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As I understand from the text, one of the reasons for the decline of greek tragedy (according to Nietzsche) is the influence of Socrates's dialectical work.

Socratic maxim goes like -

Virtue is knowledge, all sins arise from ignorance, the virtuous man is the happy man.

It sounds like a strong argument for the Apollonian nature of art, which I believe Nietzsche was in support of. Throughout the book "The Birth of Tragedy", it seems that he favours the Dionysus over the Apollonian nature. But the argument at the beginning of the book was a balance between the both. Am I understanding his stance correctly? Could someone help me out?

vijayprasanna13
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    "Apolline" ? Mybe [Apollonian (vs Dionysian)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonian_and_Dionysian): "Nietzsche's aesthetic usage of the concepts, which was later developed philosophically, first appeared in his 1872 book *The Birth of Tragedy*. His major premise here was that the fusion of Dionysian and Apollonian "artistic impulses". Nietzsche is adamant that the works of Aeschylus and Sophocles represent the apex of artistic creation, the true realization of tragedy; it is with Euripides that tragedy begins its downfall. 1/2 – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Feb 25 '20 at 07:46
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    Nietzsche objects to Euripides's use of Socratic rationalism (the *dialectic*) in his tragedies, claiming that the infusion of ethics and reason robs tragedy of its foundation, namely the fragile balance of the Dionysian and Apollonian." 2/2 – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Feb 25 '20 at 07:49
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    See also [this post](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/14238/why-is-nietzsche-so-against-socrates) regarding N's views about Socrates. – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Feb 26 '20 at 14:29
  • This is very insightful. Nietzsche's frequent use of Socrates as a stand-in for Plato was something that I had not thought of. Thanks a lot, Mauro! For suggesting edits and helping me with resources. – vijayprasanna13 Feb 28 '20 at 03:45
  • You are welcome :-) – Mauro ALLEGRANZA Feb 28 '20 at 06:59

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