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Perhaps we can reach a starting point for this discussion when I offer the claim that the satyr himself%2C the imaginary natural being%2C is related to the cultural person in the same way that Dionysian music is related to civilization%2E On this last point Richard Wagner states that civilization is neutralized by music in the same way lamplight is by daylight%2E In just such a manner%2C I believe%2C the cultured Greek felt himself neutralized by the sight of the chorus of satyrs%2E This is the most direct effect of Dionysian tragedy%3A generally %2C the state and society%2C the gap between man and man give way to an invincible feeling of unity which leads back to the heart of nature%2E
My Ideal Person:
The metaphysical consolation%2C which as I have already indicated%2C true tragedy leaves us%2C that at the bottom of everything%2C in spite of all the transformations in phenomena%2C life is indestructibly power and delightful%2C this consolation appears in lively clarity as the chorus of satyrs%2C the chorus of natural beings%2C who live%2C as it were%2C behind civilization%2C who cannot disappear%2C and who%2C in spite of all the changes in generations and a people%27s history%2C always remain the same%2E With this chorus%2C the profound Greek%2C capable of the most delicate and the most severe suffering%2C consoled himself%2C the man who looked around with a daring gaze in the middle of the terrifying destructive instincts of so%2Dcalled world history and equally into the cruelty of nature and who is in danger of longing for the denial of the will of Buddhism%2E Art saves him%2C and through art life saves him%2E
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