Poesia e risanamento: in margine al viaggio di Nietzsche a Messina

The article deals with the connection, within Nietzsche's thought, between the pursuit of health and artistic-poetic practice. This connection, which has not yet been comprehensively addressed by critics, is affirmed by the author in both his theoretical works and letters. To embody one's declination of health, each individual must engage in an activity that is both creative, modelling and benefits from perspective. Bearing this in mind, I address the relationship between the figures of the physician and the poet within "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Just as under the mask of the poet hides both the romantic nihilist, who fantasizes about an ideal and frozen world, and the Dionysian jester, who instead discovers the inconsistency of any dichotomy, the experience of illness in Nietzsche presents at least two faces. It can be interpreted as the mere opposite of health, in line with romantic nihilism, or as what, as the poet-physician Zarathustra teaches, offers a renewed opportunity for health.