Quotes from book
The Mask of Apollo

The Mask of Apollo

The Mask of Apollo is a historical novel written by Mary Renault. Set in the ancient Greek world during the 4th century BC, the novel is written as the first-person narrative of a fictional character, Nikeratos , an actor. Throughout his professional life and his work in Syracuse and Athens, Nikeratos meets several historical characters and becomes a witness in the political conflicts of Syracuse.


“Christianity and Islam have changed irrevocably the moral reflexes of the world.”

The Mask of Apollo (1966)
Context: Christianity and Islam have changed irrevocably the moral reflexes of the world. The philosopher Herakleitos said with profound truth that you cannot step twice into the same river. The perpetual stream of human nature is formed into ever-changing shallows, eddies, falls and pools by the land over which it passes. Perhaps the only real value of history lies in considering this endlessly varied play between the essence and the accidents.

“The perpetual stream of human nature is formed into ever-changing shallows, eddies, falls and pools by the land over which it passes.”

The Mask of Apollo (1966)
Context: Christianity and Islam have changed irrevocably the moral reflexes of the world. The philosopher Herakleitos said with profound truth that you cannot step twice into the same river. The perpetual stream of human nature is formed into ever-changing shallows, eddies, falls and pools by the land over which it passes. Perhaps the only real value of history lies in considering this endlessly varied play between the essence and the accidents.

Similar authors

Mary Renault photo
Mary Renault 31
English novelist 1905–1983
John Galsworthy photo
John Galsworthy 48
English novelist and playwright
Mario Benedetti photo
Mario Benedetti 4
Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet
Vladimir Nabokov photo
Vladimir Nabokov 193
Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor
Rudyard Kipling photo
Rudyard Kipling 200
English short-story writer, poet, and novelist
Aldous Huxley photo
Aldous Huxley 290
English writer
Henri Barbusse photo
Henri Barbusse 197
French novelist
Samuel Beckett photo
Samuel Beckett 122
Irish novelist, playwright, and poet
Erich Maria Remarque photo
Erich Maria Remarque 63
German novelist
Clive Staples Lewis photo
Clive Staples Lewis 272
Christian apologist, novelist, and Medievalist