Inspired by The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, by Kate Lewis, with courtesy from Titan Books.
(Behind the scenes)
The development team kept the siblings as close as possible in look and feel, with a few distinctions. Alexios has a different body and gait, he's larger and sports dark brown dreadlocks, but they share the same coloring and variations on the same outfits.
Alexios and Kassandra fight with a sword, bow, or spear. The development team wanted to show proactive combat, wielding dual weapons with a focus on attack rather than defense.
Early concept sketches of Alexios by Fred Rambaud show different outfits and weapons, from bare-chested brawler, to full Spartan warrior.
Lakonian black-figure kylix with interior scene of Bellerophon and Pegasos battling the Chimera / 575-550 BCE (Archaic Greece)
Pegasos was the mythical winged-horse bred by the dead Medusa after Perseus killed her. Bellerophon captured the animal while it drank water from a well.
Pegasos helped Bellerophon in fighting and killing Chimera in Lycia. Chimera was a monster that had the body of a goat, the head of a lion, and the tail of a snake. Bellerophon attacked her from the sky, and thought of placing a block of lead on the tip of his spear. He threw the spear—aiming for the neck of the fire-breathing monster—and the heat of the fire made the lead melt, asphyxiating her. Bellerophon returned victorious, but several quests followed that would leave him blind and miserable.
Construction of the trireme of Napoleon III by Dupuy de Lôme in Clichy. The trireme was inaugurated in 1861 at Asnières / 1860
Pitch and timber were the main materials used to create triremes. The pitch was produced from various trees and was extracted by heat. The pitch and wax were customarily applied, either successively or as a mixture, to the wetted surface of the ship's hull, giving the vessel its speed potential as well as its watertightness and protection from sea microorganisms. The seams of newly built warships—as well as older ships under maintenance—were caulked with flax soaked in pitch. It seems likely that a new coat of pitch was put on before each new sailing. Although pitch was used generously on the triremes' hulls, they seem to have leaked water into the bilges fairly quickly. This is why ships had to be beached and dried out.
The emphasis of lightness for the hull timber was obviously a prime consideration in its overall design. For lightness combined with strength, a trireme's timber was mostly made of soft wood such as pine and fir, but the keel was made of oak for extra strength. Masts were made of fir—one of the tallest and straightest trees—while carefully prepared rough, young fir trees ensured that the grain of the wood was aligned along the shafts, making the oars strong for their weight. For the inner part of the ships, larch (pitys) or plane (platanos) were also used because of their Light weight, while the stem-posts adjoining the breastwork and the bow timbers were made of ash, mulberry, and elm.
One result of using softwoods was that the trireme hull tended to soak up water. The hulls not onty became waterlogged and leaky, but they also suffered from the scourge of wooden ships: the marine borer (teredo navalis). Consequently, alltriremes were beached and carried out of the water as often as possible to dry and clean their hulls.
The Battle of Salamis, oil painting by WIlhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874) / 1858 (Modern period)
It is archeologically attested that systematic reuse of wood from old ships was practiced throughout antiquity. When triremes were sunk during a sea battle, combatants went to great lengths and took heavy risks to recover the wreck. Sometimes, vessels were towed home as prizes, and after being repaired, equipped, and renamed, they became part of the enemy navy.
In addition, older triremes were used as service vessels. One was the "soldier-vessel", a troop transport. There was also the "horse-transport", made out of old triremes by removing the two lower levels of seats and converting the space into stalls for thirty horses.
Jason about to seize the Golden Fleece while Athena oversees the endeavour. Behind ger stands an argonaut and the prow of the ship Argo. Scene fron a red-figure column-krater / 470-460 BCE (Classical Greece)
Jason was the rightful king of lolkos in Thessaly, though the position was occupied by King Pelias. When Jason appeared in front of Pelias and asked to return to the throne, Pelias told him that he should bring him the Golden Fleece. This was the fleece of the golden ram held in Kolchis. Jason set out on this quest with his crew, the Argonauts.
After several adventures, they arrived in Kolchis to claim the fleece. While there, Jason felLin love with the witch Medea, daughter of Aietes, the king of Kolchis. Medea helped Jason in the quests her father required, and her potion lulled the giant snake that was protecting the Golden Fleece to sleep. Once he held the fleece tightly in hand, Jason began his journey back home, with Medea at his side.
Inspired by The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, by Kate Lewis, with courtesy from Titan Books.
(Behind the scenes)
We first meet Kassandra in her home on Kephallonia; she is a mercenary, hardened and scarred by her experiences. When designing her features, the team wanted her to look strong and vibrant. Bringing such a character to life includes the smallest of details. "We had to create a false reflection in her eyes to ensure she looked alive. She needed to look great in every angle," explains Thierry Dansereau.
Odysseus and his companions blinding Polyphemos with a wooden stake. Scene from a black-figure oinochoe / 500-490 BCE (Classical Greece)
On his way back home, Odysseus found himself on the island of the Cyclops—giants that have one single eye in the center of their forehead.
Odysseus reached the island and entered a cave with his companions. They were so hungry, they began to drink and eat everything in sight. When a Cyclops named Polyphemos returned to the cave with his flock, he blocked the entrance with an enormous rock, and began to eat the men. Trapped, Odysseus introduced himself as simply "Nobody", and offered wine to the confused Cyclops. Once the giant was drunkenly asleep, Odysseus blinded him with a burning wooden stake. The next day, Odysseus and his men escaped the cave hidden under the bellies of animals, while the blinded Polyphemos shouted to his fellow Cyclopes that he was blinded by "nobody".
The ship of Odeysseus passing the Sirens. Scene from a red-figure stamnos / 480-470 BCE (Classical Greece)
The sirens were beautiful but deadly creatures that lived on a rocky island. Their song was so enchanting, sailors who heard their singing fell to the rocks. Sirens were half-women, half-birds—or at least, that was how they were represented in Greek art. They were usually depicted played musical instruments, such as harps.
In "The Odyssey", Odysseus was very curious to listen to them, so Circe the witch told him how he could enjoy their song without danger. Odysseus had his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the pole of his ship. When they passed near the sirens, Odysseus was mesmerized by the song. He begged his sailors to release him, but they couldn't hear him. This trick saved his life and the lives of his companions.
Terracotta plaque of Skylla / 475-450 BCE (Classical Greece)
Skylla was a mythological female sea monster that was placed opposite Charybdis in a very narrow passage of water, thought to be the channel of Messina.
The mention of Skylla is first seen in "The Odyssey", when Odysseus and his companions had to travel the channel and found themselves between the two monsters. Circe advised Odysseus to sail at full speed, but closer to Skylla—Charybdis was more dangerous and could sink the entire ship. Odysseus followed this advice, and as they passed by, Skylla devoured six of his men. They quickly escaped, and managed to pass through with no further losses.
Zeus fighting against Typhon. Scene from a black-figure hydria. Figure from A. L. Millin, Galerie mythologique, tome 1, 1811 / 1811
Typhon was an extremely dangerous monster in Greek mythology. À giant serpent-like creature with "a hundred
heads, fearful eyes, and terrible voices", Typhon was either the son of Gaia (goddess of the earth] and Tartaros (one of the primordial deities), or of Hera, or of Kronos.
At some point, Typhon challenged Zeus in order to overthrow him and take his place. The battle between them was desperate, but Zeus managed to win with the aid of his powerful thunderbolts.
After losing to Zeus, what happened to Typhon differs depending on the account. He was either thrown to Tartaros, the deep abyss, or buried under either Mount Etna, or under the volcanic island Ischia. Zeus, on the other hand, became the legitimate ruler of the gods.
