The Scarlet Dawn: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality: A New Reader's Edition
May 2024 · The Collected Works of Friedrich Nietzsche Book 29 · Marchen Press
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Usually translated simply as "The Dawn," "The Dawn of Day," or "Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality," is a lesser-known work in which Nietzsche continues his exploration of the human condition, focusing on the themes of dawn and rebirth. He uses the metaphor of the red light of the morning (referring to the Greek goddess Aurora and the Roman Catholic Red Mass, which invokes the Theotokos) to symbolize the awakening of consciousness and the potential for renewal and transformation. This work reflects Nietzsche's ongoing interest in the cyclical nature of life and the possibility of overcoming nihilism and despair. This translation uses a more accurate translation of the original German "Morgenröthe", rendering it as "The Scarlet Dawn". Morgenröthe is a unique German word that refers to the reddening of the sky in the twilight hours before daybreak. This has historically been translated as "dawn" or simply "daybreak," but this misses the connotation of the word. Mere "dawn" is "twilight" in German, but Morgenröthe is a specific phenomenon of the eastern sky before dawn. In Roman mythology, there is a goddess associated with the dawn - Aurora. In Greek mythology, Homer called this the "rose-fingered Eos". This has continuity in Christianity as the Red Mass, the beginning of two different antiphons in the Advent liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, celebrating Mary, symbolized by the dawn, traditionally celebrated during the pre-dawn reddening of the sky. While there is no direct equivalent word for the pre-dawn reddening, the closest literal translation would be "The Reddening Dawn," but to capture the dramatic tone I've rendered this as "The Scarlet Daybreak. Nietzsche is speaking here of a hope for his own dawn out of the nihilism into which he was born - "his own dawn". 1881 Letter to his sister Nietzsche writes: "read the book [The Scarlet Dawn], if I may, from a point of view that I would advise all other readers not to read, from a very personal point of view (sisters also have privileges). Search out everything that tells you what basically your brother needs the most, has the most need of, what he wants and what he does not want. Read especially the fifth book, where many things are written between the lines. Where everything still strives with me cannot be said in one word - and if I had the word, I would not say it. It depends on favorable but quite unpredictable circumstances. My good friends (and everyone else) don't really know anything about me and probably haven't thought about it yet; I myself have always been very silent about all my main things, without appearing to be so. This modern critical reader's edition offers a clear and accessible translation of Nietzsche’s original manuscript, using contemporary language and streamlined sentence structures to make his complex ideas easier to engage with. Designed for both general readers and students of philosophy, the edition includes a range of supporting materials to provide context and deepen understanding. These include an afterword by the translator discussing the historical reception and intellectual legacy of the work, an index of key philosophical concepts with emphasis on Existentialism and Phenomenology, a chronological list of Nietzsche’s published works, and a detailed timeline of his life, highlighting the personal relationships that influenced his thinking.
About the author
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a watershed German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, musician (briefly) and philologist (the study of ancient manuscripts) whose work has had a profound impact on modern intellectual history. Known for his critiques of European morality and religion (particularly Protestantism), Nietzsche's ideas on the "will to power" and the "Übermensch" have influenced a wide range of philosophical, literary, and psychological thought including thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Albert Camus, Michael Foucault and the entire Postmodern religion.
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