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Sun, Noon, Noontide
The lion is Zarathustra’s symbol of a soul that embraces its freedom from society’s conventional values, retreating into the desert to fight against and ultimately destroy these so that new values are able to be created. At the end of the novel, the appearance of a lion at Zarathustra’s cave is the sign that it’s time for Zarathustra’s final descent to humanity. In this way, the lion is associated with the symbol of noontide—the time when humanity is ready to embrace its potential through the will to power and the coming of the Superman.
Lion Quotes in Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The Thus Spoke Zarathustra quotes below all refer to the symbol of Lion. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Of the Famous Philosophers
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Free from the happiness of serfs, redeemed from gods and worship, fearless and fearful, great and solitary: that is how the will of the genuine man is.
The genuine men, the free spirits, have always dwelt in the desert, as the lords of the desert; but in the towns dwell the well-fed famous philosophers – the draught animals. For they always, as asses, pull—the people’s cart!
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The Greeting
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You are only bridges: may higher men than you step across upon you! […]
From your seed there may one day grow for me a genuine son and perfect heir: but that is far ahead. You yourselves are not those to whom my heritage and name belong. […]
It is for others that I wait here in these mountains and I will not lift my foot from here without them, for higher, stronger, more victorious, more joyful men, such as are square-built in body and soul: laughing lions must come!
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The Sign
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‘Pity! Pity for the Higher Man!’ he cried out, and his countenance was transformed into brass. 'Very well! That—has had its time! […]
‘The lion has come, my children are near, Zarathustra has become ripe, my hour has come!
This is my morning, my day begins: rise up now, rise up, great noontide!’
Thus spoke Zarathustra and left his cave, glowing and strong, like a morning sun emerging from behind dark mountains.
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Lion Symbol Timeline in Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The timeline below shows where the symbol Lion appears in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Of the Three Metamorphoses
...names “three metamorphoses of the spirit”: the spirit becomes a camel, the camel becomes a lion, and the lion becomes a child. The “weight-bearing” spirit, like a laden camel, takes heavy...
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In the desert, a second metamorphosis occurs: the spirit becomes a lion, wanting to be free and lord over its own desert. The lion will fight against...
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Through its might, the lion is capable of creating “freedom for new creation.” However, the lion must undergo another metamorphosis...
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Of the Famous Philosophers
...until they give up their veneration of idols and go into the desert like a lion—this is where free spirits live. Philosophers, even if they’re decked out in golden gear, will...
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Of the Three Evil Things
...of thanking the present. It is poison to the “withered” but fine wine to the “lion-willed.” Sensual pleasure symbolizes the highest happiness. Lust for power, similarly, should more properly be called...
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Among the Daughters of the Desert
...about the desert and the maidens who dwelt there; he summons Europeans to roar like lions before these daughters of the desert.
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The Sign
...birds swarm around Zarathustra, and as he tries to ward them off, he grasps a lion’s mane and realizes that the sign has come. Indeed, the lion presses its head lovingly...
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The Higher Men wake up and venture outside to greet Zarathustra, but when the lion roars at them, they flee back into the cave. Zarathustra recalls everything that happened yesterday...
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...realizes that the time for pity has passed; he now aspires after his work. The lion has come, his children are near, he is ripe, and today the great noontide will...
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