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Ariadne's MysteryAuthor(s): Gilles DeleuzeSource: ANY: Architecture New York, No. 5, Lightness (March/April 1994), pp. 8-9Published by: Anyone CorporationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41845627 .

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BILLES DELEUZE: ARIADNE'S MYSTERY

Dionysus sings:Be clever,AriadneYou have small ears,you havemyears: Put a cleverword nto themMustone not irsthate each other fone is to ove each other? am yourlabyrinth1

In the samewaythatanywoman canbe between twomen,Ariadne sbetween Theseus and Dionysus. Shepasses from heseus to Dionysus.At first he hatedDionysusthe bull.But,when Theseus abandonsher-eventhough he had guidedhim

through he abyrinth she iscarried way by Dionysusanddiscovers nother abyrinth. Whobesides meknows who Ariadne s?"Does that meanWagner-Theseus,Cosima-Ariadne, ietzsche-Dionysus?The question"who?" does not call forpersons,but ratherforces nd wills.

Theseus in fact eems to be themodel for On Those Who AreSublime" n Book II of Thus SpokeZarathustra. It is about a herowhodeciphers nigmas,haunts thelabyrinth,nd conquersthe bull.This sublimemanprefigures he

theory f hehigherman n Book IV:he is called "the conscientious nspirit," name that will aterapplyto one of hefragments f hehigherman the Sorcerer). And thecharacteristics f he sublimemancorrespond o thegeneralattributesof hehigherman: his seriousness,hisheaviness,his taste forbearingburdens,hiscontempt or heearth,his nability o laughandplay,hispursuit fvengeance.

It is wellknown hat Nietzsche'stheory f hehigherman s a critiquewhose aim s to denounce hedeepest or mostdangerousmystificationfhumanism.Thehigherman wouldcarryhumanityoits consummate erfection.Hewouldrecuperate ll thequalitiesofman,overcome ll alienations, ealizetotalman,putman ntheplace ofGod,make ofmana force hataffirms nd affirmstself. Butinfact, houghhe be superior,manknowsnothing fwhat t means toaffirm.Ofaffirmatione offers ut aludicrous aricature, travesty. Hethinks hat to affirms to carry, obear,towithstand ifficulties,akeonburdens. He measurespositivitybytheweightof he oad hecarries;

hemistakes ffirmationor hestrainofhis tensed muscles(Zarathustra,191-95).

Everything hatweighs s real;

everythinghat carries s active andaffirmative hus theanimals of hehigherman are not thebull,but theass and thecamel, hose beasts ofthe desert who nhabit hedevastatedplainsof he earth andwhoknowhow to carry.The bull svanquished byTheseus,a sublimeorhigherman. But Theseus is muchlower than the bull withwhomhehas in common nly he neck. "Heshould ct like a bull, ndhishappiness hould mellof heearth,and not ofcontempt or he earth. Iwould ike to see him s a whitebull,walkingbefore heplowshare,snorting ndbellowing; nd hisbellowing houldbe inpraise ofeverything arthly To standwithrelaxedmuscles andunharnessedwill:that s the mostdifficultor ll ofyouwho aresublime" Zarathustra 117-18).

The sublimeorhighermanconquersmonsters, oses enigmas,butheignores heenigma nd the monsterthat he is himself.He doesn't knowthat to affirms not to carry, oharnessoneself, nd to bear what s,but on the contrary,ounharness, o

release,to unburden hat whichlives. Not toweigh ifedown withhighervalues,be theyheroic, ut tocreate new values that are those oflife, hat make of ife he ight rtheaffirmativene. "He must tilldiscard his heroicwill;he shall beelevated,notmerely ublime: heether tself hould elevate him, hewill-less ne" Zarathustra 118).Theseus doesn't understand hat thebull ortherhinoceros) ossesses theonly ruesuperiority:hatprodigious ightbeast of hedepthofthe abyrinthwho also feels at easeon theheights, he one whounharnesses nd affirmsife.

