Tragedy and Philosophy

Nietzsche's ambition in Birth of Tragedy is more than to propose a new theory of Tragedy, or an innovative general Aesthetic Theory.  Rather, his introduction of 'Socrates' as a detached observer of Tragedy implies a definition of 'Reason' as a species of Apollinian Art, and, hence, as born out of Music.  Furthermore, it casts the entire Socratic tradition as originating in Tragedy, a thesis sometimes misinterpreted as a nostalgia for the pre-Socratic era, rather than as a constructive element in any current philosophical self-understanding.  However, by accepting the fictionalized Platonist character as his 'Socrates', he misses an opportunity to cast the trial of the historical man as a 'tragedy', with the actual Socrates as its 'tragic hero'.  With Philosophy born from Tragedy in this way, the 'Philosopher' is established as a person of action, of which the Rational Arts--Thinking, Arguing, etc.--are special cases.