Lysander (priest)
Lysander was a Greek resident of Alexandria who served as a priest of Serapis at the Serapeum of Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy XIII.
Biography
Lysander served faithfully as the head priest at the Serapeum of Alexandria. However in around 48 BCE, the temple became involved in a controversy when the temple drummer was accused by his superior, a tanner for stealing a lion skin. The drummer was subsequently jailed by the phylakitai of the city in the Kibotos Arsenal. This led to many Alexandrians avoiding the temple, resulting in the decrease of visitors.[1]
The Medjay, Bayek, visited the temple to received blessings for his journey. Lysander came upon the Medjay as he made his offering and explained to him the reason for the temple's lack of visitors. Bayek promised to help the priest rescue the drummer and prove his innocence.[1]
Bayek kept his promise to Lysander, as the drummer later returned to the temple, albeit with a broken leg. However, the tanner later returned to the temple, confronting Lysander about the actions of the drummer. Bayek later returned to the temple, having retrieved the tanner's dyed lion skin from the bandits who were the ones who stole them. He was able to help Lysander negotiate with the tanner, ultimately clearing the drummer's and the temple's name.[1]
Shortly thereafter, Lysander enlisted the Medjay's again, this time helping him to retrieve a cart of food stolen by the Ptolemies. Bayek does so, bringing the cart to him in the Egyptian district.[2]However, this act caught the action of the phylakitai, who put a bounty on Lysander's head, causing him to flee his temple and seek refuge in the Egyptian district. Bayek came across the priest in the district, who requested the Medjay to escort him to the Iseion. a small temple on the island of Pharos that would accept him. Bayek escorted Lysander on a felucca through the canals beneath the city and eventually to the island, where he shared his name to Bayek and declared himself a priest no longer.<ref name="The Odyssey">Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Odyssey/ref>
References