The significance of the 'Three Metamorphoses' in Nietzsche's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra'.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche presents a work of therapeutic philosophy. According to the book's protagonist, Zarathustra, the whole world is suffering from a sickness. By following the advice he expounds, one can become cured. In the section 'Of the Three Metamorphoses', Zarathustra describes the various stages in man's recovery: "I name you three metamorphoses of the spirit: how the spirit shall become a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last …

…the book, Zarathustra is forced to abandon his quest to become a child, and instead embraces the perspective of the lion. He is unequivocally bound to the people, and to his work: "I aspire after my work." (p.336). He is consequently unable to will the eternal recurrence of those he despises but wishes to cure. It is therefore a fitting conclusion that Zarathustra should return to these people, possessed with the freedom of the lion.