~ 1872 ~
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music is a work of dramatic theory in which Friedrich Nietzsche examines the history of the tragic form and introduces an intellectual dichotomy between the Dionysian and Apollonian. Nietzsche argues that the tragedy of Ancient Greece is the highest form of art due to its combination of both Apollonian and Dionysian elements into one seamless whole. However, tragedy died after the time of Aeschylus and Sophocles with the coming of rationality represented by Socrates. Nietzsche believes that the balance of Dionysian and Apollonian in modern art can be attained through the operas of Richard Wagner in a rebirth of tragedy.