Note 370 — Chapter IV · THE UNCONSCIOUS ORIGIN OF THE HERO

The “two-horned.” According to the commentaries, this refers to Alexander the Great, who in the Arabian legends plays nearly the same rôle as the German Dietrich von Bern. The “two-horned” refers to the strength of the sun-bull. Alexander is often found upon coins with the horns of Jupiter Ammon. It is a question of identification of the ruler around whom so many legends are clustered, with the sun of spring in the signs of the bull and the ram. It is obvious that humanity had a great need of effacing the personal and human from their heroes, so as finally to make them, through a μετάστασις (eclipse), the equal of the sun, that is to say, completely into a libido-symbol. If we thought like Schopenhauer, then we would surely say, Libido-symbol. But if we thought like Goethe, then we would say, Sun; for we exist, because the sun sees us.