ZARATHUSTRAS ANIMALS. PHILOSOPHICAL NOTIONS IMPERSONATED IN MYTHICAL CREATURES (Zwierzeta Zaratustry. Idee filozoficzne w postaci zwierzece wcielone)

The authoress presents animalistic symbols and metaphors appearing in Friedrich Nietzsche's book 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra': A Book for All and None with the reference to symbolic representation of animals in different cultures, especially in Greek mythology and in the Christian tradition. This bestiary, untypical for philosophical works, allows to interpret Nietzsche's main ideas not only as a knowledge of reason but also as a kind of mythical lore: part of the European tradition on the one hand and an exceptional message of a poet and prophet, on the other. The analysis of Nietzsche's symbolic language shows philosopher's original concepts concerning human being and his possibilities of perceptive faculty, cognition and creation of morality and culture. Selection of animal symbols demonstrates clearly how Nietzsche constructs his own myth, humiliates his opponents and seduces his readers with beauty and variety of the described world.