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The Mask of Apollo

Mary Renault

4.05 · Rating details · 2,038 ratings · 148 reviews

Set in fourth-century B.C. Greece, The Mask of Apollo is narrated by Nikeratos, a tragic actor who takes with him on all his travels a gold mask of Apollo, a relic of the theater's golden age, which is now past. At first his mascot, the mask gradually becomes his conscience, and he refers to it his gravest decisions, when he finds himself at the center of a political crisi ...more

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Paperback, 372 pages

Published February 12th 1988 by Vintage (first published 1966)

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Historical Fiction on Greece and Rome

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Sep 24, 2019 Henry Avila rated it really liked it

Knowledge of ancient Greek theater or if you prefer theatre ( blame the different spelling on American Noah Webster) may to many seem trivial pursuit in the modern world of cell phones, the internet and high tech Broadway plays more like special effects films than a live performance. However the remote beginnings of anything has a certain charm others call it quaintness, not I. To learn is to be human, darkness is just the lack of light....Back to our novel by Britisher Mary Renault; she was fas Knowledge of ancient Greek theater or if you prefer theatre ( blame the different spelling on American Noah Webster) may to many seem trivial pursuit in the modern world of cell phones, the internet and high tech Broadway plays more like special effects films than a live performance. However the remote beginnings of anything has a certain charm others call it quaintness, not I. To learn is to be human, darkness is just the lack of light....Back to our novel by Britisher Mary Renault; she was fascinated by the Greek people of long ago, the customs, culture and philosophers...yes and wars, before Alexander the Great conquered the quarrelsome city states never united... their weakness and ultimate destruction. Nikeratos a young actor in Athens his late father was one too so at a very early age became this, truth be said he had no choice. In the 4th century B.C. Greek actors wore masks on stage to play different roles, since women weren't allowed men wore them for characters both male or female, old and young , the problems increased because just three actors were permitted to speak with the exception of an extra a fourth who rarely did. Versatility was paramount for a successful thespian amidst all the many nonspeaking performers including the famous Greek chorus and musicians in an oval shaped outdoors amphitheater a structure for acoustics... some holding upwards of 15,000 enthusiastic viewers... Famous historical figures in the narrative are portrait warts and all such as Plato and his fabled Athens academy, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Dion the Syracuse, Sicily ruler liberating the city from the tyrants Dionysios the Elder and even worst successor the son....Dionysios the Younger yet power destroys noble intentions. We are shown Delphi, the Olympics in Olympia the huge crowds and corruptions as Nikeratos tours the Greek cities around the Mediterranean Sea though shipwrecks are common, with fellow actors, gets involved with the conflicts and politics in Syracuse that Plato tries to solve there unsuccessfully, Dion was a disciple of his. Nevertheless things spiral out of control the old hates surface and the killings follow, the ground becomes soaked in red like it always does . Nikeratos is disillusioned... theory and reality seldom work. Still the career prospers, his skills become well known while not getting rich ( no twenty million dollar wages) unlike today, he is comfortable why risk his life on dirty politics? If you are curious about ancient Greece the fine writer will take you there....Oh I almost forgot...the intriguing mask of Apollo from the title, Nikeratos seldom wears on stage develops into a good luck token for his dangerous travels... ...more

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Aug 30, 2019 Clif Hostetler rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This historical novel is set in Ancient Greece circa 360 to 340 BC toward the end of Plato's life and the beginning of Alexander the Great's life. The story is told in the first-person voice of a fictional character who is an actor. His theatrical profession leads him to travel through various parts of the Greek world and particularly between Athens and Syracuse. His life seems to always intersect with several historical characters and becomes a witness to the political conflicts of the time, pa ...more

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Sep 10, 2012 John Nevola rated it really liked it

Most of the poor reviews for this book are from disgruntled schoolchildren forced to read it as a mandatory assignment. One must have a taste for this period and a desire to learn more about it before it could be fully appreciated.

