Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Quiz
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
  • 1. Who published the first English translation of Zarathustra in 1896?
A) Alexander Tille
B) Walter Kaufmann
C) R.J. Hollingdale
D) Thomas Common
  • 2. In what year was Thomas Common's translation published?
A) 1896
B) 1954
C) 2005
D) 1909
  • 3. Whose earlier attempt was Thomas Common's 1909 translation based on?
A) Walter Kaufmann's
B) Adrian Del Caro's
C) Graham Parkes's
D) Alexander Tille's
  • 4. Who wrote a blistering critique of Common's translation in his own introduction?
A) Hollingdale
B) Clancy Martin
C) Robert Pippin
D) Kaufmann
  • 5. What unfortunate term did Common coin in his translation according to Kaufmann?
A) evilest
B) baddest
C) worsest
D) superest
  • 6. Which of Nietzsche's works features a third dedicated to the difference between 'bad' and 'evil'?
A) Thus Spoke Zarathustra
B) The Antichrist
C) The Genealogy of Morals
D) Beyond Good and Evil
  • 7. What did Kaufmann wonder about Common due to his translation errors?
A) He had little German and less English
B) He relied entirely on French translations
C) He never read the original text
D) He was fluent in multiple languages
  • 8. How was the German text available to Thomas Common described?
A) Hidden from the public
B) Written by Nietzsche himself
C) Flawless and complete
D) Considerably flawed
  • 9. According to Common's translation of Zarathustra's Prologue, what is the meaning of the earth?
A) The Spirit
B) The Superman
C) The Human
D) The Overman
  • 10. In Common's version, what should brethren not believe?
A) Superearthly hopes
B) Scientific truths
C) Earthly desires
D) Natural laws
  • 11. What term does Common use for those who speak of superearthly hopes?
A) Skeptics
B) Teachers
C) Poisoners
D) Philosophers
  • 12. When did Walter Kaufmann publish his translation titled Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) 2005
B) 1954
C) 1961
D) 1909
  • 13. When did R.J. Hollingdale publish his translation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) 1896
B) 2006
C) 1961
D) 1954
  • 14. Who stated that the German text from which Hollingdale and Kaufmann worked was untrue to Nietzsche's work in some ways?
A) Graham Parkes
B) Clancy Martin
C) Thomas Common
D) Alexander Tille
  • 15. What does Clancy Martin criticize Kaufmann for changing?
A) Punctuation
B) The publication date
C) The title
D) The dedication
  • 16. What did Martin suggest Kaufmann took it upon himself to become?
A) Nietzsche's editor
B) Nietzsche's co-author
C) Nietzsche's biographer
D) Nietzsche's publisher
  • 17. In Kaufmann's translation of the Prologue, what is the meaning of the earth?
A) The overman
B) The beast
C) The mortal
D) The Superman
  • 18. What term does Kaufmann use instead of 'superearthly hopes' in his translation of the Prologue?
A) Future ambitions
B) Underworld hopes
C) Celestial dreams
D) Otherworldly hopes
  • 19. What term does Kaufmann use for those who speak of otherworldly hopes?
A) Illusionists
B) Deceivers
C) Dreamers
D) Poison-mixers
  • 20. What kind of hopes does Hollingdale mention in his translation of the Prologue?
A) Superearthly hopes
B) Otherworldly hopes
C) Subterranean hopes
D) Superterrestrial hopes
  • 21. Who published a translation of Zarathustra in 2005 attempting to convey the musicality of the text?
A) Adrian Del Caro
B) Clancy Martin
C) Robert Pippin
D) Graham Parkes
  • 22. Which university press published the 2006 translation by Adrian Del Caro?
A) Oxford University Press
B) Princeton University Press
C) Harvard University Press
D) Cambridge University Press
  • 23. Who edited Adrian Del Caro's 2006 translation alongside Del Caro himself?
A) R.J. Hollingdale
B) Walter Kaufmann
C) Robert Pippin
D) Graham Parkes
  • 24. What was a primary goal of Del Caro's 2006 translation?
A) To restore the original versification of Nietzsche's text
B) to remove controversial metaphors
C) to update the language to modern slang
D) To simplify the philosophical concepts
  • 25. In which work of 1888 does Nietzsche explain the meaning of the name Zarathustra?
