Mediterranean Toponyms in Nietzsche’s Works

Članak polazi od Nietzscheovog stava da kulturalni koncept Europe ne uključuje cijelu geografsku Europu, nego samo one nacije i nacionalne manjine koje imaju zajedničku prošlost u Grčkoj, Rimu, judaizmu i kršćanstvu. Između brojnih toponima koji reprezentiraju takav koncept, a koji su svi unutar mediteranskog civilizacijskog i kulturnog kruga, za predmet svoje analize izabrao sam Atenu i Rim. Cilj mi je pokazati da u Europi koja, prema Nietzscheovom mišljenju, hoće postati jedno, ti gradovi reprezentiraju klasične ideale kojima Europa teži, ali i proturječja koja leže u njenom temelju. Prema Nietzscheu, postoje dvije Atene i dva Rima. Klasičnu Atenu simbolizira Periklo, a njeno propadanje Platon. Analogno tome, klasični Rim simbolizira Julije Cezar, a njegovu dekadenciju apostol Pavao kao utemeljitelj kršćanstva koje je srušilo Imperium Romanum. Apostol Pavao za Nietzschea je utjelovljenje svega što je u kršćanstvu loše i što je sudbinski odredilo našu civilizaciju od antike do moderne. On je, dakle, čak i više nego Sokrat, pokretač dekadencije veličanstvene grčke kulture i svih vrlina utjelovljenih u Rimskom Carstvu, neprijatelj mudrosti i fanatični svećenik nošen ressentimentom prema svim vrijednostima koje uzdižu život. Dekadencija moderne stoga, za Nietzschea, počinje već sa svetim Pavlom. Iako sam se ograničio na dva grada i nekoliko povijesnih ličnosti, smatram da je to primjeren način cjelovitog promišljanja Nietzscheovog filozofskog pozicioniranja Mediterana kao ishodišnog prostora europske povijesti.The paper starts from Nietzsche’s stance that the cultural concept of Europe does not include the whole of Europe in the geographic sense, but only those nations and minorities which share the common past in ancient Greece, Rome, Judaism, and Christianity. Among numerous toponyms representing such a concept, all of which belong to the Mediterranean civilization and cultural circle, I have chosen Athens and Rome as subjects of my analysis. My goal is to show that in Europe which, according to Nietzsche, aspires to become united, those cities represent both the classical ideals Europe is trying to reach and the contradictions lying in its foundation. According to Nietzsche, there are two Athens’ and two Romes. The classical Athens is symbolized by Pericles, and its decline by Plato. Analogous to this, the classical Rome is symbolized by Julius Caesar, and its decadence by the apostle Paul as the founder of Christianity which destroyed the Imperium Romanum. The apostle Paul is, for Nietzsche, the embodiment of everything bad in Christianity and of those things which fatefully determined our civilization from the ancient times to modernism. Therefore, it is he, even more than Socrates, who started the decadence of the magnificent Greek culture and of all the virtues embodied in the Roman Empire, the enemy of wisdom and the fanatic priest equipped with ressentiment for all the values that elevate life. So, the decadence of modernism, for Nietzsche, begins with St. Paul. Although I have limited this paper to two cities and few historical figures, I believe that it is an appropriate way of comprehensive consideration of Nietzsche’s philosophical positioning of Mediterranean as the starting place of European history