Thus Spoke Zarathustra · Chapter
XXIX: The Tarantulas explained
Zarathustra confronts the 'preachers of equality,' whom he identifies as tarantulas—secretly vengeful beings who disguise their envy and lust for power as a demand for justice.
What happens
Zarathustra confronts the 'preachers of equality,' whom he identifies as tarantulas—secretly vengeful beings who disguise their envy and lust for power as a demand for justice. He warns his friends against those who preach equality out of impotent rage, and reaffirms his own doctrine that life requires struggle, inequality, and self-surpassing. He refuses to be confused with such preachers, declaring that justice for him means men are not equal, and that the path to the Superman demands war and difference.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Herd Morality
Zarathustra attacks the 'preachers of equality' as tarantulas whose demand for justice is actually a cover for revenge and envy, exposing the herd's moral claims as disguised will to power.
Will to Power and Creation
Life requires struggle, inequality, and self-surpassing; Zarathustra teaches that men are not equal and that war and difference are necessary for the Superman to emerge.
Pity and Contempt
Zarathustra expresses contempt for the tarantulas' vengeful morality, and warns his friends to distrust those in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.
Characters to notice
- Zarathustra
Zarathustra speaks in parable against the tarantulas, declaring himself a dancer, not a tarantula-dancer, and urging his friends to bind him to a pillar rather than let revenge dizzy his soul.
- The Tarantulas
The tarantulas are the 'preachers of equality' whose secret revenge and tyrant-longings hide behind the word 'justice.' They are poison-spiders who would use vengeance against all who are not like them.
- The Superman
Zarathustra invokes his love for the Superman as the reason he cannot preach equality: 'What would be my love to the Superman, if I spake otherwise?'
Key passages
“Because, for man to be redeemed from revenge—that is for me the bridge to the highest hope, and a rainbow after long storms.”
Zarathustra declares that humanity's liberation from the desire for revenge is the greatest hope and a sign of renewal after suffering.
This encapsulates Zarathustra's central ethical teaching: overcoming revenge is the path to the Superman.
“For thus speaketh justice unto me: 'Men are not equal.' And neither shall they become so!”
Zarathustra's own sense of justice affirms that inequality is fundamental and should not be abolished.
This directly opposes the tarantulas' egalitarian preaching and grounds Zarathustra's vision of life as self-surpassing.