The Nietzsche Podcast 118: Max Horkheimer & Theodore Adorno - Dialectic of Enlightenment, Part 2
Jul 21, 2025
Delve into the intricate connection between enlightenment and myth as explored through Homer's Odyssey. Discover how the sirens symbolize the tension between desire and danger in the journey of Odysseus, who uses his cunning to challenge fate. The podcast critiques the dark side of enlightenment morality, illustrating its potential for tyranny, as seen through Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. Reflect on the moral contradictions of Western civilization and the philosophical tensions between rationality and individual pleasure in our mechanized society.
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Sirens Represent Allure of Nature
- The sirens in Homer's Odyssey symbolize the allure of regressing to wild nature and animalistic instincts.
- Odysseus' strategy reflects rational mastery that resists this seductive regression to maintain control.
Odysseus as Master-Slave Allegory
- Odysseus is an allegory for the Hegelian master who maintains control by not engaging in labor.
- The master's freedom paradoxically depends on the laborers who become skillful and independent, undermining his power.
Odyssey Marks Myth's Rational Sublation
- The Odyssey exemplifies the transformation from myth to historical epic, signaling the dawn of rationality and self-mastery.
- Odysseus prefigures the bourgeois individual, embodying alienated independence and the rational domination of nature.
