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