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Mark of the Cyclops (The Ancient Greek Mysteries)

Book Synopsis

A thrilling mix of Sherlock Holmes and Ancient Greece from prize-winning author Saviour Pirotta, with stunning illustrations from up-and-coming illustrator Freya Hartas. This exciting adventure will have readers gripped from start to finish.

Young scribe Nico’s new friend Thrax has a strange knack for figuring things out. When they travel to wedding with their master, a valuable vase is broken and Thrax’s special skills might just come in useful. Can the boys prove that slave girl Gaia is innocent, and discover what the mark of the cyclops means?

Winner of the North Somerset Teachers Book Award for Quality fiction, this dramatic and mysterious tale is packed with wonderful characters and insight into the daily life of the ancient Greeks, which is a required topic in the KS2 History curriculum. Perfect for fans of the Roman Mysteries , or anyone interested in ancient Greece.

Our Review Panel says...

The Ancient Greek Mysteries make up a fun and action-packed series of stories that are perfect for introducing readers in KS2 to the topic of Ancient Greece. The series follows the adventures of a scribe called Nico and his friend Thrax, who is a slave, as they work together to solve mysteries, rescue missing people, recover lost objects and thwart villains.

The books can be enjoyed as reading for pleasure but they are also absolutely packed with details about daily life in Ancient Greek times, including food, clothing and jobs. Each story opens up conversations about wider issues like the topic of slavery and attitudes towards class status and gender.

This series adds a new and welcome dimension to the bank of stories used in schools for the Ancient Greeks topic, with a focus on everyday life rather than mythology. The plotlines are exciting and full of twists and turns, and young readers are likely to be so caught up in the dramatic adventures that they won’t realise just how many interesting historical details they have taken in along the way. A glossary at the end of the book helpfully explains the new vocabulary, too.

In this story, Young scribe Nico and his new friend Thrax work for Master Ariston, a travelling singer and poet in Ancient Greece. When the pair attend a wedding with their master, a mystery begins to unfold after somebody smashes a valuable wedding vase. Nico and Thrax love to figure things out and when a household slave called Gaia is blamed for the breakage, the pair begin to suspect there is more at play. On an exciting mission to discover the truth, Nico and Thrax discover a trail of vases all marked with the face of a cyclops. It is up to the two friends to uncover the truth about what the mark of the cyclops means and to save Gaia by proving her innocence.

An exciting and enjoyable Ancient Greece-themed story steeped in historical details. The four stories in the series are: Mark of the Cyclops, Secret of the Oracle, Pirates of Poseidon and Shadow of the Centaurs. The books do follow each other in sequence but would also work as standalone stories.