The Death of Tragedy: Examining Nietzsche’s Return to the Greeks

In what follows, I will demonstrate how necessary the balance between Apollo and Dionysus is, how it exists in tragedy, and how it is destroyed. In my first chapter, I will discuss the Apolline and Dionysian powers, giving some background on Apollo and Dionysus. I will then explore the struggle between the two powers, noting the specific role of the Silenic wisdom. In the second chapter, I will examine several tragedies in light of these two powers, culminating in a discussion of Euripides’ Bacchae. This discussion will demonstrate how the Apolline and Dionysiac powers were at work on the tragic stage, how they were balanced, and how that balance was destroyed