In the reception of Nietzsche's thought, a curious detail has gone substantially unnoticed: Why did Nietzsche choose Zarathustra as his prophet of the eternal recurrence of the same? The historical character known by that name was actually a prophet, but his message had nothing to do with the idea of a circular time. So why exactly him? I think the answer was found by the great novelist Thomas Mann, who placed a clue in his Doktor Faustus (whose protagonist was widely inspired by Nietzsche): In my essay, I argue that there are good reasons to believe that Zarathustra was a kind of “reply” to St. Augustine's De civitate Dei, book XXI, and that this so far neglected connection gives us an important key to many of Thus Spoke Zarathustra's symbols.
Sopravvivere alla morte di Dio? Zarathustra, l'Anticristo e Faust
Mossa, Andrea
2014-01-01
Abstract
In the reception of Nietzsche's thought, a curious detail has gone substantially unnoticed: Why did Nietzsche choose Zarathustra as his prophet of the eternal recurrence of the same? The historical character known by that name was actually a prophet, but his message had nothing to do with the idea of a circular time. So why exactly him? I think the answer was found by the great novelist Thomas Mann, who placed a clue in his Doktor Faustus (whose protagonist was widely inspired by Nietzsche): In my essay, I argue that there are good reasons to believe that Zarathustra was a kind of “reply” to St. Augustine's De civitate Dei, book XXI, and that this so far neglected connection gives us an important key to many of Thus Spoke Zarathustra's symbols.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione
