The Sublime as Universality

In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche dichotomized human nature into two basic

elements; the Apollinian and Dionysian. Each of these elements consist of distinct

properties that differentiate them from each other and allows for a complimentary utility

in the creation of tragedy. In artistic terms, the Apollinian represents the Form of

Expression while the Dionysian represents the Source of Expression. The Apollinian is

image that gives form to, or expresses, Dionysian raw emotion. The Apollinian structures

Dionysian chaos. The Apollinian is the dream. The Dionysian is the unfathomable sea of

unconsciousness that provides the raw material for the dream, the subject of dream

imagery. The Apollinian is the endless variety of form required to express the infinite

aspects of the Dionysian or Primal Unity. In tragedy, the actors and their machinations

provide the Apollinian, the images/ideas that serve to channel the universals of the

Dionysian. Through the progression of events presented on stage in Apollinian imagery,

the tragedy ultimately allows the spectator to experience the ecstasy of Primal Unity as

the specific images are understood to be universals and these universals are identified

with on a universal, rather than individual, level. In the Greek tragedy, Apollinian

imagery becomes a perfect channel for the Dionysian, and the Dionysian vanquishes the

Apollinian in its aspect of separateness.

This follows from the consideration of an essential element of the Apollinian,

Schopenhauer’s Principle of Individuation (PI). The PI is separateness or individuality;

the human condition derived through the intellect. I and you, the concepts of self and

otherness, are part of the Apollinian. Consciousness of self is the Apollinian condition.

The absence of this consciousness is the Dionysian condition. Nietzsche subverts the
Apollinian to the Dionysian. The individual remains ever a part of the whole, the

Apollinian is the illusion of separateness. The purpose of the tragedy is to free the

individual from his individuality, to dispel the Apollinian illusion of separateness so that

one may experience primal unity. At the climax of the tragedy, the Dionysian breaks the

tethers of Apollinian imagery as specific images are realized to be universals. The

shadows on the wall are dispelled by bright sunlight meeting the naked eye. One can no

longer maintain their own particular interpretation of an image because the image has

now become a universal, an interpretation shared by all. Apollinian individuality is

necessarily destroyed so that one can experience the ecstasy of Primal Oneness.

The destruction of the Apollinian concept of self is and the ensuing experience of

Primal Unity may be the goal of the tragedy, but tragedy is not characterized by a battle

between opposing forces. Both Apollinian and Dionysian must be present for tragedy but

instead of conflicting, they complement each other, ultimately achieving perfect unity.

Further, any artistic phenomenon requires the complementary presence of both Apollinian

and Dionysian. The Apollinian extreme represented by Doric architecture is purely form

without aesthetic inflection, in the absence of the Dionysian there is no art. However, it is

also true that without the Apollinian to provide form for the chaos of the Dionysian, there

can be no art. With both Apollinian and Dionysian present, the quality of the artistic

phenomenon can be judged based upon the intensity of the Dionysian perceived through

the imagery of the artwork. For Nietzsche, tragedy is the ultimate form of artistic

expression because tragedy fully elicits the experience of the Dionysian. The nature of

the Apollinian in tragedy is to allow for the imagery to gain such transparency that
unfiltered Primal Unity is experienced. The perfect unity of the Apollinian and Dionysian

is achieved with the experience of primal unity and ecstasy as the result.

However, this ecstasy is not without form. The Apollinian is ever present even in

the experience of the Dionysian. The tragic Dionysian ecstasy is not the same chaotic

ecstasy experienced by the drunken reveler. Rather, it is an experience of the sublime.

Tragedy is about suffering, and suffering cannot exist without individuation.

Experiencing the suffering of the noble human ultimately leads us to the realization of the

sublime. Nietzsche uses the example of the Oedipus to illustrate this point.

Through his tremendous suffering, (he) spreads a magical power of blessing that remains

effective even beyond his decease. The noble human being does not sin…though every

law, every natural order, even the moral world may perish through his actions, his actions

also produce a higher magical circle of effects which found a new world on the ruins of

the old one that has been overthrown. (p. 68)

The production of this “magical circle of effects” is the experience of the sublime. The

spectators of the tragedy experience Oedipus’s tremendous suffering, ultimately forcing

them to merge with the universal of the noble human, in essence they become this

universal, giving up their individuality in the process. Their suffering ultimately produces

a magical blessing, a harmonious new world of ecstatic Dionysian unity.