Dionysus
Dionysus, the Greek god of merry-making is to the philosophy of Nietzsche what the Id is to Freudian psychology. He represents the unleashed desire to exceed norms, conventions and boundaries and is either a literal presence or figurative presence throughout much of these works. But like Freud’s version of the pleasure principle, Dionysius evolves to become so integrally associated with his version of Freud’s Superego that by the philosopher’s later works, these two symbols of the extremities of social and cultural construction almost become interlocked as a single symbiotic symbol. In his earlier writings, however, it is all but impossible to view them as anything but separate and distinct metaphors co-existing within a single, loosely organized allegory.
Apollo
Apollo in his standing as the Greek god of music and poetry begins in the creative universe of Nietzsche by standing in direct opposition to Dionysus. The allusion to Freud’s concept of the Superego is more symbolically sound than it is psychologically; essentially, the Apollonian drive in construction of culture is more restrained emotionally, seeks harmony among the community rather than being inner-directed and—most importantly—is subject to influence and rules of society. At first, Apollo is conceived as something of a negative symbol representing a muting of individuality, but as the two extremes begin merge, Nietzsche makes it clear that the greatest works engendered by the Apollonian drive could only exist through the act of self-restraint against the impulses of its Dionysus cousin.
Frogs
Notably, frog symbolism shows up in some of Nietzsche’s most famous works: The Gay Science, Thus Spake Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, The Genealogy of Morals and The Will to Power. The literal nature of the frog informs his symbolism in the philosophy of Nietzsche. Frogs are cold, wet and slimy inhabitants of a swamp who are forever blinded by the myopia of this setting: they see everything as a swamp, thus frogs situated as one the writer’s most persistent symbols of the pessimistic or limited worldview.
The Herd
The herd is perhaps Nietzsche’s most oft-mentioned symbol; not coincidentally, it also happens to be the symbol invested with the greatest contempt. The herd is basically Nietzsche’s all-encompassing term of those who follow blindly: everything from moral codes to stylish fads to taste in music. Underlying the contemptuousness nature of the herd is the evolution through his writings of perhaps its most indecent aspect. The philosopher eventually comes to separate the herd instinct from man’s primal instincts, suggesting that conformist thinking and behavior is always a modification of natural instinct.
Mirrors
As with most authors, Nietzsche uses the distinctive quality of the mirror as a symbol of self-reflection, but in the process he takes those qualities to a level beyond the mere surface utility. The image in the mirror is, true, a reflection that which looks into it, but in the end the mirror itself is not the thing which it reflects. In this way, Nietzsche puts his own unique spin on the traditional symbolism of a mirror with the implication that what appears to be distorted in a reflection it not the fault of the mirror; the distortion in the self which peers into the mirror.
