theme The failed, despairing types who gather in Zarathustra's cave in Part IV: bridges, not the goal; they are not the Superman.
“Yea, into the evil!” cried the youth. “How is it possible that thou hast discovered my soul?” Zarathustra smiled, and said: “Many a soul one will never discover, unless one first invent it.” “Yea, into the evil!” cried…
He is an early sketch of the failed climber: contemptuous, changeable, ashamed and tired on the height.
Read in the book →Here the youth was silent. And Zarathustra contemplated the tree beside which they stood, and spake thus: “This tree standeth lonely here on the hills; it hath grown up high above man and beast. And if it wanted to…
The youth recognises himself in the tree and confesses that envy of Zarathustra has destroyed him.
Read in the book →But by my love and hope I conjure thee: cast not away the hero in thy soul! Maintain holy thy highest hope!
The closing charge to the youth is to keep the hero in his soul rather than sink into pleasure and scorn.
Read in the book →Especially the human world, the human sea:—towards IT do I now throw out my golden angle-rod and say: Open up, thou human abyss! Open up, and throw unto me thy fish and shining crabs! With my best bait shall I allure to…
The 'human fish' he hopes to catch anticipate the higher men who will come to his cave.
Read in the book →Zarathustra was silent thereupon, confused and staggered; at last he asked, like one who hesitateth in himself: “And who is it that there calleth me?” “But thou knowest it, certainly,” answered the soothsayer warmly,…
The higher man is introduced as the one whose distress calls Zarathustra down.
Read in the book →“Nay! Nay! Three times Nay!” exclaimed he with a strong voice, and stroked his beard—“THAT do I know better! There are still Happy Isles!
He resolves to seek the higher man in the forest, in his own domain.
Read in the book →Ere Zarathustra had been an hour on his way in the mountains and forests, he saw all at once a strange procession. Right on the path which he was about to descend came two kings walking, bedecked with crowns and purple…
The two kings, who are on their way to seek the higher man, are the first of the higher men to appear in Part IV.
Read in the book →Immediately thereupon, Zarathustra, who had opened ears and eyes to this talk, rose from his hiding-place, advanced towards the kings, and thus began: “He who hearkeneth unto you, he who gladly hearkeneth unto you, is…
The kings say they are carrying the ass as a gift to a man higher than themselves, and Zarathustra says he is seeking that same man.
Read in the book →—When the kings thus discoursed and talked eagerly of the happiness of their fathers, there came upon Zarathustra no little desire to mock at their eagerness: for evidently they were very peaceable kings whom he saw…
Zarathustra points the higher men toward his cave, where they will gather, and says they must wait there.
Read in the book →—“As the evidence indicateth,” broke in Zarathustra; for still was the blood flowing down on the naked arm of the conscientious one. For there had ten leeches bitten into it. “O thou strange fellow, how much doth this…
The conscientious one is the first of the figures Zarathustra invites to his cave in Part IV.
Read in the book →When however Zarathustra had gone round a rock, then saw he on the same path, not far below him, a man who threw his limbs about like a maniac, and at last tumbled to the ground on his belly. “Halt!” said then…
Zarathustra runs to the man he takes to be the higher man behind the cry of distress.
Read in the book →—Here, however, Zarathustra could no longer restrain himself; he took his staff and struck the wailer with all his might. “Stop this,” cried he to him with wrathful laughter, “stop this, thou stage-player! Thou false…
The man Zarathustra hoped to help turns out to be a counterfeit, an actor of distress.
Read in the book →“Thou mayest have deceived subtler ones than I,” said Zarathustra sternly. “I am not on my guard against deceivers; I HAVE TO BE without precaution: so willeth my lot. Thou, however,—MUST deceive: so far do I know thee!…
The magician's honest collapse, 'I am not great', is the one genuine moment Zarathustra honours.
Read in the book →I SEEK ZARATHUSTRA.