Mary Renault immerses the reader in the art, culture, habits and times of ancient Greece. Told through the eyes and thoughts of an actor (all of whom wore masks on stage), Renault tells of the conflicts between logic and passion, good and evil and power and weakness. S ...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Simon Mcleish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

The Mask of Apollo is one of my favourite straight historical novels (using the word "straight" to distinguish it from crossover historical crime novels, which seem to have taken over fiction set in the past since the sixties).

Set in the fourth century BC, the narrator of the novel is a notable Athenian actor named Nikeratos, who travels to Syracuse (then a Greek city) and accidentally becomes involved with the city state's turbulent politics. Syracuse was ruled by a tyrant, Dionysius, who is dy

The Mask of Apollo is one of my favourite straight historical novels (using the word "straight" to distinguish it from crossover historical crime novels, which seem to have taken over fiction set in the past since the sixties).

Set in the fourth century BC, the narrator of the novel is a notable Athenian actor named Nikeratos, who travels to Syracuse (then a Greek city) and accidentally becomes involved with the city state's turbulent politics. Syracuse was ruled by a tyrant, Dionysius, who is dying as Nikeratos approaches the city from the sea, fresh from a triumph in Athens with a play written by the ruler himself. The problem is with his successor. Dionysius had a son, also named Dionysius, but kept him from any semblance of power during his lifetime , leaving him lacking in both judgement and confidence. He also has a nephew, Dion, who is highly respected and who was given many privileges by his uncle (including the right to appear in his presence armed, something no one else was allowed to do). But even so Dion is not likely to be named as the successor over Dionysius' own son, nor (with his suspicious involvement with the foreign "sophist" Plato) popular with other powerful figures in the Syracusan court.

The combination of theatre and politics works well. Renault makes Nikeratos a character based on ideas of what an important actor manager would be like in the twentieth century, a Terry or someone from that kind of acting family. I don't normally like the use of characters with a modern outlook in historical novels, but here it works well.This is partly because nothing is really known about what an ancient Greek theatrical production was like backstage, and it seems likely that the concerns of actors then were similar to those of actors today: gossip about other people in the profession, upstaging and working together, the audience's lack of understanding, and, of course, sex. And in other ways, the character is not at all contemporary. Nikeratos is a proper pagan Greek, who believes that an old fashioned mask of Apollo given to him by another actor is periodically inhabited by the spirit of the god, and treats it as a kind of shrine.

The Mask of Apollo could be considered an archetypical historical novel. It is narrated by an (imaginary) character at the centre of a series of interesting historical events, who knows people the reader may well have heard of (Plato, Dionysius father and son, Dion; Aristotle and Philip of Macedon - the father of Alexander the Great - are also mentioned). Nikeratos isn't interested in politics, and becomes involved with the Syracusan power struggles unwillingly - and this is useful to the story, because he constantly needs things explained to him which would not be needed by a more involved politician but are going to also be unfamiliar to many readers. The history of Greek Syracuse is probably not terribly well known today, but it is eventful and has fascinating characters, so makes an excellent choice of subject for a historical novel. It also balances out the much better known Athenian characters (Plato in particular, as someone whose influence on the development of European culture is immense), even though Nikeratos is himself from that city. And even in the parts of the book set in Athens, Renault manages to combine the relatively unfamiliar with things which are much more likely to be obscure or unknown to a modern reader.

The background is meticulously researched yet made accessible to the reader without becoming a series of lectures on the ancient Greek way of life. In fact, I would say that the novel is one of the very greatest of its type, not just one I like personally. Renault does not indulge in the kind of literary games which can be seen in The French Lieutenant's Woman, almost contemporary, but still achieves a literate power without this postmodern slant.

