The story of Camelot as the theme for a major exhibition in Edinburgh might seem as puzzling as the mystery of the Grail itself until you realise that the City Art Centre’s curator, David Patterson, wanted to raise the question of who was Arthur.

The late sixth-century epic poem Y Gododdin, written by the bard Aneirin, who lived in the northern British kingdom of Manua Guotodin, which was centred around what is now Edinburgh, is the earliest known literary reference to Arthur and it appears in a 13th-century manuscript which is on show for the first time in Scotland. It suggets that anyone searching for Arthur - whom Aneirin indicates was already a byword for valour - and Camelot might look in the direction of the Scottish Borders and Lothians in the fifth or sixth century.

Merlin, who is widely believed to have brought up Arthur, also features strongly in the exhibition.

Education officer Sandra Marwick says the gallery’s quest trail is aimed at children finding the real Arthur for themselves. “It’s called Merlin’s Quest and it involves them thinking about what they see.” They are allowed to use drawing and writing to describe Arthur and decide whether they agree with the exhibition’s conclusions. “Their responses are all related to the objects and not reached by reading the panels.”

Media studies students may be interested in the theatre and film posters and the ways films are represented by different cultures.

In early comic books by Hal Foster, Arthur is incarnated as Prince Valiant.

Art and design students could compare representations of key figures and moments in the Arthurian legend, such as the Lady in the Lake and the Death of Elaine, the Lady of Shallot.

Politics students might be interested to learn how 1960s US spin doctors likened the John Kennedy administration to the figures in Camelot. There is a print of Norman Rockwell’s depiction of JFK’s acceptance speech at the Democratic Party presidential nominating convention and a presidential campaign poster.

Each floor of the gallery is dedicated to different historical periods and each has a children’s zone offering dressing-up, colouring and brass rubbing games for three to 12-year-olds. “The ‘Design a film poster for Arthur and the Castle of Doom’ has generated interpretations which include dragons and monsters. The word search is popular, as is the ‘Design a dress for Queen Guinevere’,” says Ms Marwick.

The exhibition’s education progamme has featured many family events and workshops. On Sunday there will be two printmaking and collage workshops, where anyone could create their own images of Camelot.