universe. The problematics of encounter, in Nietzsche's formulation, are the platform for tragedy, as human beings test moral boundaries and implications through action.
Once we have comprehended the substance of the Prometheus myth--the imperative necessity of hubris for the titanic individual--we must realize the non-Apollonian character of this pessimistic idea. It is Apollo who tranquilizes the individual by drawing boundary lines, and who, by enjoining again and again the practice of self-knowledge, reminds him of the holy, universal norms (Nietzsche, Birth 65).
The tragic intersection between found reality and human action also (and uniquely) lends meaning to human experience, with the heroic individual actively extending knowledge and mastery of the universe. Consequences may be dire. Very well, suggests Nietzsche, but the continuous engagement of meaningful activity is important, whatever the grasp may turn out to be. One aspect of this is the experience of "a deep look into the horror of nature" (Birth of Tragedy 60), the awesome potentialities and limitations of human experience and the consequences of reaching for absolute understanding of them. For example, Oedipus's stubborn quest for knowledge of plague is dangerous much as incest is dangerous, "an unnatural crime, and [] whoever, in pride of knowledge, hurls nature into the abyss of destruction must himself experience nature's disintegration' (61). The aesthetic pleasure of tragedy lies in its metaphysical power to move and clarify the human connection by heightening the experience and perception of vulgar reality. Art is "raised up beside [nature, reality] in order to overcome it" (142).
In Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche develops themes explored in Birth of Tragedy, but less in terms of the individual than of culture and social structure. Dominating Genealogy of Morals is something very like impassioned social critique of the society that Nietzsche sees around ...