The word Apollonian is an adjective that refers to the God Apollo of the Greek or Roman mythology. Apollo is the messenger Gods; the God of light, spring or youth, medicine and the art of music and also sometimes identified with the sun. He is a son of Zeus and one of the twelve main Gods. The adjective Apollonian was first used by the German philosopher F. W. J. Schelling and later by another German philosopher, F. Nietzsche, who explains it further in combination with the adjective Dionysian in his book “The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music” in the year 1872. In most cases, the word Apollonian is capitalized, albeit being an adjective. Apollonian describes character qualities of reason, culture and intelligence in …show more content…
Before Nietzsche’s “The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music”, Greek tragedy was often seen as overly orderly. Nietzsche distinguished that the dialogue is often in order in the style of Apollonian writing. However, the chorus has a sense of irrationality to it that is clearly in the style of Dionysian writing. Plato introduced the split of this balance, for he had a strong wish for the Apollonian qualities to outweigh the Dionysian. Nietzsche expresses his disapproval of this, because he appreciates the Dionysian chorus and highly values it. Schelling is the first philosopher to acknowledge the importance of both extremes in combination and compares their balance to being drunk and sober at the same time. The principle of the Apollonian/Dionysian balance is also used in description for a universal balance. Though many educated minds have the desire to live after Apollonian qualities only, it is necessary for the Dionysian urges to be fulfilled in some way. If they are not acted on, they will most likely be expressed in a form of primitive violence. Apart from the areas of Greek tragedy and cosmic values, Apollonian and Dionysian are also often used in the description of visual arts. Here it describes the strong contrast that always has and always will keep on