A) The Antichrist
B) Ecce Homo
C) Thus Spoke Zarathustra
D) Beyond Good and Evil
  • 26. What nationality is the historical figure of Zoroaster according to the text?
A) Roman
B) Persian
C) Greek
D) German
  • 27. What does Nietzsche call himself in relation to morality in the text?
A) The final prophet
B) The first immoralist
C) The ultimate moralist
D) The silent observer
  • 28. What did Zarathustra translate into the realm of metaphysics as force, cause, and end-in-itself?
A) Reality
B) Morality
C) Power
D) Truth
  • 29. What does Nietzsche describe as the experimental refutation of the theory of the moral order of things?
A) Ancient mythology
B) Human biology
C) Modern science
D) All history
  • 30. What is upheld as the highest virtue in Zarathustra's teaching?
A) Obedience
B) Compassion
C) Truthfulness
D) Faith
  • 31. What does Nietzsche say Zarathustra has more of in his body than all other thinkers put together?
A) Doubts
B) Knowledge
C) Pluck
D) Patience
  • 32. In what idiom did Nietzsche choose to use the prophet Zarathustra in his philosophy?
A) A scientific idiom
B) A legal idiom
C) A poetical idiom
D) A mathematical idiom
  • 33. What did Nietzsche want to do to Zarathustra's teachings at the same time as paying homage?
A) Ignore them
B) Reverse them
C) Translate them
D) Expand them
  • 34. What kind of immoralism does Nietzsche’s Zarathustra put forward in contrast?
A) Political immoralism
B) Practical immoralism
C) Ontological immoralism
D) Aesthetic immoralism
  • 35. What is the alternative English title for Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) The Book of Zarathustra
B) Zarathustra's Discourses
C) Thus Spake Zarathustra
D) The Thus Spoke Zarathustra
  • 36. Who wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) Friedrich Nietzsche
B) Alexander von Humboldt
C) Diogenes Laertius
D) Friedrich von Hellwald
  • 37. Who is the nominal protagonist of Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) Friedrich Nietzsche
B) Alexander von Humboldt
C) Lou Andreas-Salomé
D) The historical Zarathustra
  • 38. What is Zarathustra more commonly called in the West?
A) Humboldt
B) Nietzsche
C) Zoroaster
D) Zarathustra
  • 39. What phrase ends most of Zarathustra's discourses in the book?
A) Thus spoke Zarathustra
B) Thus spake Zoroaster
C) Thus spoke the Übermensch
D) So ended Zarathustra
  • 40. In which earlier book by Nietzsche did the character of Zarathustra first appear?
A) Beyond Good and Evil
B) Ecce Homo
C) The Gay Science
D) Twilight of the Idols
  • 41. Which of the following is considered one of Nietzsche's core ideas elaborated in the book?
A) Utilitarianism
B) Marxist dialectics
C) The Übermensch
D) Cartesian dualism
  • 42. What kind of class was the Bildungsbürgertum into which Nietzsche was born?
A) An aristocratic ruling class
B) A highly cultivated middle class
C) An impoverished working class
D) A nomadic peasant class
  • 43. Who gave Nietzsche a biography of Alexander von Humboldt for his 15th birthday?
A) His aunt Rosalie
B) Friedrich von Hellwald
C) Diogenes Laertius
D) Lou Andreas-Salomé
  • 44. What academic field did Nietzsche accidentally become outstanding in?
A) Physics
B) Philosophy
C) Mathematics
D) Philology
  • 45. Whose work as a student acted as a yoke alongside Nietzsche's growing taste toward philosophy?
A) Friedrich von Hellwald
B) Diogenes Laertius
C) Rosalie Nietzsche
D) Alexander von Humboldt
  • 46. Whose marriage proposals did Nietzsche face rejection from?
A) Alexander von Humboldt
B) Lou Andreas-Salomé
C) No one
D) Rosalie Nietzsche
  • 47. What physical activity did Nietzsche frequently engage in while working on Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) Rowing
B) Swimming
C) Walking
D) Horseback riding
  • 48. According to Nietzsche, what is the central idea of Thus Spoke Zarathustra?
A) The Übermensch
B) The will to power
C) The eternal recurrence
D) The death of God
  • 49. When did the central idea of the book first occur to Nietzsche?
