In the chapter, Zarathustra addresses a group he refers to as tarantulas. The setting begins with Zarathustra inviting the readers to observe the tarantulas’ lair, pointing out their web and enticing them to reveal themselves by disturbing it.

The tarantulas emerge, characterized by a black triangle on their backs, which serves as their emblem. Zarathustra claims to understand the essence of their souls, identifying it as vengeance. He describes how their bite induces a black scab, symbolizing the spreading of revenge that twists the soul. He speaks metaphorically to those who, like the tarantulas, “turn souls,” identifying them as preachers of equality and concealed seekers of revenge.

Zarathustra expresses his intent to expose their hidden motives by confronting them openly. He aims to draw them out of their “cave of falsehoods,” provoking their anger so that their concealed desire for revenge, masked under the term “justice,” becomes apparent. He contrasts his vision of liberating humanity from vengeance—an action that he considers a bridge to the highest hope and a rainbow after storms—with the tarantulas’ wish to inundate the world with the tempests of their revenge.

The tarantulas declare their intent to exact revenge and dishonor upon all who are different from them. They pledge to redefine “will to equality” as virtue and to raise their voices against all who possess power. Zarathustra criticizes these preachers of equality, suggesting that their cry for “equality” emanates from a tyrannical madness born of impotence. He accuses them of disguising their deepest tyrannical desires in words of virtue.

He observes that suppressed arrogance and envy, possibly inherited from their ancestors, erupt in them as a flame and madness of revenge. The unspoken grievances of the fathers find voice in the sons, revealing the sons as the exposed secrets of their fathers. These individuals appear as enthusiasts, but it is vengeance that fuels their passion, not heartfelt conviction. When they become refined and cold, it is envy—not intellect—that imparts this demeanor.

Their jealousy leads them onto the paths of thinkers, marked by a tendency to excess until exhaustion compels them to rest in desolation. Zarathustra notes that vengeance resonates in their complaints, and even in their praises there is harm. Judging others brings them a sense of bliss.

He advises mistrust toward all who possess a strong drive to punish, describing them as people of poor character whose faces betray their nature as executioners and hounds. He warns against those who speak frequently of their justice, noting a lack of sweetness in their souls. When they label themselves as the “good and just,” he reminds that they lack only power to become hypocrites akin to Pharisees.

Zarathustra firmly states his desire not to be associated or confused with these preachers of equality and tarantulas. He acknowledges that some individuals propagate his teachings about life while simultaneously preaching equality and harboring venomous intent. These tarantulas profess to advocate for life, yet they sit in their caves, turned away from life, aiming to harm those who currently hold power—a role historically aligned with preaching death.

He remarks that under different circumstances, these tarantulas would teach differently; in the past, they were known as the foremost denouncers of the world and burners of heretics. Thus, he distances himself from these preachers of equality, asserting that justice, as he understands it, proclaims that humans are not equal. He emphasizes that humans should not strive for equality, for otherwise his aspiration for the Übermensch would be meaningless.

Zarathustra envisions humanity pressing forward toward the future across innumerable bridges and pathways, with increasing conflict and inequality among them, propelled by his profound love for this progression. He urges them to become creators of images and phantoms in their enmities, engaging in the highest forms of struggle through these creations. Concepts such as good and evil, rich and poor, high and low, and all names of values, are to serve as weapons and resonant symbols that life must continually surpass itself.

He portrays life as seeking to construct itself upward with pillars and steps, yearning to gaze into vast distances toward blessed beauties—hence the necessity of elevation. Because life requires height, it necessitates steps and the contradiction of steps and those who ascend. Life strives to ascend and, in ascending, to overcome itself.

Zarathustra draws attention to the ruins of an ancient temple near the tarantulas’ cave, urging his companions to observe with enlightened eyes. He suggests that whoever once built their thoughts upward in stone understood the secret of all life as profoundly as the wisest. This ancient builder teaches that conflict and inequality exist even within beauty, and that the struggle for power and supremacy is depicted here in the clearest metaphor.

He calls upon himself and his friends to be adversaries in a secure and beautiful manner, striving against each other in a divine way.

Zarathustra then describes being bitten on the finger by the tarantula, his old adversary. The tarantula believes that punishment and justice are due—that Zarathustra should not sing songs in honor of enmity without consequence.

Recognizing that the tarantula has taken revenge, Zarathustra fears that his soul might now begin to spin with vengeance. To prevent himself from succumbing to this cycle, he implores his friends to bind him to a pillar, expressing a preference to become a pillar saint rather than a spinning whirlwind of vengeance, or a ‘Tarantella dancer’.