This book explores the popularization in the Renaissance of the still pervasive myth that later cultures are the hereditary descendants of ancient or older cultures. It shows how the new techne of systematic genealogy facilitated the process of "remythicizing" the ancient authorities.
Introduction 1. The lie of descent 2. The technology of descent 3. The web of myths 4. Manufacturing discontinuity 5. Demythology and vertical time 6. The blood myth and the bee 7. Not so deep as genealogy 8. Epilogue: The privilege of myth
