Lysander
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Lysander (died 395 BCE) was a Spartan admiral and general who participated in the Peloponnesian War.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Lysander was not a Spartan citizen by birth, having grown up as an enslaved helot, but his ambitions allowed him to overcome his origins and become a general in the Spartan army. Around 429 BCE, he made the acquaintance of the Spartan misthios Kassandra, tasking her to retrieve the military seals of Athenian strategoi.[1]
At some point during the Peloponnesian War, a spy working for Athens reported that Lysander was travelling aboard the ship Lakedaimonia. This was enough for Athens to offer a notable bounty to whoever could sink the ship. The report turned out to be wrong, however.[2]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
Lysander is a historical character appearing in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, set during the first part of the Peloponnesian War.
Historically, Lysander was not known to be a major participant in the war until the later half of its second part, as he would have likely been too young at the time for a position of command. The game also portrays him as a polemarch when the real Lysander was famous for being a navarch. While some historians have described Lysander as a helot, only his mother was supposedly a helot, as his father was a Spartan aristocrat.
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The name Lysander is Greek in origin, derived from the name Λύσανδρος (Lysandros), which means 'release of man'.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Lysander addressing his troops at the Tomb of Leonidas
Appearances[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Ambition
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Bounty on a Spartan Ship