Zarathustra and the Gypsy. The Gypsy Figure as Paradigm of the Liberated Man in Nietzsche

Overall, the term gypsy (Zigeuner) recurs seven times in Nietzsche’s works. Of all these recurrences, only two possess deep philosophical implications: a short statement in RWB and the poem Yorick als Zigeuner. In this essay I suggest that the meaning of the gypsy figure in Nietzsche should be read in close interdependence with the problem of liberation. In order to argument this I will examine the strict relation existing between the gypsy and the «free spirit». The two have three features in common: (i) the nomadic condition and the absolute freedom it entails; (ii) the struggle for survivor, in which death and destruction are essential experiences man must undergo and endure in order that he may shape itself and “become who he is”; (iii) laughter, which, as the surest sign of a fully enacted Dionysian human condition that is capable to «dance on the abyss», symbolizes full-scale liberation. As the analysis of Yorick als Zigeuner will demonstrate, the gypsy possesses these three features, thus it can be deemed as paradigmatic of the fully liberated human condition.