According oNietzsche, he will topowerhas two tonalities: ffirmationandnegation; nd forceshave twoqualities:active andreactive. Whathighermanpresents s affirmationis undoubtedlyhedeepest partofthebeingofman,but t s only heultimate ombination fnegationwithreaction, fnegativewill withreactiveforce, fnihilismwithbadconscience nd resentment.Theseare theproducts fnihilismhatmust be borne; hese are thereactive forces hat mustbe carried.Hence the llusion f false

affirmation. he higherman makesclaims oknowledge:he purports oexplorethe abyrinthr the forest fknowledge.Butknowledge smerely hedisguiseofmorality; he

thread n the abyrinths the moralthread. Moralitys inturn tselflabyrinth:t s a disguiseof heascetic andreligious deal. From theascetic deal to the moral deal,fromthe moral deal to the deal ofknowledge, heenterprise s alwaysthe same: that ofkilling hebull,ofnegating ife, fcrushingt underweight, freducing t to its reactiveforces. The sublimeman no longereven needs a God to harnesshim, ormanfinally eplacesGod withhumanism; ereplacesthe asceticideal with he moral deal and the

ideal ofknowledge.Man burdenshimselfwithhimself, e harnesseshimself n hisown, nthe nameofheroicvalues, nthe nameof hevalues ofman.

Thehigherman s many: hemagician, he twokings, he manwith he eech, he astpope,theugliestman, hevoluntary eggar,and the shadow. Theyconstitutetheory, series,a dance. For theyare distinguished ytheirplacealongthethread,bythetypeof dealthey xemplify, ythespecificweightof heirreactivity nd the

tonality f heirnegation.But theyinfact ome backto the same: theyare thepowersof he false espuissances dufaux), a procession fcounterfeiters,s if he falsenecessarily ame back to itself.Even the truthfulman s acounterfeiter ecause he hideshismotivesforwanting hetruth, isdarkpassionfor ondemningife.Perhaps onlyHerman Melvillecompares o Nietzsche ncreatingprodigious hainofcounterfeiters,fhighermenemanating rom thegreat Cosmopolitan,"where eachoneguaranteesor even denouncesthe fraud f heother, utalwaysin

such a wayas to resetthepowersofthe false nmotion. s the false notalreadycontained n themodel, nthe truthfulman, s much s in allthe simulations?

As longas Ariadne ovesTheseus,sheparticipates n this endeavor tonegate ife. Beneath the falseappearanceof ffirming,heseus -the model is the force fnegation,thespirit fnegation, hegreatfraud. Ariadne s anima, hesoul,but the reactive soul or the force fresentment.Her beautiful ongremains complaint nd, n

Zarathustrawherethissongfirstappears, t s put n the mouth f heSorcererwho s the counterfeiterpar excellence, n abject old manwho dons the mask of younggirl.

Ariadne s thesister,but a sisterwho s resentful fher brother hebull. Throughout ll of Nietzsche'swork runs a woeful ppeal: bewareof isters. In the abyrintht sAriadne who holds thethread, hethread ofmorality.Ariadne s thespider, he tarantula. Here againNietzsche calls out:"Hang yourselfon that thread " Ariadne herselfmustcarry ut thisprophecyincertain raditionsAriadne,abandonedbyTheseus,does infacthangherself).

But what does it mean:AriadneabandonedbyTheseus? For thecombination fnegativewill ndreactiveforce, f pirit fnegationand ofreactivesoul, s not he astword ofnihilism.The moment omeswhen thewilltonegation reaks tsalliancewith heforces freaction,abandonsthem, nd even turnsagainstthem. Ariadnehangsherself; he wants to die. Yet thiscrucialmoment"midnight") eraldsa doubletransmutation,s ifnihilismat itshighestgave wayto tsopposite: he reactiveforces,themselvesnegated,become ctive;

negation s converted ntothundering fpureaffirmation,ntothepolemic ndplayfulmode ofwillthataffirmsndgoesto work foran excess of ife. Nihilism asbeenconqueredby tself. Ourobject snot to analyzethis ransmutationfnihilism,his doubleconversion, utrather o discoverhow t sexpressed nthemyth fAriadne.AbandonedbyTheseus,Ariadnesenses thatDionysus s approaching.Dionysusthebull s pureandmultiple ffirmation,rueaffirmation,ffirmative ill:hecarriesnothing,s burdenedbynothing,nd lightens ll that ives.

