Cover page -- Halftitle page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Epigraph -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- THE FALL The Parable of the Ropedancer -- 1 Realism versus Idealism -- 2 Ropedancer as Buffoon -- CONVALESCENCE The Eagle and the Serpent -- 3 Cunning Reason and Proud Imagination -- 4 Physicians as Metaphysicians -- PILGRIMAGE The Higher Men and Zarathustra's Shadow -- 5 The Art of Self-Overcoming -- 6 The Decadence of Modernity -- 7 The Decadence of Christianity -- APOTHEOSIS The Tragic Buffoon -- 8 Ignoble Lies and Insolent Truths -- Conclusion -- Texts and Translations -- Bibliography -- Index