Date of Award
8-8-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Jessica Berry
Second Advisor
Greg Moore
Third Advisor
Tim O'Keefe
Abstract
In this thesis, I focus on two undervalued aspects of Nietzsche’s admiration of the ancient Greeks: the healthy psychology of the Greeks, and the origins of this health in Homeric poetry. I argue that Homer was a cultural physician for the ancient Greeks and is responsible for creating a new, healthy set of values through his epic poetry. In turn, these Homeric values brought Greece into its “tragic age”—a time during which Greek culture was “the highest authority for what we may term cultural health” (PTAG 1). Moreover, Homer’s success as a cultural physician comes from his ability to lie poetically lie. So, I also give an account of how Nietzsche thinks this kind of lying is psychologically possible through what I call Nietzschean dissimulation.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/10230215
Recommended Citation
Van Fossen, Joel A., "On Nietzsche, Homer, and Dissimulation." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2017.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/10230215