One of the themes explored by the novel is the nature of personal pagan religious feeling. Nikeratos' attitude to the mask is one of several examples of devotion to a god or goddess to whom an individual worshipper feels a particular affinity. This is striking as it is a major difference to today's largely secular western world, where even those who attend places of worship tend to separate off their everyday life from their religious observances; the chosen deity was a major part of the worshipper's daily life, with an idol (like the mask) as a focus for the relationship. Evangelical Christians talk about a personal God, but the very fact of monotheistic belief makes this God seem much more remote and unconcerned than who is a patron of your profession, or shares your name; and the Protestant history of deism (a God who is relatively uninvolved with His creation) in their theology makes this remoteness even greater. Ignoring the issue of whether or not either the pagan or Christian gods are real, this seems to me to be less appealing to the imagination.

So The Mask of Apollo is interesting, readable, thought provoking, well researched, and has good characters. ...more

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Nov 26, 2016 Terry rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

3.5 stars

I am not sure if you could find a better, or more entertaining, tour guide to ancient Greece than Mary Renault. I am constantly surprised by Renault’s ability to balance the fine line between immersing me in a world that is ultimately foreign to my own, and yet one that still often feels surprisingly ‘modern’ and relatable given the era in which the stories are set. I never feel, on the one hand, as though the ancient Greece she has created is simply our world doing cosplay, and yet on 3.5 stars

I am not sure if you could find a better, or more entertaining, tour guide to ancient Greece than Mary Renault. I am constantly surprised by Renault’s ability to balance the fine line between immersing me in a world that is ultimately foreign to my own, and yet one that still often feels surprisingly ‘modern’ and relatable given the era in which the stories are set. I never feel, on the one hand, as though the ancient Greece she has created is simply our world doing cosplay, and yet on the other hand (due largely, I think, to the urban - and urbane - nature of the protagonists and their world) I often find myself feeling very much at home here in spite the many obvious differences between our cultures and the gulf of time that separates us.

In this outing we are once again in the environs of Athens during the classical period (this time after the trials of the Peloponnesian War and just prior to the emergence of Macedon as a great power). Our story is that of Nikeratos, a tragedian of Athens whom we follow as he not only learns his trade, but also navigates some of the shaky political events of his day. It is also the story of the rise and fall of Dion, nobleman of Syracuse and sometime pupil of Plato, as he attempts to free his city from the grip of tyranny and institute the just maxims of his former teacher.

Nikeratos, or Niko, is a man born and bred to the theatre. Following in the footsteps of his father, Niko moves from being a mere extra to ascending the ranks of his profession until he is one of the leading tragedians of his day. Renault also leavens her story with a small bit of the supernatural (something not uncommon in her work, though never an overstated element) in the form of an antique mask of Apollo Niko comes to own. Through this mask Niko is sometimes touched by the god and inspired to acts that tend to further his career and reputation. In one such act Niko defies death at the hands of a jealous fellow actor to ensure that ‘the play goes on’ and as a result gains the adulation of the public and the notice of the upright and pious nobleman Dion. In a lesser writer of historical fiction the two would now become the best of friends, or perhaps lovers, and Niko would be dead centre in the political struggles of Syracuse in which Dion was to play such a large role. Renault, however, plays it slightly differently. To be sure Niko and Dion form a strong bond, Niko himself being somewhat overcome by the noble and virtuous character of the nobleman from Syracuse, but he generally remains a peripheral figure in Dion’s life…one who does participate in important events from time to time due to this connection (sometimes merely as a witness and at others as a peripheral participant), but who still more or less stands at the edge of these history-shaping events, watching from the outside.

I think Renault thus manages to balance the desire (or even need) of a writer of historical fiction to have her characters partake in the great events of history as they have come down to us, and even to hob-nob with some of the most famous personages of the day (Plato, and both Dionysios I and II, tyrants of Syracuse, are examples of such people that Niko meets in this book) without making the connection seem too forced (at least in my opinion). For the most part we remain very much grounded in Niko’s day to day life as an actor even as we circle the periphery of the ‘great events’ going on around him.

