Set in Greece of the 4th century BCE,
The Mask of Apollo the actor Nikeratos. Thru the eyes of this warm, sympathetic & living character we experience the war-weary, self-searching world of his time. Always on his travels Niko, the tragedian, takes with him an antique mask of Apollo, a relic of the theater's golden age, which from being his mascot becomes by degrees his artistic conscience. He refers to it his gravest decisions, when he finds himself at the center of political crises & dangerous intrigues. Dion, philosopher & soldier, when summoned from Athens, is trying to persuade the young tyrant Dionysios the Younger to accept the rule of law. Niko, immersed in his on-stage tragedies, yet intimately involved with public figures & affairs, narrates the action of the greater, human tragedy when Plato's fearless integrity sets off the clash between Dion & Dionysios, & looses the pent-up violence which culminates in the burning & sack of the city.
