Incipit Parodia/Incipit Tragoedia: A Commentary On Part One Of Also Sorach Zarathurstra

Abstract

This essay is a commentary on Part One of Thus Spake Zarathustra. It argues that the concept of the overman which develops in Part One must be understood in relation to the parodistic and tragic elements of the text. In particular, the claim is advanced that Zarathustra's notion of the overman derives from a tragic awareness unavailable to nineteenth century humanism.