Arthur Schopenhauer
Schopenhauer is a Germany philosopher who died about fifteen years after Nietzsche was born. Upon first reading his philosophical texts, Nietzsche was enthralled and subsequently highly influenced by the older man’s writings, especially as they related to human will. However, he eventually grew disillusioned and this collection includes an essay published in 1868 titled “On Schopenhauer” which outlines the reasons for this disillusionment.
Homer
The blind Homer is an ancient Greek poet who may or may not have actually existed and may or may not have actually written the two greatest epic poems of that civilization: The Iliad and The Odyssey. The collection includes an essay titled “Homer’s Contest” but the poet is referenced multiple times throughout Nietzsche’s body of work. He is also identified by the author as the ultimate symbolic incarnation of the “naïve artist” who clings to illusions of Olympian heroism.
Zarathustra
The title character of arguably what is Nietzsche’s most famous work is based on the pre-Christian Persian philosopher Zoroaster. He is the fella in charge of delivering Nietzsche’s most famous quote: God is dead. He is representative of Nietzsche’s foundational philosophic theorizing: the coming of the next step in the evolution of mankind, the Overman.
Richard Wagner
The great German composer—well, one of the many great German composers—is sort of the musical equivalent of Schopenhauer, except that Nietzsche not only new Wagner, but became very close friends. Unfortunately for Wagner, that friendship following the same path as his relationship with Schopenhauer, starting out strong, but ending with an excessive critique of everything bad about him. At least Schopenhauer managed to get off with just an essay. The Case of Wagner, on the other hand, is a book length indictment of the composer who is most readily identified with the German culture.