The magician names his search for a great, honest man, the longing of the higher men.
Read in the book →—And here there arose a long silence between them: Zarathustra, however, became profoundly absorbed in thought, so that he shut his eyes. But afterwards coming back to the situation, he grasped the hand of the magician,…
He sends the magician to his cave but says he has yet to see a great man.
Read in the book →Not long, however, after Zarathustra had freed himself from the magician, he again saw a person sitting beside the path which he followed, namely a tall, black man, with a haggard, pale countenance: THIS MAN grieved him…
Another of the failed, despairing types Zarathustra meets on his way to the cave, here a priest in disguised affliction.
Read in the book →“Whoever thou art, thou traveller,” said he, “help a strayed one, a seeker, an old man, who may here easily come to grief! The world here is strange to me, and remote; wild beasts also did I hear howling; and he who…
He is a masterless, unfree servant who now seeks Zarathustra, the most pious of the unbelievers.
Read in the book →“Amen! So shall it be!” said Zarathustra, with great astonishment; “up thither leadeth the way, there lieth the cave of Zarathustra. Gladly, forsooth, would I conduct thee thither myself, thou venerable one; for I love…
He sends another despairing seeker to his cave, where the higher men will gather.
Read in the book →Thus spake Zarathustra and was about to go; but the nondescript grasped at a corner of his garment and began anew to gurgle and seek for words. “Stay,” said he at last— —“Stay! Do not pass by! I have divined what axe it…
He is the first of the failed, self-exiled types Zarathustra will meet on the way to his cave.
Read in the book →Thus spake the ugliest man. Zarathustra however got up, and prepared to go on: for he felt frozen to the very bowels. “Thou nondescript,” said he, “thou warnedst me against thy path. As thanks for it I praise mine to…
The ugliest man is invited toward the cave where the higher men will gather.
Read in the book →“How poor indeed is man,” thought he in his heart, “how ugly, how wheezy, how full of hidden shame! They tell me that man loveth himself. Ah, how great must that self-love be! How much contempt is opposed to it! Even…
Zarathustra wonders whether this self-despiser is the higher man whose cry he heard.
Read in the book →“Forgive me,” answered the shadow, “that it is I; and if I please thee not—well, O Zarathustra! therein do I admire thee and thy good taste. A wanderer am I, who have walked long at thy heels; always on the way, but…
The shadow is a failed type, a free spirit who followed Zarathustra into every prohibition and was left worn out.
Read in the book →Too much hath become clear unto me: now it doth not concern me any more. Nothing liveth any longer that I love,—how should I still love myself? ‘To live as I incline, or not to live at all’: so do I wish; so wisheth…
The shadow shows the despairing wanderer who has lost his goal and himself.
Read in the book →Thus spake the shadow, and Zarathustra’s countenance lengthened at his words. “Thou art my shadow!” said he at last sadly. “Thy danger is not small, thou free spirit and wanderer! Thou hast had a bad day: see that a…
Zarathustra offers the lost wanderer a home in his cave, though he runs on alone.
Read in the book →It was late in the afternoon only when Zarathustra, after long useless searching and strolling about, again came home to his cave. When, however, he stood over against it, not more than twenty paces therefrom, the thing…
The despairing guests Zarathustra has searched for all day are revealed gathered in his cave.
Read in the book →“Ye despairing ones! Ye strange ones! So it was YOUR cry of distress that I heard? And now do I know also where he is to be sought, whom I have sought for in vain to-day: THE HIGHER MAN—: —In mine own cave sitteth he,…
He recognises the despairing guests as the higher man he sought, drawn by his own lure-calls.
Read in the book →“O Zarathustra, by the way in which thou hast given us thy hand and thy greeting, we recognise thee as Zarathustra. Thou hast humbled thyself before us; almost hast thou hurt our reverence—: —Who however could have…
The king speaks for the guests, who see in Zarathustra's lofty, strong will a refreshment for the despairing.