A) August 1883
B) March 1892
C) January 1884
D) August 1881
  • 50. Near what geographical landmark was Nietzsche walking when the central idea first occurred to him?
A) Lake Silvaplana
B) The Bay of Santa Margherita
C) The road to Zoagli
D) Lake Geneva
  • 51. Whose writing about Zarathustra did Nietzsche paraphrase in a notebook a few weeks after his Lake Silvaplana revelation?
A) Friedrich von Hellwald
B) Lou Andreas-Salomé
C) Diogenes Laertius
D) Alexander von Humboldt
  • 52. In which city was Nietzsche living when the entire first part was conceived?
A) Zurich
B) Rapallo
C) Basel
D) Nice
  • 53. Where was Nietzsche living when he 'found' the third part?
A) Nice
B) Rapallo
C) Berlin
D) Vienna
  • 54. According to Ecce Homo, roughly how long did it take to write the entire work?
A) Exactly four years
B) Ten days
C) Scarcely one year
D) A few weeks
  • 55. When did Nietzsche finish the third part and think the book was finished?
A) January 1884
B) March 1892
C) August 1881
D) November 1884
  • 56. When were the first three parts of Zarathustra first published together in a single volume?
A) 1883
B) 1892
C) 1885
D) 1887
  • 57. In what year was the fourth part written?
A) 1881
B) 1883
C) 1889
D) 1885
  • 58. How many copies of the fourth part were printed at Nietzsche's own expense?
A) Six thousand
B) Ten
C) Forty
D) One hundred
  • 59. In what year did Nietzsche become significantly incapacitated?
A) 1892
B) 1887
C) 1881
D) 1889
  • 60. When was part four published separately?
A) July 1892
B) March 1892
C) November 1884
D) January 1884
  • 61. When were all four parts finally published together in a single volume?
A) March 1892
B) July 1892
C) December 1889
D) January 1887
  • 62. How many years did Zarathustra live as a hermit on a mountain at the beginning of the book?
A) One year
B) Ten years
C) Five years
D) Twenty years
  • 63. What inspires Zarathustra to return to his human community?
A) The sun
B) A dream
C) An earthquake
D) His animal companions
  • 64. What news does Zarathustra marvel that the old holy man has not yet heard?
A) The mountain has fallen
B) God is dead
C) The sun has set
D) The Übermensch has arrived
  • 65. What event is the crowd gathered to watch when Zarathustra arrives at the nearest town?
A) A theatrical play
B) A tightrope walker
C) A public execution
D) A royal coronation
  • 66. What does Zarathustra say men must be prepared to will in order to bring the Übermensch into being?
A) The burning of the forest
B) Their own destruction
C) The loss of their memories
D) The death of God
  • 67. Who causes the tightrope walker to lose his balance and fall?
A) Zarathustra
B) A clown
C) A member of the crowd
D) An eagle
  • 68. After the tightrope incident, who does Zarathustra decide he will speak to from then on?
A) Only a few chosen disciples
B) The masses in the town
C) No one ever again
D) Only the old holy man
  • 69. What condition does Zarathustra give before he will return to his disciples after abandoning them?
A) They must disown him
B) They must climb the mountain
C) They must find the clown
D) They must build a temple
  • 70. What animal does Zarathustra hear howling in terror?
A) A dog
B) A fox
C) A lion
D) A wolf
  • 71. What has crept into the shepherd's throat in Zarathustra's vision?
A) A small dwarf
B) A spirit of gravity
C) A poisonous spider
D) A black serpent
  • 72. What does Zarathustra urge the choking shepherd to do?
A) Swallow the serpent whole
B) Call for help
C) Bite the serpent's head off
D) Pull the serpent out
  • 73. How does Zarathustra feel about humanity's pettiness while in his cave?
A) Inspired
B) Disgusted
C) Amused
D) Indifferent
  • 74. What physical form does the spirit of gravity take?
A) A dwarf-like creature
B) A shadowy phantom
C) A giant shadow
D) A winged beast
  • 75. Who visits Zarathustra to tempt him to his final sin?
A) Arthur Schopenhauer
B) A fascist
C) A higher man
D) A soothsayer
  • 76. What is Zarathustra's final sin according to the soothsayer?