He knows how todo what thehighermen do not: augh,play,dance, hatis to sayaffirm.He is the ight ne,whodoesn'trecognizehimselfnman, speciallynot n thehigherman orthe sublimehero,butonly ntheoverman, heoverhero,something ther hanman. Ariadnehad to be abandonedbyTheseus:"For this s thesoul's secret:onlywhen the herohas abandonedher,she is approached n a dreambytheoverhero" Zarathustra 119).UnderDionysus'scaress the soulbecomesactive. It had been soheavywithTheseus,but ightens

withDionysus, s it s unburdened,streamlined, levated tothesky.She learns that whatshe used tothink f s activewas only hepursuit fvengeance,mistrust,nd

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surveillance thethread), reactionofbad conscience nd ofresentment.And,at a deeper level still,what shetook to be affirmation as but atravesty, manifestation fheaviness, wayofbelievingoneselfto be strong ecause one carriesandtakesthings n. Ariadneunderstandshow she was deceived:Theseus wasn't even a real Greek,butrather, eforehistime, sort ofGermanwhere one was expecting ofind Greek. But Ariadneunderstandsherdeception ust whenshe no ongerworries bout t:

Dionysus s approaching, e is a realGreek;the soul becomes active whenthespirit eveals the true nature ofaffirmation.t is thenthat Ariadne'ssongacquires its fullmeaning:Ariadne s transformed s Dionysusapproaches,Ariadnebeingthe animathat nowcorresponds o thespiritthatsays yes. Dionysusadds a finalcouplet o Ariadne'ssong,whichbecomes a dithyramb. nNietzsche'susualway,the natureand themeaning f hesong changesaccording o whosings t, heSorcererbeneath Ariadne'smask,orAriadneherselfnDionysus'sear.

Whydoes Dionysusneed Ariadne orto be loved? He singsa songofloneliness;he cries out for fiancée.Dionysus s theGodof ffirmation,but a second affirmations needed ifaffirmationtself s to be affirmed. thas to be divided f t s to redouble.Nietzsche ndeeddistinguishes hetwo affirmations hen he says:"Eternal affirmationfbeing,eternally amyouryes." Dionysusis the affirmationfbeing,butAriadne s theaffirmationfaffirmation,he second affirmationor thebecoming-active. n thisway,all ofAriadne'ssymbols hangetheir

meaningwhentheyrefer oDionysusrather hanbeingdeformed yTheseus. Not onlydoesAriadne'ssongcease to be anexpressionofresentment ndbecome an activesearch, questionthatalreadyaffirms"Whoare you... It is me,me thatyouwant? Allofme?"),butthe abyrinthtself s nolonger he abyrinth fknowledgeandmorals; t s no onger hepathtakenbyhe who holds the threadand will kill he bull. The labyrinthhas becomethe whitebull tself,Dionysusthe bull:"I amyourlabyrinth."Moreprecisely, he

labyrinths nowDionysus'sear,thelabyrinthinear. Ariadne musthaveears like those ofDionysusto heartheDionysian ffirmation,ut also tosay yes to this affirmationn

Dionysus'sownear. Dionysus saystoAriadne:"You have smallears,youhavemyears,puta clever wordinthem." Yes. In est, Dionysussometimes sks Ariadne about herears: "Why re theynot evenlonger?"Thus does Dionysusremindher ofher errors:when shelovedTheseus,she thought hat toaffirm as to carry oads,to be likethe ass. But intruth,withDionysus,she acquiredsmall ears: round arsto hear the eternalreturn.

The labyrinths no ongerof

architecture,t has become resonantand musical. Schopenhauerwas theone to define rchitecture ccordingtotwoforces, arryingndbeingcarried, upport nd load,even ifthese two tend to become dentified.But music ppears at theoppositeend;as Nietzsche more ndmoretakes his distancefromWagnertheSorcerer, hat oldcounterfeiter,tbecomes the ight ne,pureweightlessness.Does not the wholetriangular tory fAriadne attest toan anti-Wagnerianightness, losertoOffenbachnd to Strauss than toWagner? It belongs essentially o

Dionysusthe musician o make roofsdance and columns way. Music nodoubt exists also forApollo, s itdoes forTheseus,but t s a musicthat s dividedup according oterritory, ilieu, ctivity, thos: awork ong, march, dance song,songfor est, songfordrink,lullaby, ike ittle refrains" ach ofwhichhas its ownweight. For musicto free tselfwe mustgo to the otherside where territories remble ndwherearchitectures umbledown,where ethosmix, nd when apowerful ongof he earth sreleased,a grandritornello hattransmutes ll the melodies t carries

away andbringsbackagain.Dionysus knowsno otherarchitecturehan thatofroutes ndjourneys. And was it notalready nthe nature of he Lied todepartfromtheterritory ransported ythewind at the call of he earth. Everyhigherman eaves his home andtravels toward Zarathustra's cave.But only hedithyramb preads overthe earth and embraces t n tsentirety.Dionysushas noterritoryforhe is everywhere nearth. Theresonant abyrinths thesongof heearth, heritornello,he eternalreturn ersonified.