Read in the book →Ye are only bridges: may higher ones pass over upon you!
Zarathustra tells the guests they are neither strong nor well-born enough to be his warriors or heirs.
Read in the book →Thus spake Zarathustra, and stopped suddenly in his discourse: for his longing came over him, and he closed his eyes and his mouth, because of the agitation of his heart. And all his guests also were silent, and stood…
The guests stand confounded while only the soothsayer gestures.
Read in the book →On this occasion, when the soothsayer was longing for wine, it happened that the king on the left, the silent one, also found expression for once. “WE took care,” said he, “about wine, I, along with my brother the king…
The guests are made to share in the work of the meal; even kings must help cook.
Read in the book →Thus spake Zarathustra; the king on the right however answered and said: “Strange! Did one ever hear such sensible things out of the mouth of a wise man? And verily, it is the strangest thing in a wise man, if over and…
The meal begins, and the talk turns wholly to the higher man, the theme of the Part.
Read in the book →When I came unto men for the first time, then did I commit the anchorite folly, the great folly: I appeared on the market-place. And when I spake unto all, I spake unto none. In the evening, however, rope-dancers were…
Zarathustra opens his address to the higher men by telling them what he learned from his own folly in the market-place.
Read in the book →The most careful ask to-day: “How is man to be maintained?” Zarathustra however asketh, as the first and only one: “How is man to be SURPASSED?” The Superman, I have at heart; THAT is the first and only thing to me—and…
The higher men are loved for their despising and despair, which keep them from submitting.
Read in the book →Ye higher men, think ye that I am here to put right what ye have put wrong? Or that I wished henceforth to make snugger couches for you sufferers? Or show you restless, miswandering, misclimbing ones, new and easier…
Zarathustra refuses to heal or ease the higher men, saying they do not yet suffer enough.
Read in the book →Learn to laugh at yourselves, as ye ought to laugh!
The higher men are all failures, but in them man's future strives and struggles.
Read in the book →Do like unto the wind when it rusheth forth from its mountain-caves: unto its own piping will it dance; the seas tremble and leap under its footsteps. That which giveth wings to asses, that which milketh the lionesses:—…
Their chief flaw is that they have not learned to dance beyond themselves, and Zarathustra casts the crown to them.
Read in the book →Hardly, however, had Zarathustra left the cave when the old magician got up, looked cunningly about him, and said: “He is gone! And already, ye higher men—let me tickle you with this complimentary and flattering name,…
The magician names the company's titles (free spirits, penitents of the spirit, great longers) and says his evil spirit favours all who suffer from the great loathing.
Read in the book →Thus sang the magician; and all who were present went like birds unawares into the net of his artful and melancholy voluptuousness. Only the spiritually conscientious one had not been caught: he at once snatched the…
All the assembled higher men fall unawares into the magician's net, which shows how easily they are captured.
Read in the book →“Thou praisest me,” replied the conscientious one, “in that thou separatest me from thyself; very well! But, ye others, what do I see? Ye still sit there, all of you, with lusting eyes—: Ye free spirits, whither hath…
The conscientious one says the higher men long for danger and for misleaders, and that this differs from his own search for security.
Read in the book →“ZARATHUSTRA!” cried all of them there assembled, as if with one voice, and burst out at the same time into a great laughter; there arose, however, from them as it were a heavy cloud. Even the magician laughed, and said…
The higher men cheer the magician, so their wavering is shown again.
Read in the book →“Go not away!” said then the wanderer who called himself Zarathustra’s shadow, “abide with us—otherwise the old gloomy affliction might again fall upon us. Now hath that old magician given us of his worst for our good,…
The shadow speaks for the gathered guests, who fear relapsing into gloom and melancholy as soon as Zarathustra leaves them.
