| In The Birth of Tragedy,Nietzsche endows the Apollonian and the Dionysian with a new spiritual connotation and at the same time discusses how these two impulses function in the process of the birth of tragedy,which provides a special angle to explore the two classical Greek tragedies by Sophocles,Antigone and Oedipus Rex,and meanwhile forms the theoretical cornerstone for this thesis.Through an intertextual and comparative reading of the two plays,a strong resonance between the theory by Nietzsche and the two works by Sophocles can be demonstrated,a deeper comprehension of the irreconcilable conflict in human psychological structure can be recognized,and the creativity and/or destruction that it brings can be learnt.This thesis is divided into three chapters.Chapter One focuses on the comparison of Antigone with other two protagonists as well as the Dionysian tendency of minor characters to illustrate the fierce conflict between the Apollonian and the Dionysian in Antigone and the powerful strength contained in the latter.Chapter Two lays emphasis on the characterization of Oedipus who combines the two impulses to expound the periodically occurring reconciliation of these two spiritual states in Oedipus Rex,and the similarities and differences of the main characters in the two plays are analyzed so that the outstanding writing skills of Sophocles can be recognized.The key issue of Chapter Three is the further exploration of the creativity and/or destruction guided by the duality of human nature in two plays and the sacred value and meaning of aesthetics are also achieved in the process.To sum up,the author tries to give an explanation to the issues that how the duality of human nature,which happens in Antigone and Oedipus Rex,shapes the tragedy from the perspective of the Apollonian and the Dionysian by Nietzsche,and at the same time hopes to provide a new understanding of the two plays and add something new into the study of the great tragedian Sophocles. |
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