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