Stymphalian birds

"Let's hope Herakles killed all of the Stymphalian birds."

―Kassandra

The monument of the birds overlooking the village of Stymphalos

The Stymphalian birds were flesh-eating birds plaguing Lake Stymphalia near the village of Stymphalos in Greek mythology.

Description

The birds were described as made of bronze, but with feathers of steel.

The birds were also carnivorous, and had toxic dung.

Mythology

Considered sacred to the Greek god of war, Ares, when the birds' numbers grew, they became a menace not only to crops and livestock, but also to the humans in the area. In time, King Eurystheas of Mycenae ordered the hero Herakles to kill the Stymphalian birds as his sixth task.

To help with this task, the goddess Athena gave Herakles a rattle which the god of metalworking, Hephaistos, had crafted. The sound of the rattle scared the birds out of hiding, and Herakles was able to shoot some of them with the arrows he'd dipped into the Lernaean Hydra's poisonous blood before.

Influence

Following the birds' extermination, a memorial was set up on a mountaintop overlooking the village of Stymphalos in Arkadia.

One of Layla Hassan's Animus modifications allowed Kassandra to obtain bracers said to have been made from the sharp, metallic feathers of the birds.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (monument only)
  • Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece