A Real Odyssey Within Assassin's Creed Odyssey

A most beautiful adventure takes place within the main story of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which is also a direct tribute to the game's title, as its quests are referencing several stages of Homer's Odyssey. The story is titled A Friend Worth Dying For, its protagonist, apart from our lead hero, is the Adrestia's captain Barnabas, and it is one of the Lost Tales of Greece.  

The adventure begins unexpectedly on a lone shore of Skyros island with the quest Odyssey Into The Past, where Alexios notices a group of heavily drunk bandits in a camp, whose attitude is rather strange. They have several civilians locked in cages but they do not seem to care much about their captives, dancing and fooling around without even taking notice of what is happening around them. Meanwhile, Barnabas follows Alexios at the shore and drinks some of the wine that got the bandits drunk, while the bandits, who are gradually recovering, start attacking everyone at the camp. After the fight is over, Alexios notices that Barnabas is exhibiting a weird behaviour, obviously having hallucinations involving a cyclops, a pig and a woman named Leda. As it turns out, what he and the bandits drank was wine made from lotus flowers. 

The lotus wine made Barnabas sick

This is the first reference to Homer's epic poem, specifically it nods to Rhapsody I', in which Odysseus arrives at the land of the Lotus Eaters, an island where the inhabitants are eating the fruit growing from a lotus tree, a plant with narcotic effects, resulting in them being constantly in a stage pf apathy. Whoever eats that fruit, becomes idle, at the same time forgetting about their past, their homelands, their families. In the epic poem, Odysseus did not eat the fruit, and had a hard time dragging his companions, who had done so, back to the ship, just like Alexios in the game's story did not drink the lotus wine, but his friend and companion Barnabas did.

Engraving by Theodoor van Thulden depicting Odysseus dragging his men back to the ship

Back on the Adrestia, Barnabas is recovering from the wine's effects and confesses to Alexios that back in his youth he was married to a beautiful woman with green eyes, named Leda. He and Leda shared a love for adventure so they roamed the seas together for years, until one day their ship sank and they lost each other at sea. Barnabas never heard of Leda again, but now, under the effects of the lotus wine, he had three visions of her. In the first vision, she was in a cave, singing with Sirens; in the second she was feeding a young Cyclops and in the third she was drinking wine with a witch. 

Barnabas narrates his visions to Alexios

Although there does not seem to be much logic in Barnabas's words, Alexios decides to play his game and visit the locations where the three visions took place. In spite of being a man of a rather mature age, and with a lot of life experiences on his back (being a sea captain was guaranteed to offer him plenty of adventures, and surely there were bad times among them), Barnabas has a child-like enthusiasm and is always looking at the bright side of things. This is something that Alexios appreciates a lot, and the least he can do for his good friend is to play along. The locations of all visions are insular, so there is a lot of traveling by sea involved, something that our lead hero loves anyway. So together with their loyal crew and their select ship lieutenants, they start their journey following the trail of Barnabas's first vision which leads them to the island of Kos, in the quest Beware The Siren Call. It is where Barnabas saw Leda singing with the sirens behind a painted wall. Before the exploration begins, Barnabas gives Alexios two lumps of beeswax so as to cover his ears in case the sirens are still active in there. After a brief investigation on the island, Alexios locates the Tomb of Polybotes which is a cave hidden behind a wall decorated with a mural. Alexios breaks the rather thin wall and when he proceeds deeper into the cave, he hears weird sounds, like ritualistic singing. It looks like Barnabas's visions were not so random after all. 

There are strange things happening in the dark "Siren" cave

Deep inside the cave, it looks like there are suspicious rituals taking place. There are people lying around, either dead or in a bad state, and some weird women, whose appearance and outfits resemble a lot those of the savage Followers of Ares, sing or, better, scream some distorted melodies of sorts that are more like wild calls. They are also armed, and appear to be extremely dangerous. Those are in fact the "Sirens" from Barnabas's vision, who in reality apparently belong to a cult similar to the Followers of Ares and are ruthless, violent and blood-thirsty. After killing them, Alexios retrieves an old aulos from their chief and frees a man who was bound in the main room, guarded by her.

Alexios is about to attack the chief "Siren"

As it turns out, the man, whose name is Eurylochos, arrived on the island of Kos after hearing tales about the Sirens living there, singing their beautiful songs. He enjoyed being alone, and he loved poetry and music, which is why he was drawn to the cave of the "Sirens", driven by those tales. Soon he discovered that all this was a trap, however. The women would lure innocent people to their lair in the cave so as to carry out their cannibalistic rituals; they would regularly drain the man's blood, then boil and drink it. Then they would scream into the night, in a manic state. When Alexios asks him about the old aulos, the man mentions a woman who was there before, but managed to escape. The aulos belonged to her, and the Sirens stole it; and obviously she left it behind when she ran away. Alexios then decides to take the man away from that place and sends him on his ship.

