The Birth of Tragedy
In this novel the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche's theory of the Apollonian versus Dionysian spirit is evident. The polarization of Narcissus's individualist Apollonian character stands in contrast to the passionate and zealous disposition of Goldmund. Hesse, in the spirit of Nietzsche's "The Birth of Tragedy", completes the equation by creating Goldmund as a wanderer (a Dionysian endeavour) balanced out by Narcissus, the structured and stable priest-monk (an Apollonian approach), and highlighting the harmonizing relationship between the main characters.