Minotaur#
Summary#
Nietzsche invokes the Minotaur as a metaphor for the dangers of intellectual independence, describing conscience as a beast that tears apart those who enter the labyrinth of autonomous thought. The one who attempts independence without being obliged to do so enters a maze that multiplies the dangers of life a thousandfold, risking isolation and destruction by this inner monster. Once such a person comes to grief, they are beyond the comprehension and sympathy of ordinary humanity.