. Oddly, while National Socialists would later see in Nietzsche a kindred spirit, so too did the early Zionists. The role his writings played in shaping modern understanding of religion, atheism, epistemology, literature, and popular culture and art is immeasurable And of course, any mention of popular culture and art leads to music.
Perhaps Nietzsche’s most famous writing is the novel Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) in which the life of Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, serves a vehicle for expression of Nietzschean philosophy -- or so I am told. In my defense, however, many people far more clever than I too find Also Sprach Zarathustra unreadable. Harold Bloom famously described the novel not only unreadable, but a "a gorgeous disaster." Still, many readers, both then and now, find the work remarkably inspiring. Take, for example Richard Strauss, who after reading Also Sprach Zarathustra, found within the inspiration to compose what is arguable his most famous Tondichtung (tone poem). Sharing the name of the novel which inspired it, Also Sprach Zarathustra might be best known to modern audiences through the use of its opening fanfare by Elvis Presley or its inclusion in the soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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