Abstract

The paper is a close reading of Nietzsche's early essay, "Homer on Competition". It explores theunderstanding of nature as strife presented in that essay, how this strife channels itself into cultural or stateforms, and how these forms cultivate the creative individual or genius. The article concludes by assertingthat Nietzsche's central point in "Homer on Competition" concerns the contest across the ages that is foughtby these geniuses. For Nietzsche, therefore, competition has a political significance — the forging of theunity and identity of a particular community — and a transpolitical significance — the forging of a "republic of geniuses" on the part of artists and philosophers across the expanse of the tradition