ical, yet honest view of metaphysical speculation as an expression of poetic illusion. In 1868 he meets Wagner for the first time. In 1869, he becomes professor extraordinarius of classical philology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, at the astounding young age of 21. In 1870, the University chair recognizes his genious and insists that Nietzsche get tenure at the school. In 1872, he publishes his first work, The Birth of Tragedy, which is a small success. Wagner praises it liberally (some sources suggest mockingly), but not all critics gave it the same praise. In 1876, at the age of 32, he made an unsuccessful marriage attempt to Mathilde Trampedach. Inbetween, Nietzsche completed the Unfashionable Observations(1873-76), which used Arthur Schopenhauer and Richard Wagner as demonstrations and inspirations for new cultural standards. In 1878, he wrote Human, All Too Human, which marked a distinct turning point in his style, and the end of his friendship with Wagner. He retired from the university in 1879 June. The remainder of his works came during his nomadic years. His most famous work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, (1883-85) came directly after the year of Wagner's death, and the year that he fell into deep depression because of another failed love attempt with a woman named Lou Salome. The rest of his works come between this and his mental breakdown in 1889. He remains in a virtually catatonic state until his death in 2000. The likely connection that can be extracted from the above text is the notable absence of a father figure in FN's early years as an excellent reason for attachment to an elder father-like figure such as RW, who would guide and influence the course of his work and thought in so many deeply emotional ways. Their shared appreciation and fascination with the ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer - ideas generally of art as the vehicle of transcendence - distinguishes them as two of the pioneering forces behind the manifestati...
