Apollonian and Dionysian
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| The '''Apollonian and Dionysian''' is a [[philosophical]] and [[literary]] [[concept]], or [[dichotomy]], based on certain features of [[ancient]] [[Greek mythology]]. Several [[Western culture|Western]] philosophical and literary figures have invoked this dichotomy in critical and creative works, including [[Plutarch]], [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Ruth Benedict]], [[Thomas Mann]] and [[cultural critic]] [[Camille Paglia]]. | The '''Apollonian and Dionysian''' is a [[philosophical]] and [[literary]] [[concept]], or [[dichotomy]], based on certain features of [[ancient]] [[Greek mythology]]. Several [[Western culture|Western]] philosophical and literary figures have invoked this dichotomy in critical and creative works, including [[Plutarch]], [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Ruth Benedict]], [[Thomas Mann]] and [[cultural critic]] [[Camille Paglia]]. | ||
| - | In Greek mythology, [[Apollo]] and [[Dionysus]] are both [[son of God|sons]] of [[Zeus]]. Apollo is the [[solar deity|god of the Sun]], lightness, music, and [[poetry]], while Dionysus is the god of [[wine]], [[ecstasy]], and [[intoxication]]. In the modern literary usage of the concept, the contrast between Apollo and Dionysus symbolizes principles of [[individualism]] versus [[wholeness]], [[light]] versus [[darkness]], or [[civilization]] versus [[primal nature]]. The ancient Greeks did not consider the two [[polytheism|god]]s as opposites or rivals. | + | In Greek mythology, [[Apollo]] and [[Dionysus]] are both [[son of God|sons]] of [[Zeus]]. Apollo is the [[solar deity|god of the Sun]], lightness, music, and [[poetry]], while Dionysus is the [[god of wine]], [[ecstasy]], and [[intoxication]]. In the modern literary usage of the concept, the contrast between Apollo and Dionysus symbolizes principles of [[individualism]] versus [[wholeness]], [[light]] versus [[darkness]], or [[civilization]] versus [[primal nature]]. The ancient Greeks did not consider the two [[polytheism|god]]s as opposites or rivals. |
| == German philosophy == | == German philosophy == | ||
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The Apollonian and Dionysian is a philosophical and literary concept, or dichotomy, based on certain features of ancient Greek mythology. Several Western philosophical and literary figures have invoked this dichotomy in critical and creative works, including Plutarch, Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert A. Heinlein, Ruth Benedict, Thomas Mann and cultural critic Camille Paglia.
In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus are both sons of Zeus. Apollo is the god of the Sun, lightness, music, and poetry, while Dionysus is the god of wine, ecstasy, and intoxication. In the modern literary usage of the concept, the contrast between Apollo and Dionysus symbolizes principles of individualism versus wholeness, light versus darkness, or civilization versus primal nature. The ancient Greeks did not consider the two gods as opposites or rivals.
German philosophy
Although the use of the concepts of Apollonian and Dionysian is famously related to Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy, the terms were used before him in Prussia. The poet Hölderlin used it, while Winckelmann talked of Bacchus, the god of wine.
Nietzsche's usage
Nietzsche's aesthetic usage of the concepts, which was later developed philosophically, began with his book The Birth of Tragedy. In this work, he stated that a fusion of Dionysian and Apollonian "Kunsttriebe" (artistic impulses) is dramatic art's (tragedy's) main prerequisite and that this has essentially not been achieved since ancient Greek tragedy. Nietzsche emphasizes that the works of Aeschylus, above all, and also Sophocles represent the summit of artistic creation, the true realization of tragedy; it is with Euripides, he states, that tragedy begins its "Untergang" (literally "going under," meaning decline, deterioration, downfall, death). Nietzsche objects to Euripides' utilization of Socratic rationalism in his tragedies, claiming that the infusion of ethics and reason in tragedy robs it of its foundation, namely the fragile balance of the Dionysian and Apollonian.
Apollo (Apollonian or Apollinian): the dream state, principium individuationis (principle of individuation), plastic (visual) arts, beauty, clarity, stint to formed boundaries, individuality, celebration of appearance/illusion, human beings as artists (or media of art's manifestation), self-control, perfection, exhaustion of possibilities, creation.
Dionysus (Dionysian): intoxication, celebration of nature, instinctual, intuitive, pertaining to the sensation of pleasure or pain, individuality dissolved and hence destroyed, wholeness of existence, orgiastic passion, dissolution of all boundaries, excess, human being(s) as the work and glorification of art, destruction.