A) Gluttony
B) Sloth
C) Compassion
D) Pride
  • 77. What is another translation for the German word 'mitleiden' mentioned in the text?
A) Will
B) Strength
C) Pity
D) Power
  • 78. How long does Zarathustra spend searching for the person who uttered the cry?
A) A week
B) A day
C) An hour
D) A month
  • 79. Which philosopher significantly influenced Nietzsche's thinking regarding will?
A) Arthur Schopenhauer
B) An unnamed fascist scholar
C) A soothsayer
D) Zarathustra
  • 80. What is the German term for 'will to power' used by Nietzsche?
A) Übermensch
B) Mitleiden
C) Stärker-werden-wollen
D) Wille zur Macht
  • 81. What type of philosopher was Nietzsche not?
A) A systematic philosopher
B) A philosophical writer
C) A German philosopher
D) An influential thinker
  • 82. Which group is said to have misinterpreted the will to power by overlooking a specific linguistic distinction?
A) Receptive fascists
B) Schopenhauer's followers
C) The higher men
D) The children of Zarathustra
  • 83. What German word does Nietzsche use for 'force, strength' that fascists allegedly overlooked?
A) Macht
B) Wille
C) Kraft
D) Mitleiden
  • 84. What German word does Nietzsche use for 'power, might'?
A) Stärker
B) Zarathustra
C) Kraft
D) Macht
  • 85. How is the will to power described in Nietzsche's notebooks?
A) As the final sin of compassion
B) As the worship of a donkey
C) As a systematic doctrine of political might
D) Willing-to-become-stronger, willing growth
  • 86. What is the German phrase found in Nietzsche's notebooks meaning willing-to-become-stronger?
A) Wille zur Macht
B) Stärker-werden-wollen
C) Mitleiden
D) Übermensch
  • 87. What is the English translation of the Menippean satire 'Κατάπλους ἢ Τύραννος' mentioned in the text?
A) Downward Journey or The Tyrant
B) Beyond Good and Evil
C) The Death of Tragedy
D) Thus Spoke Zarathustra
  • 88. Whom did Nietzsche celebrate as an actualisation of the Übermensch?
A) Schopenhauer
B) Socrates
C) Goethe
D) Lucian
  • 89. What happened to humanity without God?
A) Humanity was greatly devalued
B) Humanity remained unchanged
C) Humanity found ultimate purpose
D) Humanity became divine
  • 90. According to the text, what was the labyrinth in this context?
A) Nihilism
B) Primitive drives
C) The will to power
D) The supernatural
  • 91. Who remarked that Zarathustra was born completely from the spirit of music and is symphonically constructed?
A) Friedrich Hölderlin
B) Gustav Mahler
C) Richard Wagner
D) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • 92. Which of Mahler's symphonies quotes a poem from Nietzsche's book?
A) Third Symphony
B) First Symphony
C) Ninth Symphony
D) Fifth Symphony
  • 93. What did Nietzsche aim to become while working on the text?
A) Goethe's rival
B) Schopenhauer's student
C) Luther's successor
D) Wagner's heir
  • 94. How does Nietzsche describe the tempo of Zarathustra's speeches?
A) Delicate slowness
B) Steady and marching
C) Rapid and chaotic
D) Loud and abrupt
  • 95. What tone does Nietzsche mention as necessary to hear properly from Zarathustra's mouth?
A) Furious tone
B) Skeptical tone
C) Tragic tone
D) Halcyon tone
  • 96. Which author's work is mentioned as an allusion or appropriation in Zarathustra alongside Goethe and Emerson?
A) Marx's Capital
B) Hölderlin's Hyperion
C) Kant's Critique
D) Hegel's Phenomenology
  • 97. Who is the character of the sorcerer generally agreed to be based on?
A) Wagner
B) Schopenhauer
C) Luther
D) Goethe
  • 98. What does the German word 'untergang' literally mean?
A) High-rising
B) Over-going
C) Deep-diving
D) Down-going
  • 99. With which opposite word does Nietzsche pair 'untergang'?
A) übermensch
B) unternehmung
C) überlegen
D) übergang
  • 100. What does the word 'übergang' mean?
A) Conclusion
B) Destruction
C) Foundation
D) Transition
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