Beyond Good and Evil · Chapter
267 explained
The narrator contrasts the modern European tendency of self-diminishment ('making the heart small') with the expansive spirit of ancient Greece, suggesting a fundamental decline in civilization.
What happens
The narrator contrasts the modern European tendency of self-diminishment ('making the heart small') with the expansive spirit of ancient Greece, suggesting a fundamental decline in civilization.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Rising action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The passage reveals the Wanderer's ultimate psychological exhaustion with seeking truth, climaxing in his desp…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Critique of Modernity
Directly criticizes the self-diminishing, small-hearted tendency as the fundamental trait of modern European civilization.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Critiques modern European civilization by comparing it to ancient Greek sensibilities.
- The Germans
Implied as part of the modern Europeans embodying the self-dwarfing tendency.
- Europeans
Explicitly named as the subjects of the critique for their 'self-dwarfing' nature.
Key passages
““ Siao-sin ” (“Make thy heart small”). This is the essentially fundamental tendency in latter-day civilizations.”
The core drive of modern civilization is to shrink one's spirit and ambition.
Presents a foreign proverb as a diagnosis of modern decay.
“I have no doubt that an ancient Greek, also, would first of all remark the self-dwarfing in us Europeans of today—in this respect alone we should immediately be “distasteful” to him.”
An ancient Greek would be repelled by our modern habit of belittling ourselves.
Uses a historical perspective (ancient Greece) as a standard to judge and condemn contemporary European culture.
