1. The Latin word for the mask worn by dramatic actors is persona. Which characters in the book mask their true identity? To what extent do you believe that an individual's "personality" is a "mask"?

2. What does Apollo's antique mask symbolize?

3. Nikeratos tells his fellow actor Thettalos that he objects to an interpretation of a play "because men could be more than they are. Why show them only how to be less?" (chapter 16). What do you think the object of drama is?

4. This novel describes disappointments and failures that are personal, artistic, philosophical, and political. List them.

5. Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, and Macedonians appear in this novel.

How do the cultures of these groups differ?

6. Before Dion becomes ruler of Syracuse, Nikeratos says, "Perhaps it is impossible for a philosopher to be a king—at any rate, to be both at once" (chapter 17). Considering the...