Read in the book →THE DESERTS GROW: WOE HIM WHO DOTH THEM HIDE! —Ha! Solemnly! In effect solemnly! A worthy beginning! Afric manner, solemnly! Of a lion worthy, Or perhaps of a virtuous howl-monkey— —But it’s naught to you, Ye friendly…
The European wanderer, seated among the maidens, shows the homeless free spirit who has lost his goal and seeks a comfortable oasis.
Read in the book →After the song of the wanderer and shadow, the cave became all at once full of noise and laughter: and since the assembled guests all spake simultaneously, and even the ass, encouraged thereby, no longer remained…
The higher men are shown only half-healed: they laugh, but not with Zarathustra's laughter.
Read in the book →All on a sudden however, Zarathustra’s ear was frightened: for the cave which had hitherto been full of noise and laughter, became all at once still as death;—his nose, however, smelt a sweet-scented vapour and…
The higher men relapse into piety and show they have not yet outgrown their need for a god.
Read in the book →At this place in the litany, however, Zarathustra could no longer control himself; he himself cried out YE-A, louder even than the ass, and sprang into the midst of his maddened guests. “Whatever are you about, ye…
The higher men show themselves to be only bridges, falling back into old piety as soon as they are left to themselves.
Read in the book →And once more began Zarathustra to speak. “O my new friends,” said he,— “ye strange ones, ye higher men, how well do ye now please me,— —Since ye have again become joyful! Ye have, verily, all blossomed forth: it…
He is pleased that the higher men have blossomed and become joyful again.
Read in the book →Meanwhile one after another had gone out into the open air, and into the cool, thoughtful night; Zarathustra himself, however, led the ugliest man by the hand, that he might show him his night-world, and the great round…
The higher men, comforted and transformed, thank Zarathustra as the cause of their convalescence.
Read in the book →Ye higher men, it is getting on to midnight: then will I say something into your ears, as that old clock-bell saith it into mine ear,— —As mysteriously, as frightfully, and as cordially as that midnight clock-bell…
Zarathustra tells the higher men they have not flown high enough: 'a leg is not a wing'.
Read in the book →All joy wanteth the eternity of all things, it wanteth honey, it wanteth lees, it wanteth drunken midnight, it wanteth graves, it wanteth grave-tears’ consolation, it wanteth gilded evening-red— —WHAT doth not joy want!…
Joy longs for the higher men's woe: for failures longs all eternal joy.
Read in the book →In the morning, however, after this night, Zarathustra jumped up from his couch, and, having girded his loins, he came out of his cave glowing and strong, like a morning sun coming out of gloomy mountains. “Thou great…
Zarathustra sees the sleeping guests as not his proper companions; they lack the obedient ear.
Read in the book →All this went on for a long time, or a short time: for properly speaking, there is NO time on earth for such things—. Meanwhile, however, the higher men had awakened in Zarathustra’s cave, and marshalled themselves for…
The higher men flee in fright from the lion, showing they are not the ones to come.
Read in the book →“FELLOW-SUFFERING! FELLOW-SUFFERING WITH THE HIGHER MEN!” he cried out, and his countenance changed into brass.
Their cry of distress was the temptation meant to lure him from his work.
Read in the book →This is an experiment in interactive reading, and in using AI to help you grow. Thus Spake Zarathustra is notoriously difficult for a modern reader; yet taken as a set of mental exercises, it is guaranteed to transform your thinking by the time you reach the end. Along the way you will have help from the companion, who is always beside the book.
Do you accept the challenge?
What the critics said
Mencken describes Zarathustra as a remote sage attended by a snake and an eagle whose discourses recall the biblical rhapsodists, and argues that toward the end Nietzsche indulges in blasphemy, with a parody of the last supper, the disciples' worship of a jackass, and Wagner and other enemies appearing thinly veiled as buffoons.
Treats the company of Part IV as Zarathustra's backsliding disciples.
