Aristophanes#
Summary#
Nietzsche invokes Aristophanes as the embodiment of a lively, irreverent tempo in thought and style that Germans are incapable of rendering in translation. He calls Aristophanes a “transfiguring, complementary genius” for whose sake one pardons all Hellenism for having existed, noting significantly that Plato kept a book of Aristophanes under his pillow at his deathbed rather than any sacred or philosophical text. Nietzsche also invokes Aristophanes as an oath (“by Saint Aristophanes!”) when expressing alarm at women who speak with scientific pretension about their own nature.