The Ugliest Man

The ugliest man, who prominently leads the ass-litany in Zarathustra IV, has been regarded by at least one commentator as a "miserable Christian", and is universally referred to by Nietzsche's readers as simply the "murderer" of God. Zarathustra continues running through the woods. As the path curves, he enters a realm of death surrounded by red and black cliffs where there are no birds, trees, or grass; where only fat green snakes go to die. Unlike the mythical Judeo-Christian story of the Garden of Eden where the serpent tempts innocent humans away from God, Nietzsche portrays this wasteland—the valley of Snakes' Death—as a place where only one human lives among snakes: the "inexpressible one", the ugliest man. The ugliest man plays a prominent role at the evening's ass festival. Zarathustra, a gadfly on the ass of the sluggish beast of tradition, will meet the voluntary beggar (Jesus) on his pathway through the woods.