Greece

Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic and historically known as Hellas, or the Greek World, is a civilization and country located in Southeastern Europe and is popularly regarded as the cradle of Western civilization.

Jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea, Greece is a largely mountainous region consisting of several peninsula and numerous small island archipelagos in the adjacent Aegean Sea.

Throughout the second and first millennia BCE, Greece was divided into a myriad of city-states, or poleis, which vied for regional hegemony beginning with the Mycenaean civilization. Shortly after the sacking of Troy during the Trojan War–immortalized in the Iliad–the Mycenaean civilization collapsed.

These poleis would not rise to prominence again until the 5th century BCE when two in particular, Athens and Sparta, became leading powers of Greece in the aftermath of the Greco-Persian Wars. Left without a common enemy, their rivalry culminated in the Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE, lasting until Athens' defeat in 404 BCE.

During this time, Athens, often cited as the birth place of democracy, witnessed an explosion of intellectual and cultural arts that developed the foundations for modern Western medicine, philosophy, historiography, political science, sports, and literature. The poleis were finally united for the first time in 336 BCE following their conquest by Alexander III of Makedonia, who carved out a short-lived empire across the Western Asia, spreading Hellenic culture from the Roman Republic, to Egypt, all the way to the borders of India.

Owing to its historical significance, Athens is the capital and largest city of the Hellenic Republic, the current regime of Greece as a sovereign state.

History

Isu era

During the Isu Era, the First Civilization built many complex in the region that would become Greece. One of their major sites was the city of Atlantis, under the island of Thera, which was purported to house the sum total of their knowledge. With the Atlantis artifacts, the Isu tranformed Humans into hybrid beasts–the Cyclopes, Sphinx, Writhing Dread, and Minotaur–and locked them in vaults across the region. An Ancient Forge was also built on Andros, producing weapons such as the Spear of Leonidas and the Sword of Damokles.

Mythological era

During this period, the Isu were seen by humans as gods, like Zeus, Athena or Hera, forming the Twelve Gods. Many myths were related to them, as the creation of the World or the fate of humanity. Different cities worshipped the gods, building temples and shrine for them. Under the Sanctuary of Delphi, the Oracle of Apollo known as Pythia used a artifact from the Isu to see possible futures and told to individuals from all the Greek world their destiny.

Many civilizations appeared in Greece, as the Minoan in Krete and the Mycenaen in continental Greece.

Many descendants from the Isu and humans used Pieces of Eden to accomplish great feats and were worshipped as demigods and heroes. Perseus found a Sword of Eden and killed a Writhing Dread. The king of Athens Theseus killed a Minotaur in the Labyrinth of Lost Souls. Oedipous outsmarted a Sphinx in a riddles challenge. Jason and his Argonauts found a Shroud of Eden. The hero Herakles performed Twelve Labours defeating mythical creatures and recovering Apples of Eden.

During the 12th century BCE, the Isu Eris sent an Apple of Eden which provoked the kidnapping of Helen of Troy by Paris and the beginning of the Trojan War, lasting ten years. Many kings and heroes such as Agamemnon, Ajax, Menelaus, Achilles and Odysseus participated in the war, resulting in the destruction of Troy. After the war, Odysseus returned to his kingdom of Ithaka after a long journey of ten years during which he defeated Cyclops, Sirens and the Wrath of Poseidon.

Archaic period

In the late 8th century BCE, the Greeks began an expansion, settling colonies in the surrounding areas such as Anatolia and southern Italy. The coastal areas of southern Italy came to be known as Magna Graecia, and spawned numerous notable poleis such as Croton, Sybaris, Syracuse.

During the sixth century BCE, the famous scholar Pythagoras and his disciple Kyros of Zarax lived in Samos, a small island in Greece, where Pythagoras became a well respected man by discovering the Tetractys.

A few years later, they moved to Croton, Italy, where Pythagoras founded his own academy to teach young scholars everything he knew. However, tension in Croton began to rise and Pythagoras and Kyros were forced to flee back to Greece after a few years.

Many years later, they travelled through a Greek desert to find Hermes Trismegistus. They eventually located him and he awarded Pythagoras with his staff, beginning the Hermeticist traditions.

Kyros then decided to travel to Arkadia, hoping to challenge its princess, Atalanta, to a race and be allowed to marry her. Before traveling to Arcadia, however, Kyros first ventured to the abandoned temple of Aphrodite, where he found an Apple of Eden. With the help of the ancient artifact, he was able to defeat Atalanta, earning her hand in marriage.

Classical period

In the early 5th century BCE, the Achaemenid Empire under King Darius I, having conquered Anatolia, made various attempts to invade and conquer the Greek world. In response, numerous poleis including Athens and Sparta rallied the Greek states in a coalition against the Persian invasion.

In early 431 BCE, war broke out between Sparta's Peloponnesian League, and Athens' Delian League. This conflict was known as the Peloponnesian War.

Kassandra, a misthios and the granddaughter of the late Spartan King Leonidas, took part in the war as a mercenary. She later discovered a plot by the Cult of Kosmos to take control of Greece. She made it her mission to remove the Cult.

Hellenistic period

Alexander the Great, who ruled an Empire spanning from Greece to Egypt and India, used a Staff of Eden given to him by the Templars.

Renaissance

While Greece was under Ottoman rule during the Renaissance, the Byzantine Templars controlled Athens. They were rooted out by the Ottoman Assassins, sent by the Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who established Assassin Dens in the city and recovered Isu technology that was discovered beneath the Acropolis.

Around this time, the Knights Hospitalier controlled the island of Rhodes. After they executed the Master Assassin Castor, Ezio sent the Assassins to burn a Hospitalier compound in revenge.

During the 1510s, the Assassins stored an Apple of Eden in one of their hideout in the country, which according to Giovanni Borgia was their most remote European spot. However, in 1516, one of their own, Hiram Stoddard, assaulted the location in order to recover the artifact, but was prevented to do so by Borgia.

Modern times

In 1821, Greece revolted against the Ottoman Empire and fought an eight-year war which resulted in the country gaining its independence in 1829.

In 1981, Greece joined the European Communities, which was later incorporated into the European Union.

In 2018, an Assassin cell led by Layla Hassan travelled to the Greek island of Santorini in search of the Isu city Atlantis connected to a vault under the island. There, Layla was given the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus by Kassandra, whose possession of the Staff granted her immortality.

Trivia

• Greek buildings and clothing in Project Legacy are inaccurately depicted as white, when in reality, the Greeks favored a myriad of bright colors.

Gallery

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  Greek scholars gathered at Pythagoras's villa in Samos
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  Map of Greece during the Peloponnesian War

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey