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This is my first in a series devoted to the close reading of Nietzsch'es masterpiece 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra.' Here I introduce the text and provide a number of reasons for why reading it is so crucially important to understanding Nietzsche's understanding of philosophy. I go through the first section of the Prologue and examine the various images the reader immediately encounters and what they indicate about the teaching Nietzsche is suggesting regarding the history of Western philosophy and religion, particularly Plato and Christianity.