The metamorphosis of the spirit as depicted in Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one of the most important passages in contemporary philosophy. In order to understand it fully then it is necessary to pay attention to the way in which its elements interweave and how they all relate to particular conception of tradition.
The first stage, the stage of the camel, describes a situation in which an individual has an uncritical aspect to the tradition of which they are a part and when they simply bear the weight of this tradition. They are not allowed to perform any action that would allow them to change this tradition, nor are they able to interact with it in any way other than by carrying it. Crucially, they do not confront it as anything face to face, rather they are forced to carry it on their backs and therefore are unable even to fully understand it.
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"The Metamorphosis of the Spirit in Thus Spoke Zarathustra".
Both of these positions change when the transformation is made to the lion. This transformation involves overcoming the tradition, however in order to do this it is necessary to externalise it, and therefore to be able to relate to it face to face, as an object that is outside of oneself and not simply something that one carries. As such, the stage of the lion is the one that allows an interaction with history and that also fully asserts the subjectivity of the person involved in this history.. Up until this point of transformation, they are only someone who is confined within their history, and is not able to fully understand or to even pay attention to it.
The final metaphor confirms this individuality, as formed through the externalisation and then overcoming of the tradition, and then shows what an individual may be like once they no longer refer themselves to a tradition at all. Nietzsche presents the situation of the ‘super-man’ as the one who is able to distance themselves from the tradition that has been externalised and also overcome. This is both a situation of the highest maturity and also one of innocence. In order to fully free oneself from history, it is necessary to first carry it, then remove oneself from it in order to overcome it. Paradoxically, Nietzsche suggests that it is only by performing a such a move of liberation from history that one’s life may become historically meaningful.
