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Book Description
With the adventures of Nikeratos, a tragic actor at the hub of political and cultural activity in Athens, 400 B. C., Mary Renault once again brings to life the world of Ancient Greece in stunning historical detail.
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In a vivid depiction of Ancient Greece and its legendary heroes, The Mask of Apollo tells the story of Nikeratos, the gifted tragic actor at the centre of political and cultural activity in Athens, 400 B. C. Wherever he goes, Nikeratos carries a golden mask of Apollo, a relic and reminder of an age when the theatre was at the height of its greatness and talent. Only a mascot at first, the mask gradually turns into Nikeratos' conscience as he encounters famous thinkers, actors, and philosophers, including the famous Plato himself. (20030723)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This fits in between the mythic novels (The Bull from the Sea, The King must Die) and the Alexander trilogy, and is set a little after The Last of the Wine which was mid-C5th bce. It's now late C5th-early C4th bce and Nikerator is a tragic actor travelling Greece with his golden actor's mask of Apollo. He meets Dionysios of Sicily and witnesses his relationship with Plato and political experiments and failures to create not just an ideal republic, but the ideal philosopher-ruler.
Drenched in sunshine and full of an actor's anecdotes (this is really quite luvvie in parts!) together with backstage gossip about the Greek theatre, this is still steeped in the atmosphere of ancient Greece (or at least the hygienic one that we tend to want to culturally buy into).
Fans of Alexander will be rewarded by the glimpse of the boy who appears towards the end, and the failed hope of Plato that here at last was the right raw material for the development of the philosopher-king.
As elegiac as her other books I would guess this is less accessible since it's much quieter, more domestic, despite the political eruptions on Sicily. So read the 'big' books first (the Alexander series, Theseus duo) and then come back to this.
Drenched in sunshine and full of an actor's anecdotes (this is really quite luvvie in parts!) together with backstage gossip about the Greek theatre, this is still steeped in the atmosphere of ancient Greece (or at least the hygienic one that we tend to want to culturally buy into).
Fans of Alexander will be rewarded by the glimpse of the boy who appears towards the end, and the failed hope of Plato that here at last was the right raw material for the development of the philosopher-king.
As elegiac as her other books I would guess this is less accessible since it's much quieter, more domestic, despite the political eruptions on Sicily. So read the 'big' books first (the Alexander series, Theseus duo) and then come back to this.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This fits in between the mythic novels (The Bull from the Sea, The King must Die) and the Alexander trilogy, and is set a little after The Last of the Wine which was mid-C5th bce. It's now late C5th-early C4th bce and Nikerator is a tragic actor travelling Greece with his golden actor's mask of Apollo. He meets Dionysios of Sicily and witnesses his relationship with Plato and political experiments and failures to create not just an ideal republic, but the ideal philosopher-ruler.
Drenched in sunshine and full of an actor's anecdotes (this is really quite luvvie in parts!) together with backstage gossip about the Greek theatre, this is still steeped in the atmosphere of ancient Greece (or at least the hygienic one that we tend to want to culturally buy into).
Fans of Alexander will be rewarded by the glimpse of the boy who appears towards the end, and the failed hope of Plato that here at last was the right raw material for the development of the philosopher-king.
As elegiac as her other books I would guess this is less accessible since it's much quieter, more domestic, despite the political eruptions on Sicily. So read the 'big' books first (the Alexander series, Theseus duo) and then come back to this.
Drenched in sunshine and full of an actor's anecdotes (this is really quite luvvie in parts!) together with backstage gossip about the Greek theatre, this is still steeped in the atmosphere of ancient Greece (or at least the hygienic one that we tend to want to culturally buy into).
Fans of Alexander will be rewarded by the glimpse of the boy who appears towards the end, and the failed hope of Plato that here at last was the right raw material for the development of the philosopher-king.
As elegiac as her other books I would guess this is less accessible since it's much quieter, more domestic, despite the political eruptions on Sicily. So read the 'big' books first (the Alexander series, Theseus duo) and then come back to this.
Format:Paperback
The Mask of Apollo is the story of an actor from birth who, as he climbs his way to the top of the theatrical world of c.400 bce, comes to know of the academic world of Plato and then the attempts to make the ideal 'republic' (a concept of statehood/polis actually based around a philosopher-king)in Syracuse, then the most glittering of cities in Hellenic Sicily. These attempts to fuse philosophy with political reality draw him in with stealthy inevitability at great personal risk to himself, and he a 'mere' actor.
I love Mary Renault's subtle and humane portraits of the classical world. They are densely but very thoroughly conceived. Yes I think she does buy into a rather idealised view of the past as others have noted, but it remains a very believeable one. Great stuff!
I love Mary Renault's subtle and humane portraits of the classical world. They are densely but very thoroughly conceived. Yes I think she does buy into a rather idealised view of the past as others have noted, but it remains a very believeable one. Great stuff!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Down to earth Renault
An enjoyable read. I have read nearly all of Renault's hist/fiction. This is a more gossipy, down to earth, personal read than are the more hero-centred books. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Kwev
Masterly Mask from the Mistress of Historical Fiction
Mary Renault has an astonishing ability to create the world of Ancient Greece, both mythic (as in The King Most Die, and The Bull from the Sea) and historical, as in The Mask of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by mikkjel
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