Nietzsche, Bernays e l’impossibilità di un’arte autonoma

This essay addresses the problem of Nietzsche’s debt to the pathological interpretation of tragic catharsis developed by philologist Jacob Bernays, with particular attention to the aesthetic question of the autonomy-heteronomy of art. In "The Birth of Tragedy" Nietzsche criticises Bernays’ interpretation by defending the principles of art’s autonomy, i.e. by stating that it is not possible to understand Greek tragedy if one studies it only in relation to its extra-aesthetic (in Bernays’ case pathological) effects. But is it really possible to conceive of art only as autonomous? The essay shows that even Nietzsche himself identifies tragedy as a healing power, an effective balm for the health of the Greek people. Thus, on the basis of a critical consideration of Nietzsche’s tragic theory, an attempt is made to relativise Nietzsche’s explicit criticism of Bernays’ interpretation and thus reconsider the relationship between the two theories.