The Athenian Murders is a historical mystery novel written by Spanish author José Carlos Somoza.

In the ancient novel (which is itself called The Athenian Murders), a young ephebe named Tramachus is discovered on the slopes of Mount Lycabettus, apparently attacked by wolves.

Diagoras, the boy's erastes and tutor at the Academy, enlists the help of a "Decipherer of Enigmas" (a detective named Heracles Pontor) to learn more about Tramachus's death.

Meanwhile, the translator (who is never named) provides frequent commentary on the work, particularly as he believes it to be an example of a (fictional) ancient literary device called eidesis.

"Eidesis" is the practice of repeating words or phrases so as to evoke a particular image or idea in the reader's mind, as if it were a kind of literary steganography.