Renault had already written Sokrates into her novel The Last of the Wine and Aristotle and his influence would later feature in the Alexander trilogy, but here she scores a trifecta of famous philosophers, having Plato play a significant role in the attempts to rehabilitate the tyrants of Syracuse at the behest of his friend and former pupil Dion, with numerous mentions of his mentor and role model Sokrates, and even a walk-on by Aristotle (Aristoteles here) at small points in the story. I found this, in addition to Renault’s creative attempt to re-imagine the details of the life of ancient Greek theatre, to be entertaining elements of the story. This important role given to these foundational thinkers of western thought has allowed Renault to ruminate somewhat not only on their theories, but on their real-world application. Since our viewpoint character Niko very much views the life of the Academy from the outside, whatever his friendships with its members, one might say that she is thus able to view these tenets in an almost neutral way. Renault’s voice, as uttered by her characters, is always erudite and well-spoken and I found myself enjoying such gems as:

I thought, Perhaps it is impossible for a philosopher to be a king – at any rate, to be both at once. Perhaps that is only for the god

a response to Plato’s The Republic (a work whose precepts very much infuse the novel) with which I heartily concur; not to mention:

We are weary of ourselves, and have dreamed a king. If now the gods have sent us one, let us not ask him to be more than mortal.

Now he had all which if he had sunk his soul to evil could have made him glad. Old Dionysios had had it and died content. He suffered because he had loved the good, and still longed after it.

which both speak to the difficult political realities incumbent upon a king that may render even the best of intentions moot in the end.

Renault’s great love (one might even say worship) of Alexander shines through in an amusing scene at the end of the novel which also speaks to the power of art to move our souls and shape our lives in ways that can be both unexpected and transformative (a fact of which readers are acutely aware, I know I am always in search of such works):

It seemed that the god had said to me, “Speak for me, Nikeratos. Someone’s soul is listening.” Someone’s always is, I suppose, if one only knew. Plato never forgot it.

...more

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Feb 17, 2019 Xia Xia rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Xia Xia by: Teal

Shelves: historical, to-read-sept-2018, lgbt, masterpieces

Review later because I am so emotional right now I can't even...
And those last two chapters... gah!

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Thanks a lot for the buddy read, Teal! ...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Alicja rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ancient-greece, historical-fiction, favorites, ancient-world, literary-fiction, lgbt-fiction, female-author, dream-library

rating: 5.5/5

I'm awestruck. In short, this is an (ancient Greek) political thriller. It is probably my new favorite from Mary Renault (although I always get excited when I pick up one of her books); I just couldn’t put in down. For days I carried it with me everywhere, reading every free moment I could find.

Nikeratos (Niko), a 4th century B.C. Greek tragic actor finds himself in a middle of a political drama involving among others the famous Plato and Dion. He carries with him a mask of Apollo, rating: 5.5/5

I'm awestruck. In short, this is an (ancient Greek) political thriller. It is probably my new favorite from Mary Renault (although I always get excited when I pick up one of her books); I just couldn’t put in down. For days I carried it with me everywhere, reading every free moment I could find.

Nikeratos (Niko), a 4th century B.C. Greek tragic actor finds himself in a middle of a political drama involving among others the famous Plato and Dion. He carries with him a mask of Apollo, an old relic from the past as he travels performing (and carrying secret messages for political leaders).

Niko is such a wonderful fictional character; through his eyes we see city-states, ideas of democracy vs. tyranny, politicians, philosophers, and culture clash. Niko is born into a theatrical family, acting the only vocation he knows; it is his life. But being an actor in ancient Greece gave him the ability to freely travel between cities, bringing him straight into a the middle of a political drama which he never wanted to be a part (he never claimed to know anything about politics which is great for us because we get everything explained). He meets amazingly drawn historical figures such as Plato, Dion, Dionysios (elder and son) as they play for power and rule.

Filled with philosophical and political ideas (Plato’s) and a continuous questioning, this novel is a heavy read. I think I may need to read Plato’s Symposium and then re-read this one to have an even better understanding of the depth of issues brought to the reader. Also, there is a slight tie in with the Alexander the Great trilogy that is really amazing, putting the happenings of this novel within an even greater historical context.

