NIETZSCHE.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Three polemics responding to Nietzsche's first book. First editions of three key entries in the controversy over Nietzsche's first book, a dispute which damaged his academic reputation, confirmed his early Wagnerian allegiance, and made his name in the German cultural scene. Both authors had known Nietzsche in his youth, yet each offered a completely different analysis of his capacities, methods, and intentions.Die Geburt der Tragodie (The Birth of Tragedy), Nietzsche's first book, outlined an analysis of ancient tragedy that "fell outside of every known convention in classical studies" (Porter, p. 74). For Nietzsche, Socratic philosophy had killed Greek tragedy, and Wagner was the man to revive it in modern Germany. For many, this exposed a dangerous rift between Western tradition and the subversive followers of Schopenhauer and Wagner.Objections were first expressed by Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848-1931) in the Zukunftsphilologie (Future Philology). Although Wilamowitz had been a fellow student with Nietzsche, his response was a vitriolic demolition of Nietzsche's style, logic, and research.Wagner defended Nietzsche, but his argument unwittingly bolstered Wilamowitz's claim that the Geburt was not intended for the academic establishment. Nietzsche persuaded Erwin Rohde (1845-1898) - another old schoolmate - to conduct his defence. The Afterphilologie (False Philology) which was shaped by suggestions from Nietzsche, answers Wilamowitz in kind: exposing his own lac

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