British Museum: Going for Gold (an Ancient Greek Puzzle Mystery)

Learn about the Olympic Games and decode ancient Greek!

AN ANCIENT GREEK PUZZLE MYSTERY

WESTON LEWIS ANDY SEED

JAMES

To Charlie and Lily - A.S.

For Mabli Clem, with all my love - J.W.L.

First published 2024 by Nosy Crow Ltd Wheat Wharf, 27a Shad Thames, London, SE1 2XZ, UK

Nosy Crow Eireann Ltd 44 Orchard Grove, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 FY22, Ireland

www.nosycrow.com

ISBN 978 1 83994 907 4 (HB)

ISBN 978 1 83994 908 1 (PB)

Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd.

Published in collaboration with the British Museum. With special thanks to Dr Alexandra Villing from the British Museum and Dr Alan Johnston for their advice.

Text © Andy Seed 2024

Illustrations © James Weston Lewis 2024

The right of Andy Seed to be identified as the author and James Weston Lewis to be identified as the illustrator of this work has been asserted.

All rights reserved.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.

The publisher and copyright holders prohibit the use of either text or illustrations to develop any generative machine learning artificial intelligence (AI) models or related technologies.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Printed in China following rigorous ethical sourcing standards.

Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests. 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 (HB) 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 (PB)

Introduction

Welcome to Olympia in ancient Greece, the site of the world’s greatest sporting festival, the Olympic Games. A remarkable scandal is about to take place! Can you help young Greek friends Phoebe and Leon save the Games from disaster?

Phoebe

Phoebe loves solving mysteries. Her mother, Eirana, is a wealthy noblewoman from Sparta, who owns a chariot and horses, and is determined to win glory at Olympia. Phoebe travels with her to competitions, always watching out for strange goings-on. She also enjoys running and is hoping to enter a girls’ race at the festival of Hera at Olympia.

Leon

Leon is the son of one of the best chariot trainers in Sparta, who trains Eirana’s horses. Leon enjoys sport and adventure, and he longs to become an Olympic discus thrower. He doesn’t enjoy school but at least it has taught him to read and write. He’s hugely excited about visiting the famous Olympic Games with his best friend Phoebe.

codebreaker

Phoebe and Leon find themselves caught up in a secret plot during their visit to Olympia. Along the way they need to solve a series of puzzles to stop some villains from ruining the great Olympic Games. Can you help them? The people who lived across Greece spoke in ancient Greek, which has a different alphabet from English. To read their secret written messages and understand what the characters are saying, you will have to decode this language. Follow the clues on each page and use the special charts and dictionary at the back of the book to help you save the day!

Here’s an example:

Puzzle

What is this woman saying and what does the sign mean?

The woman is speaking a sentence or expression, so to translate this you need to use the ANCIENT GREEK PHRASES at the back of the book.

Greek phrase Meaning

Where is the entrance?

The guards are there ἐµοὶ

Help me!

Greek word Meaning

ἔλαιον olive oil

ἔξοδος exit

Ζεύς eus

The woman is saying, ‘Where is the entrance?’ The sign reads, ‘exit’

Observation challenge

Olympia was in a large, remote valley with many wild animals around. Can you spot a grasshopper in each scene? There are also three eagles hidden in the book, a sacred animal of the god eus.

an olympic spectacle

“Whoa, I can’t believe we’re finally here at the great Games of Olympia,” said Leon, climbing on a wall for a better view of the early morning scene.

“Yeah, especially after that horrible long journey,” said Phoebe, heaving herself up to join him.

“Look!” Leon suddenly gasped.

Phoebe looked across to where her friend was pointing. “Oh wow, is that Eukles of Rhodes?”

“Yes! The mighty pentathlon athlete! And one of the finest long jumpers in Greece. What do you think he’s putting behind that column? It looks like a message.”

Phoebe jumped down from the wall. “He’s leaving. Come on, let’s go and see what it says.”

didyou know?

The ancient Olympic Games were part of a great religious festival held in honour of the king of the gods, eus. It was held every four years at Olympia, a remote sacred place with many temples and monuments. Competitors travelled from all over the Greek-speaking cities around the Mediterranean Sea to take part in sporting events at the Games.

“What a strange thing to write!” scoffed Leon, looking at the message.

“Quick, there’s someone coming!” said Phoebe, hastily putting the note back and dashing behind a tree.

The friends watched as a small, fierce-looking man approached the building. He glanced about shiftily before quickly snatching the note and hurrying away.

Puzzle

What does the message on the scrap of papyrus say?

It is two single words, written in ancient Greek. To help you crack the code, use the guide at the back of the book.

CODE CLUE

The ancient Greek alphabet used different letters from the ones in English, although some are very similar, such as these:

a sting in the tale

“I think he’s a trainer. Let’s follow him,” replied Phoebe. “I want to find out what those two are up to!”

The children crept after the man as he strode over to the athletes’ camp. With another shifty glance, he reached into a sack, lifted out a small wooden box, and crept towards a big, hairy athlete sitting by a fire.

“Hey, that’s Titas of Elis, another of the best pentathlon athletes!” whispered Phoebe. “He’ll be given his own weight in gold if he wins. They say he’s as strong as a bear.”

“He looks like one too!” chuckled Leon. “But what in Athena’s name is going on?”

They watched as the nasty-looking trainer knelt down quietly behind Titas of Elis’s tent and reached inside before scuttling away.

Phoebe was about to speak when Titas stood up and ducked into his tent. Seconds later, there was a great bellow of pain and then the giant figure burst out, cradling his swollen hand.

“Oh no! I think I understand that note now,” said Phoebe.

did youknOw?

Ancient Greece wasn’t just one country. For much of its history, it was made up of independent and usually small city-states, which shared the same language and worshipped the same gods. These cities were often at war with each other, but peace was declared during the Olympic Games. Each city would send their champion athletes to compete and try to bring glory back home. Winners would be rewarded with gold and riches.

What has Phoebe worked out?