Renault’s beautiful style of writing is present throughout; she seamlessly weaves descriptions of the ancient world with personal interactions/relationships. Her characters are real, complex, and compelling. They also give insight and deeper cultural understanding of ancient Greece and the vast differences between the city states. Among all this, she brings the ancient theatre to life and a perspective on acting that is unique. ...more

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May 09, 2020 Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history, historical-fiction, reviewed-in-2020, war, love, travel

In the fourth century B.C. a gifted actor of tragedy, Nikeratos becomes involved with Plato and the fateful events which culminate in the bloody struggle for the city of Syracuse.

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All across the Isthmus cities were being captured and freed in alternating times. Armies marched where they willed.
People are always saying what fine free lives we actors lead, able to cross frontiers and go anywhere. This is true, if it means that hired troops have nothing against us, and others respect the sacred edi ...more

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Nov 17, 2020 Shirin Tondkar rated it liked it

Shelves: own-fa, mythology

A beautiful book about theater and an actor in 400 BC. I had pictured an exciting and adventure story before I started reading it. BUT, this was more history than I expected with a slow narrative and more or less similar to Plato's books, it was hard for me to finish it. However, I don't say any negative traits about this book, just I had imagined a different story. ...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Jack Massa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, classics

In one quintessentially Greek moment from this superb novel, the narrator recalls the story of a father of two Olympic champions. At the moment when his sons are crowned, the crowd chants to him to "Die now," because, of course, no moment of his life could ever again be so good.

So, in finishing The Mask of Apollo am I tempted to chant to myself: "Give up reading historical fiction now."

'Nuff said. ...more

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Dec 21, 2010 Christy English rated it it was amazing

This is one of my favorite books of all time...re-reading it now and loving it yet again...

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Jul 26, 2019 Iset rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classical-age-600-to-400bce-fiction

If I said I was reading a historical novel by Mary Renault, written in first person, with a male protagonist who has an inauspicious start in life and an attitude of personal honour and excellence, I might be talking about any one of them. It’s true that Renault seems to have a defined pattern in the stories she tells and the types of main characters she writes, and The Mask of Apollo does not break the mould in that regard. As this is the last of Renault’s ancient Greek novels that I have final ...more

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Dec 10, 2008 Rozonda rated it it was amazing

A Pagan book if ever there was one. Mary Renault confronts the joy of life and the joy of philosophy in the life of Niko, a Greek actor, who gets to meet Plato and his Academy, philosopher king Dion of Syracusa and , in the end, young Alexander the Great.
Packed with adventure and very deep at the same time, I consider it to be one of Renault's masterpieces. ...more

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Dec 24, 2013 Gary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites

It's taken me a while to write this review, mostly because I'm not confident that I can really do this book justice. My first attempt devolved into a series of gushy praise, so I figured I'd best get a little distance before giving it another go....

Rather than leap into a bunch of blind admiration, I’m going to let you decide for yourself why Mary Renault’s version of Greek history through literature is worth reading. This is the speech attributed to Dion by Plutarch before the battle to retake ...more

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Jun 05, 2009 Margaret rated it it was amazing

Shelves: british-literature, 2011-read, historical-fiction, authors-qrs, greeks

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Nikeratos is an actor in fourth century BC Greece, following in the footsteps of his famous father. Everywhere he performs, he brings a golden mask of Apollo, to which he goes for advice and guidance. After an impressive performance at Delphi, Niko meets Dion of Syracuse, who is a distinguished politician and a dear friend of Plato's, the inspiration for Plato's philosopher-king. Niko is drawn to Dion and because of this is also drawn into the political turmoil in Sicily after King Dionysios die ...more

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Jun 17, 2010 Christin rated it really liked it

Shelves: greeks-and-romans-too, lgbtq, mary-renault

My first venture into non-Alexander Mary Renault. I can't help but be sucked in by the first page. Something about her work... it just takes you by the hand and gently leads you into the world and you never ever want to leave. At least, I don't. ...more

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May 17, 2012 Brenda Clough rated it it was amazing

A wonderful book. Mary Renault is as good as your own personal time machine (if you do not mind only ever traveling to classical Greece). She is also a total whiz at taking you into a specialized world -- in this case, the theater -- and making its thrills and excitements your own.

