Zarathustra comes down from his mountain to teach humanity about the √úbermensch, about the death of God, about eternal recurrence, and humanity mostly ignores him. Nietzsche wrote this in ecstatic bursts, convinced he was producing a new bible, and the prose is biblical: parables, sermons, poetry. The ideas are dangerous and exhilarating. God is dead and we have killed him; now we must become worthy of the deed. The book influenced every philosopher who followed, and quite a few dictators. The serpent and the eagle accompany Zarathustra. The higher man has not yet arrived. We are the rope across the abyss.