Butwhyopposeboth ides as thetrueandthe false? Are theynotboth sides of he samepowerof hefalse and is notDionysusa great

counterfeiter,hegreatest"intruth," heCosmopolitan? s art notthepowerof he false at itshighest?Between above andbelow,from neside to theother, here s aconsiderabledifference, distancethat mustbe affirmed. or thespider alwaysweaves itsweb,andthescorpion lways stings; achhigherman s fixated n his ownprowessthat he repeats like a circusact (Zarathustra'sBook IV is infactsetup thisway, nthe manner fRaymondRoussel's gala ofincomparables ra puppetshow or

an operetta). For each of hesemimeshas an invariablemodel,fixedform hatmaybe calledtrue,although t s as "false" as itsreproductions. t's like acounterfeiternpainting:what hecopiesfrom heoriginal ainter s arecognizable orm s false as thecopies;whatescapes him s themetamorphosisr the transformationof heoriginal, he mpossibilityfascribing o itanyform inshort,creation. That is whythehighermen are but the owest evel of hewill topower:"You are merebridges:maymenhigher hanyou

strideoveryou. You signify teps"(. arathustra 283). With hem hewill topower s only deceivingwill,a takingwill, dominatingwill,sickexhausted ife hat brandishesprostheses. Even theirroles areprostheses hat allowthem oholdthemselvesup. OnlyDionysus, heartist-creator,ttains thepowerofmetamorphosishat makeshimbecome thesignof profusion f ife.He pushesthepowersof he false toa pointwherethey re carriedout nolonger nform ut ntransformation- "a gift-givingirtue," r thecreation fpossibilities f ife:transmutation. he will topower s

likeenergy,noble when t s able totransformtself. Are vile and lowthose who can onlydisguisethemselves, ress themselvesup,that s to say assume a form ndkeep to thatform,lwaysthe same.

To pass from heseus to Dionysus sforAriadne a clinicalmatter,matter fhealth nd ofhealing. ForDionysusas well. DionysusneedsAriadne. Dionysus s pureaffirmation;riadne s thesoul,affirmationplit ntwo, he"yes"that answers to a "yes." Butdivided, ffirmationomes back to

Dionysusas an affirmationhatredoubles. It is inthat sense thattheeternalreturn s theproduct fthe unionbetweenDionysusandAriadne. For as longas Dionysus s

alone,he stillfears hethought fthe eternalreturn, ecause he fearsthat twillbringback reactiveforces, heattempt o life, he smallman be hehighorsublime). ButwhenDionysian ffirmationnfoldsfullywithAriadne,Dionysus n turnlearnssomething ew: that thethought f heeternal return sconsoling t thesame timethat theeternalreturn s itself elective. Theeternalreturn lwaysinvolvestransmutation.As thebeingofbecoming, he eternal return s theproduct f double affirmationhat

makes what affirmsome backagain,and onlymakesbecomewhatis active. Neitherreactive forcesnorthe will tonegatewill return: heyare eliminated ythetransmutation,bythe eternalreturn hatselects.Ariadne has forgotten heseus; he isno onger ven a bad memory.Theseus will never come back. Theeternal return s active andaffirmative;t s the unionofDionysusand Ariadne. That is whyNietzschecompares t notonly othe circular ar,but to theweddingring. Thus does the abyrinthtselfbecome thering, heear,the eternal

return tself,what s said of ll thatis alive and affirmative. helabyrinths no onger hepathwhereonegets lost,but thepaththatreturns. It is no longer helabyrinth fknowledge ndmorals,butthat of ife nd ofbeingthat salive. As for he fruit f he unionbetweenDionysusandAriadne, t sthe overman r theoverhero, heoppositeof hehigherman. Theoverman s the one who ives ncaves and onmountaintops,heonlychildborn of heear,the son ofAriadne and the bull.

From Critiqueet clinique byGilles

Deleuze. © 1993 Éditions deMinuit.

TranslatedfromtheFrenchbyAnne Boyman.

Gilles Deleuze is an eminentcontemporary renchphilosopher.Amongtheoriginalfeatures ofhisNietzsche et la philosophie PressesUniversitaires e France 1962) isthediscovery fAriadne as aconceptualprotagonistnNietzsche'sphilosophy.

Note1. See translator'snote no. 5 in

FriedrichNietzsche,Thus SpokeZarathustra A BookforNone andAllf ranslatedwith prefacebyWalter KaufmannNew York:VikingPenguin,1966),233.

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