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Jan 24, 2016 Matt rated it it was amazing

Such a wonderful book! I read The Praise Singer, my first foray into Renault's novels of Greece, in September last year and loved it. I wonder why I waited so long to pick this one up! The story is a fleshing out of the history of Greece in the mid-4th century BCE. The main character (who is fictional, like much of the book, but not all!) is an actor. Having chosen such a character for her novel allows Renault to travel all over the Mediterranean and to explore life much more fully than if she h Such a wonderful book! I read The Praise Singer, my first foray into Renault's novels of Greece, in September last year and loved it. I wonder why I waited so long to pick this one up! The story is a fleshing out of the history of Greece in the mid-4th century BCE. The main character (who is fictional, like much of the book, but not all!) is an actor. Having chosen such a character for her novel allows Renault to travel all over the Mediterranean and to explore life much more fully than if she had selected someone more conventional like a soldier, politician, or philosopher.

The plot spends a lot of time in Syracuse and folds in a good deal of the history of Plato's Academy. There are a myriad of famous personages that it is fun to see in this story (including one very famous, handsome young general, who makes for an excellent coda to novel). Although Renault takes liberties with some of the historical details that we do not or cannot know, the book smacks of reality and seems to capture the spirit of the age better than any dry history could. This, again, is largely thanks to the main character. Nikeratos is equal parts savvy, sensitive, and sage. Following him through the novel is a delight. He falls in love often, usually with men, which must have caused some stir when the book was first published in the 60s. The love is never a big part of the action though and it is treated as a simple matter of fact. Niko's motives are most frequently explained by his dedication to the gods Dionysus and Apollo and by his commitment to his art. In the service of these, we see him travel the Mediterranean, encounter many people from different backgrounds, and perform plays (some real, some imagined by the author).

Perhaps the best part of this novel is its ability to cut through all of the worldviews that appear (political, philosophical, hedonistic) to explore what really motivates people. The picture of Plato and his disciple Dion forms the centerpiece of the novel (as you could guess from the epigraph, which is Plato's eulogy of Dion). I don't know what else to say, except that I'm sad it's over. I haven't enjoyed a historical novel so much since The Red Tent. This is a real classic. You'll lose sleep to read it. Or at least I did. ...more

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Jun 24, 2016 Nigel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Following the life of actor Nikeratos and his various adventures touring the classical world, in particular his friendship with Dion of Syracuse and Plato the philosopher as they try to forge a Republic in Syracuse.

Once again Renault creates and inhabits a character who seems to in turn inhabits and evokes his world perfectly, and more than that who lives and breathes the theatre, which informs every aspect of his life and outlook. It's a breathtaking achievement, seemingly effortless, utterly ...more

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Jun 15, 2019 Woody Burchett rated it it was amazing

This book has everything I look for in good historical fiction. It doesn't fall into the trap of projecting modern character motivations or storytelling tropes into a fundamentally different world, but instead concerns itself with the issues of the time period. What is the ideal system of government? Is the Platonic idea of a philosopher-king viable? Is it possible for a ruler to govern a base people without debasing himself? How should the gods be portrayed in the theater? Is it best for drama ...more

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Oct 28, 2013 Deb rated it it was amazing

Renault's classic tale gives us Greek actor Nikeratos, who participates in and observes the fall of the tyrants of Syracuse. Nikeratos is an admirable character--talented, loyal, compassionate, insightful into human frailty, and capable of understanding philosophy. This leads him to cross paths with one of Athen's great treasures, Plato's Academy. He meets Plato and many of his followers, becomes a trusted friend, and an acolyte of sorts to Plato's "ideal king," Dion of Syracuse. Dion was the la ...more

