The Birth of Tragedy

The Birth of Tragedy, book by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, first published in 1872 as Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik. A speculative rather than exegetical work, The Birth of Tragedy examines the origins and development of poetry, specifically Greek tragedy. Nietzsche argues that Greek tragedy arose out of the fusion of what he termed Apollonian and Dionysian elements—the former representing measure, restraint, and harmony and the latter unbridled passion—and that Socratic rationalism and optimism spelled the death of Greek tragedy. The final part of the book is a rhapsody on the rebirth of tragedy from the spirit of Richard Wagner’s music. Greeted by stony silence at first, the book became the object of heated controversy for those who mistook it for a conventional work of classical scholarship. It remains a classic in the history of aesthetics.