ABSTRACT
It is not sufficiently known to what extent Georg Lukacs, the author of The Theory of the Novel and The Metaphysics of Tragedy, stood guard, in a manner of speaking, over the conception of Benjamin’s classic text, the title of which is incorrectly translated as Origin of the German Tragic Drama. Even the best monograph on Benjamin by Richard Wolin speaks of this influence in general and vague terms. The early Benjamin had no time for Hegel, nor for Max Weber for that matter, but he was eager to embrace the recommendations of The Theory of the Novel, a work he clearly and rightly regarded as Nietzsche’s match. There has not been enough attention paid to the fact that another key work of the young Lukacs, The Metaphysics of Tragedy, was used and explicitly referred to in the Trauerspiel essay. It had a double impact on Benjamin.
