The city of Athens was an exciting place for a twelve-year-old boy to live in when the Parthenon was being built. Almost every day after school Niko climbed the Acropolis with his slave, Peron, to watch the huge marble blocks being hoisted into place, and the sculptors carving the noble statues of gods and goddesses to adorn the pediments.

How he enjoyed the bustle of activity among the workmen! And, even more, he loved to hear his brother Aristo, apprentice to the great Phidias, tell how the building would look when it was finished.

But until the time came when Niko's widowed mother could no longer afford to keep Peron, the thought had never crossed the boy's mind that he himself might share in the work of making Athena's temple beautiful. His ambition was to be, not a sculptor, but a runner, winning glory for his school in the Theseia—the games held in honor of Theseus, hero of Athens.

How the sacrifice of that ambition led Niko to the fulfillment of a worthier one forms the main thread of a story in which people who lived more than two thousand years ago are as real as next-door neighbors. Only the manners and customs are different, and these are so natural a part of daily life—at home, at school, in street and market place—that they give a lovely sense of the graciousness of those long-ago times. And all through the story the old Greek legends come to sparkling life in the delight of the children and grownups who hear and tell them.

From the dust jacket