That's an interesting point about the great man of history thesis. It's slightly unrelated to literature, though, since we can sublimate the lack of heroes in history by turning to art. The third article in this series, coming out this Monday, addresses this lack of real heroism.

Are demagogues like Hitler and Trump, then, heroes or villains? Are they existentially enlightened? It calls for a longer answer than I can give here. Part of an answer would refer us to Nietzsche's point about the Ubermensch, that this higher type is beyond good and evil. But we'd want to evaluate those liberated individuals in aesthetic terms. Just how creative are they?

The fact is that demagoguing to start a cult and to rule the world is pretty cliched. It's cancer-like savagery channeled by sophistry, amorality, narcissism, resentment, and so on. In fact, Nietzsche would have repudiated these "great men" for being too resentful, for seeking mere vengeance against scapegoats rather than understanding themselves better. To know what enlightened individuals would do, we'd first need to strain our imagination to think of what exactly they'd be like.