Mencken argues that Nietzsche never gave a definite picture of the superman and that commentators who take him as a 'blond beast' brute are wrong, as the three metamorphoses show: the camel is man bearing morality, the lion is the higher man who casts it off and frees the will to power, and the child, innocent and ideally adapted, is the superman.
Treats the higher man as the lion, a bridge between man and superman.
Ludovici argues that in weighing voluptuousness, lust of power and selfishness Nietzsche sought to give healthy men back innocence and a clean conscience in their desires, not to license the vulgar or the weak, and that his teaching is esoteric, meant to save higher men from compromising their genius with traditional values.
Beyond good and evil is meant only to free higher men for greatness.
Ludovici argues that depriving a higher man of his so-called wickedness may do violence to the greatest in him, and that the noblest wickedness, that of courage and determination, is vanishing under slave-moralities, which is why Nietzsche cried that man's baddest is so small and that to be brave is good.
Higher men's wholeness is threatened by lopping off their evil.
Ludovici argues that Part IV avows that all of Nietzsche's philosophy was laid at the feet of higher men: he did not seek to save the world but to determine who should be its master, freeing higher men to reach their zenith, and his strongest temptation to pity is their cry for help in a dangerous modern environment.
The whole philosophy is aimed at saving and freeing higher men.
Ludovici defends the maxim 'Become what thou art' by insisting that Nietzsche's teaching is esoteric, a law only for his own: applied to all it would be vicious, but humanity needs its highest individuals to attain full development, since only through its heroes is the race led upward.
The maxim is meant for the highest individuals alone.
Ludovici identifies the soothsayer of 'The Cry of Distress' with Schopenhauer, whose pessimistic ethics place pity highest, and reads the scene as Schopenhauer tempting Nietzsche to his last sin through his deepest sentiment, sympathy for higher men.
The tempting cry is the cry of the higher man.
Ludovici reads the conscientious in spirit as the honest scientific specialist, like Darwin, who masters a hand's breadth of knowledge and is rigorous and blind beyond it, a higher man whom Zarathustra respects.
The specialist is counted among the higher men to be saved.
Ludovici argues that the magician is Wagner, recounting Nietzsche's youthful idealisation of him and the bitter break, and reads the dialogue as exposing what Nietzsche came to loathe in Wagner: his histrionics, vanity, equivocation and falseness, though Zarathustra still treats him as a higher man broken by modern values.
The artist as a higher man broken by modern values.
Ludovici reads the ugliest man as the murderer of God by an atheism of the great ugly man who reveres beauty: an omniscient God's pity, lacking shame and reverence, could not be evaded and so must not exist; Zarathustra honours his self-contempt as the mark of a great despiser.
The great despiser is honoured as a higher man.
Ludovici reads the shadow as the bold, wayward free spirit who follows every daring movement of his age until he loses all goal and home, cries 'Nothing is true; all is permitted', and becomes wreckage, prone to being captured by a narrow faith.
The bravest and most broad-minded men of the day as a failed type.
Ludovici holds that Zarathustra's greeting confirms his thesis that the philosophy aims to give higher men the great hope, but harshly: Nietzsche would be a hard bed to higher men, making them harder, not easing their way.
Higher men are to be hardened, not comforted.
Ludovici calls Nietzsche's principle that the higher the type the seldomer it succeeds very important: the most deplorable waste is among higher individuals, because highly organised beings rarely reach full development, so the blind will to power in nature needs direction by man.
Explains why higher men so often fail.
Ludovici reads the higher men's worship of the ass as a warning that thinkers who regain confidence in believing as such fall victim to the narrowest superstitions, alluding to pagan charges that Christians were ass-worshippers and to medieval asinaria festa.
The convalescent higher men misuse their restored faith.
Ludovici reads 'The Sign' as Nietzsche's final dissociation from the higher men: the lion and doves show that he unites great power and tenderness and has mastered the terrible in nature, for which the higher men are unready, and he turns from fellow-suffering to his work and the great noonday.
Higher men flee the lion and are left behind.