Eurylochos is in a really bad state

This story references Rhapsody Μ' from Homer's Odyssey, which narrates Odysseus's encounter with the Sirens. The epic hero, having been informed about the dangerous creatures and their seductive singing, had his companions cover their ears with beeswax and ordered them to tie him on his ship's mast, so that he could be able to hear the song without putting himself into danger. This way, he and his crew made it safe and continued their journey. There is one more reference to Homer's epic in this story, however. Eurylochos was the name of one of Odysseus's companions, who was also his brother in law, as he was married to Ktimene, the hero's sister. After their ship arrived on the island of Circe, Eurylochos was the leader of the group of men who went to explore the place. When Circe found them, she turned them into pigs, but Eurylochos, who had left the others moments before, was able to return to the ship and inform Odysseus about what just happened, therefore saving them. Later on, however, while on the island of Thrinacia, he persuaded his companions to slaughter Helios's sacred oxen, an action that cost him his life as he was punished with execution.

Odysseus and the Sirens by John William Waterhouse

When Alexios returns on the Adrestia and informs Barnabas about what he discovered, his good friend gets very excited, certain that the owner of the old aulos was indeed his dear Leda, who learnt to play it while staying with the Sirens before leaving their lair for good. 

Following the clues from Barnabas's next vision about Leda feeding a cyclops in the quest To Be Nobody, Alexios arrives at Anaphi, a volcanic island where only a few people reside, as it is mainly occupied by soldiers, bandits and wild animals. Alexios locates an isolated cave, which turns out to be the hiding place of a strange man. He has an innocent-looking face and his reactions and way of talking are like those of a child, but his towering stature is quite intimidating and rather unfamiliar as a sight. Moreover, one of his eyes is covered with an eye patch. The man's name is Polyphemos, just like the legendary cyclops from Homer's Odyssey, but he is nothing like him.

The Polyphemus that Alexios meets has the heart and mind of an innocent child

The story's Polyphemos turns out to be a man with a heart of gold, who would keep himself hidden in his isolated cave because he was too scared to face all the hazards on the island. Alexios agrees to help him clear the shores nearby so that he will be able to go fishing in peace, as was his dream. After killing some lethal lynxes and getting rid of a group of bandits, a whole beach becomes available for Polyphemos to pass his time as he pleases. The man, feeling grateful, offers Alexios a bowl of spices that, as he says, was given to him as a gift from a beautiful woman with green eyes who once passed from the island - a description that seems to fit Leda perfectly. But Polyphemos is not fully happy yet; as much as he loves his beach, he would love to share it with a friend. This gives Alexios an idea, so he calls Eurylochos from the Adrestia and introduces him to Polyphemos. When the two guys meet, it looks like it's love at first sight, as Alexios returns to his ship and leaves them chatting and playing happily at the shore. Apparently the two men were outsiders in the places were they originally lived, each one for different reasons. They both left their homes because nobody understood them (in Eurylochos's case) or because they were viewed as monsters (in Polyphemos's case), looking for shelter far away from everyone.

Alexios watches Polyphemos and Eurylochos having a good time on the beach

This quest's story references again Rhapsody I', but this time it nods to the segment about Odysseus encountering the Cyclops Polyphemus. During their journey, the hero and his men arrived on the Cyclops's island and, having no idea about who lived there, explored the place and located a cave full of goods. When Polyphemus arrived, he got very angry, trapped the men inside the cave with him and ate two of them. The next day, he ate two more men and left to tend to his sheep. In the afternoon, after eating two more men, he was tricked by Odysseus to drink some very strong wine that he had with him for a previous location. While in a drunk state, and unable to control himself, Polyphemus asked Odysseus to tell him his name, with Odysseus answering that he was called "Nobody". Soon after, the Cyclops fell asleep and Odysseus managed to blind his one eye by plunging a hot stake in its socket. As Polyphemus was shouting that Nobody was killing him, the other Cyclopses thought he was having hallucinations from the wine and did not bother to run to his rescue. The other day Polyphemus, now blind, let his sheep out while feeling their backs to make sure that Odysseus and his men were not escaping on them. The hero however had ordered his surviving companions to tie themselves under the sheep, so the animals carried them safely outside without the Cyclops taking notice. The title of the game's quest, To Be Nobody, references the name that Odysseus gave himself in the epic tale, while at the same time describing the state in which the good-hearted Polyphemos was, being an outsider, a nobody, in the eyes of society.

The Blinding of Polyphemus by Pellegrino Tibaldi

When Alexios informs Barnabas about the spices and what he learnt from Polyphemos on the island, Barnabas gets excited again. He is more than certain that the woman from Polyphemos's story was Leda, who found the cyclops and made an elixir from the spices to help him grow a second eye.

