The Mask of Apollo

A Novel

This novel of ancient Greece, featuring Plato and a young actor, by the bestselling author of the Novels of Alexander the Great, is “a shining light” (Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Award–winning author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies).

In the fourth century BC, Nikeratos is an actor, a devotee of Plato, and a friend of Dion of Syracuse. Their relationship gives Nikeratos rare proximity to the Greek political stage at a moment when ambitions are about to collide. In Syracuse, the young tyrant Dionysios the Younger rules, but Dion is determined to bring democracy and strength to the city. In an effort to curb Dionysios’s excesses, Dion has Plato pose as a tutor—only to learn that the corrupt youth won’t be so easily contained. With a combination of erudition and storytelling force, Renault immerses the reader in intrigue and crafts a vibrant Syracuse that leaps off the page.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Mary Renault including rare images of the author.