What is Nietzsche‘s Zarathustra?

In his new book, Heinrich Meier tries to get to the heart of the drama by asking whether Zarathustra is a philosopher or a prophet. Reading Zarathustra as Nietzsche‘s project of clarifi cation and self-assertion, Meier plausibly argues that the book achieves much more than merely conveying a doctrine or voicing the convictions of the author: inner dialogue, the role of the addressee, the characterisation of the fi gures and situations are at least as important as the teachings themselves. This is a compellingly original and subtle interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which opens up new perspectives on some of Nietzsche‘s famous concepts of the Übermensch, the will to power and the eternal return.