Hour of the Olympics is the sixteenth installment in the Magic Tree House series. The book is preceded by Viking Ships at Sunrise and succeeded by Tonight on the Titanic.
Synopsis[]
The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back to retrieve a lost story in Ancient Greece, where they witness the original Olympic games and are surprised to find what girls of the time were not allowed to do.
Chapters[]
- Just One More
- Any Girls Here?
- The Secret Poet
- Not Fair!
- Hi, Zeus
- Mystery Man
- Go! Go! Go!
- Save Annie!
- Fly Away Home
- They're All Here
Plot[]
As Jack and Annie walked to the magical tree house, they felt uneasy, fearing that this might be their final mission. They asked Morgan Le Fay, the magical librarian, about their concerns, but she didn’t answer directly. Instead, she guided them toward recovering the fourth lost story. She showed them a title in Greek script and gave Jack a book on ancient Greece to help with their research.
Upon reaching their destination, they found themselves in an olive grove with white tents nearby. Using the book, Jack learned that the location was the site of the ancient Olympic Games. As they approached the Olympic area, Annie noticed the absence of women, but soon they spotted a woman on stage at a theater. However, they realized it was a man in disguise when he removed his wig. This revealed that women in ancient Greece were not allowed to perform on stage. While leaving the theater, they met a man who seemed surprised by Annie’s boldness in walking through Olympia. He introduced himself as Plato. When Jack showed Plato the name of the lost story, Plato immediately recognized it and led them to the home of its author. He warned them never to reveal the poet’s identity and went off to find the poet. Meanwhile, Annie was shocked to read in the book that Greek girls were not permitted to attend school. Plato returned with a young woman holding a scroll, introducing her as the secret poet. She explained that she had taught herself how to read and write. Plato revealed that the poet would face trouble if her poem was read in Olympia, so he asked Jack and Annie to take the scroll back to their land. As they left the house, Annie felt disheartened by the restrictions on girls in Greek society, and she told Jack she wanted to leave.
However, Jack reminded her of the Olympics, which lifted her spirits, and she decided to stay. When Plato informed them that Annie could not attend the games because she was a girl, Annie protested the unfairness of it. Jack agreed with her, but Annie insisted that Jack go on while she returned to the theater. Despite his concerns about leaving her alone, Jack agreed to accompany Plato to the Olympic grounds. On their way, Plato showed Jack the gymnasium where athletes trained and took him to the temple of Zeus, explaining that the games honored Zeus, the king of all gods.
Pegasus takes Jack and Annie to safety.
As the trumpets announced the start of the Olympic parade, Jack and Plato hurried to the grounds. While Plato pointed out various athletes and their events, Jack glanced up from his notes to see Annie, disguised as a soldier, her face hidden by a helmet. Despite Jack’s attempts to get her to leave, Annie refused and watched the chariot race. During the race, she became so excited that she jumped and cheered, causing her helmet to fall off. When she removed her cape, the guards realized she was a girl. Initially shocked, Annie soon became angry and tried to fight off the guards. She called to Jack, urging him to retrieve the lost story. Jack held the scroll aloft and called out, hoping the story would help them in their time of need. The crowd went silent as a large white horse pulling a chariot appeared. After Annie broke free from the guards, she and Jack leapt onto the chariot, which suddenly grew wings and soared into the sky. Annie instructed the horse to take them back to the tree house.
Back in their own time, Morgan congratulated them for bringing back the story of Pegasus, the winged horse from Greek mythology. She explained that the characters from the four lost stories could be found in the stars and created images of them. Hercules was a kneeling constellation, the silk weaver and cowherd were two stars at each end of the galaxy, the sea monster, Sarph is the Milky Way itself, and Pegasus was another constellation. Morgan also informed Jack and Annie that more missions awaited them, and she would call on them when the next one was ready.