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Feb 21, 2014 Matt Benzing rated it it was amazing

Many years ago a theater history professor recommended this to me, and I have just now gotten around to reading it. Very enjoyable book for anyone with an interest in theatre or classical civilization. The author creates a credible ancient world and builds her story of political intrigue out of real people and events; her protagonist is just alien enough in his assumptions and attitudes to make a believable citizen of a world far from our own, while being just modern enough to allow the reader t ...more

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Feb 08, 2019 Molly rated it liked it

Renault did not capture the essence of Greece for me... her writing was boring for me, she never described things as I wanted her to. I liked the main character and a boy he mentors later in the story. I liked the diversity, an openly gay character, a girl who dressed as a boy to learn philosophy with Plato, and a black character written in a positive light. This is pretty significant for being written in the 60s. I liked the premise. And you can tell she did a lot of research. But it was lack l ...more

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Jun 28, 2008 Deb rated it it was amazing

This is a fascinating look at theatre in ancient Greece and the part actors played in the politics of the time. I also dig the way the author writes about the sexual mores of the era. Same sex relationships were fairly commonplace and that is how they are portrayed in the novel. A bold move for a writer in the fifties.

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Jan 16, 2009 James Henderson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

I love the fiction of Mary Renault and this is the first of her novels that I read. At the time I already had begun to acquire a passion for ancient Greece from a wonderful Latin teacher in high school. Luckily for us in addition to teaching us Latin our teacher imbued in us an interest in learning about everything classical that grew for me into more reading and led me to the discovery of Mary Renault and her historical fiction set in ancient Greece. The story of The Mask of Apollo involves the ...more

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Apr 23, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Lovers of Historical Fiction

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, novels, ebooks

My introduction to Mary Renault was The King Must Die, the first of two novels about Theseus--it was actually assigned reading in high school. What impressed me so much there was how she took a figure out of myth and grounded him historically. After that I quickly gobbled up all of Renault's works of historical fiction set in Ancient Greece. The two novels about Theseus and the trilogy centered on Alexander the Great are undoubtedly her most famous of those eight novels, and I'd add The Last of ...more

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Nov 27, 2017 Ivan Stoner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An exceptional book! Mary Renault is a fine writer--something of a rarity in historical fiction. She's also a very good historian from what I understand. The Mask of Apollo is the life of an Athenian actor during the time of Plato. It specifically concerns dramatic political events in Sicily as seen through his eyes. It's also a very interesting look at Classical Greek theater.

The book is also fascinating because
(1) it was published in 1966 and involves an overtly gay protagonist and frank disc ...more

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Sep 29, 2016 Lara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction

Another in my Mary Renault re-read.

I blow hot and cold on this book, set in the post classical-pre Alexander period of Greek history, a period I know little about other than the history of Plato's Academy.
The story of an Athenian actor and his adventures with the great and near great men of the day, it is richly described and you do come to know the protagonist quite well. The history and hopes of the time are well fleshed out, but I feel that more than any of her other books, she has shadowed ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Haley rated it it was amazing

This was an amazing story, woven with rich detail that made me feel like I was in Ancient Greece, experiencing the journeys of an actor. And an interesting one at that. Culture and fiction are blended perfectly in an elegant story. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!

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Mar 11, 2017 Wendy MacKenzie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Re-reading this wonderful novel for perhaps the dozenth time. There really is no-one comparable to Mary Renault in the field of historical fiction.

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Travanti Tate's Review 9	1	2	May 08, 2020 08:13PM

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About Mary Renault

Mary Renault

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Mary Renault was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander.

Her historical novels are all set in ancient Greece. They include a pair of novels about the mythological hero Theseus and a trilogy about the career of Alexander ...more