Nietzsche’s Three Metamorphoses: The Camel, the Lion, and the Child

Finding the balance between them.

Photo by Erik Karits from Pexels.

“The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

At the beginning of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” Friedrich Nietzsche dedicates a chapter to the “Three Metamorphoses.”

He believes that these three metamorphoses, the Camel, the Lion, and the Child, show us what it means to live a life with courage. To be able to face one’s death and to be able to live in this world despite its suffering are two essential stages for us to live with courage.

For Nietzsche, freedom was necessary for humans to experience life authentically and gain truth and knowledge.

To be free means not to be bound by any external influences but is instead what one creates within oneself.

In this way, we can see that the Camel, Lion, and Child represent different stages of human development towards freedom.