The return to the ancient Greeks is something Nietzsche, like many others before and some after him, long considered to be the special destiny of Germans. The aim may seem not altogether unreasonable, if ascribed to the perceived superiority of nineteenth-century German scholarship, rather than to racial qualities or some supposed metaphysical quality of the language. While the British may have thought of themselves as the true heirs of the ancient Greeks, following Lord Elgin's acquisition of the Parthenon sculptures, it was the Germans who were developing the scholarship. German philology apparently brought the prospect of understanding what the Greeks really were like. But between us and the ancient world stood 2000 years of God. The world before Judaism and Christianity entices as in many respects a happy time. In the section in The Gay Science entitled “German hopes,” Nietzsche expresses the hope the Germans might live up to the original meaning of “Deutsche,” that is heathen, and consummate the work of Luther by becoming the first non-Christian nation of modern Europe (GS §146).

The proclamation that “God is dead” opens up the prospect of a return to antiquity. Nietzsche has much more in mind than the mere institution of atheism, which would not by itself open such a prospect of recreating such happiness. The return to a pagan sense of life is not so easily accomplished. To recover the joyousness and creative excellence of the Greek achievement would seemingly involve a more detailed unraveling of assumptions.