Barnabas's last vision about Leda drinking wine with a witch brings Alexios and his crew to the island of Paros in the quest Wine For The Swine, where, on a small atoll off its port, is a ruined temple occupied by lions, pigs and wild boars who, curiously enough, do not seem hostile. Among them there is a woman who is exquisitely dressed but her mouth is covered with blood. As Alexios approaches her, he realizes that she is eating off the corpse of a dead pig. The woman introduces herself as Circe and invites Alexios to drink wine with her. Curious about where this is going, Alexios goes to fetch the wine from a spot nearby, where he notices a patch of blood, a toy with teeth marks and a tablet with a note, apparently written by the woman, saying that her subjects are hungry. Growing suspicious, Alexios picks and eats moly leaves, which are a natural antidote to poison. When he drinks the wine and nothing happens to him, Circe is disappointed and surprised, but soon after she explains to Alexios that she had to leave her homeland because her wild instincts would always get her into trouble. Her father had killed her mother because she was like Circe, so the woman ran away after possibly killing him herself. To be able to survive on the island without being devoured by the wild animals, she would make travelers and passers by drink from her wine, which she had imbued with a drug; then she would kill them and feed them to the animals which would be affected by the drug and thus become unable to turn hostile. When Alexios asks her about Leda, Circe shows him a bracelet which she took from a woman who passed from her island; it could or it could not have been Barnabas's lost wife. Just like Eurylochos and Polyphemos, Circe was an outsider in her homeland, albeit for different reasons, and she too found shelter in an isolated place, far away from anyone that could cause her harm.

Circe has her own sad story to tell

This story references Rhapsody K' from Homer's Odyssey, in which Odysseus arrives on Circe's island. The witch lived in a palace in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by wild animals which however were under her control and would not attack anyone around her. The hero sent a group of his men to investigate, and Circe offered to treat them with wine and food, both of which were jinxed. While they were under the spell's influence, she turned them into pigs. Meanwhile, Eurylochos had ran back to the ship, informing him of what happened at Circe's palace, so Odysseus went to meet the witch himself and save his companions. On the way, the god Hermes appeared and advised him to eat moly leaves, so as to protect himself from Circe's spells. After meeting Circe, the witch tried to put her spells on him but she failed, and was so impressed by this unexpected development that she fell in love with the hero and eventually turned his companions back to humans. After staying on her island for one year, Odysseus and his crew went on their journey, but not before Circe had given Odysseus valuable guidance about how to proceed.

19th century engraving depicting Circe turning Odysseus's men to pigs

When Alexios returns to his ship and shows Barnabas the bracelet that Circe gave him, his friend is over the moon, absolutely sure that the jewel belonged to Leda. He believes that when Leda arrived at the atoll, Circe turned her into a pig. Then she was transformed into a woman again, and before leaving gave Circe her bracelet to remember her by. As it turns out, all the three items that Alexios found on the visions' locations - the aulos, the spices and the bracelet - were made in or connected with Attika, as their origin is from areas around a cave there, called The Entrance to the Underworld. Alexios suggests they travel to Attika right away, something that makes Barnabas very happy, calling Alexios his best friend.

Barnabas is happy that Alexios believes his story

Their final destination in the quest Daddy's Home is the aforementioned cave, which is around the area of  Eleusis. In its depths, they find several corpses and a young girl who, as soon as she sees them, she gets ready to attack them in an obvious attempt to defend herself. It is revealed that she is Leda, Barnabas's daughter, named after her mother and sharing the same green eyes as her. Apparently Leda the wife was pregnant when Barnabas lost her at sea; somehow she managed to survive and ended up in Attika. There she gave birth to Leda the daughter, got married to a good man and lived happily until the time came for her to die. Having lost her step-father too, young Leda was left alone, in charge of a rich piece of land, something that would regularly attract the attention of aspiring suitors who had their eyes on her fortune. Young Leda however did not want to get married; and most importantly she was not disposed to marry someone who clearly wanted to benefit from her wealth. After she denied their proposals several times, they changed their tactics and started threatening her, even attempting to kill her. Alexios and Barnabas help her get rid of the suitors once and for all, and then Barnabas asks her to leave the farmer's life behind her and follow him on the Adrestia. Leda however refuses, because she feels that it is her duty towards her mother and the goddess Demeter to look after her family's land.

 

Young Leda has her mother's eyes and her father's nose

 

This story references two Rhapsodies from Homer's Odyssey. The first part, where Alexios goes to the Entrance to the Underworld, nods to Rhapsody Λ', also known as "Nekyia" ("νέκυια" in ancient greek,  meaning a magic ceremony to summon a spirit from the underworld), in which Odysseus, following Circe's instructions, descends to the Realm of Hades in order to consult the seer Tiresias on how to find his way back to Ithaca. While in the Underworld, he meets several dead people including a lost companion, heroes of the Trojan War, heroines who had suffered in their lives and his mother.

 

Odysseus In Hades by Wojciech Weiss

 

The second part, in which Alexios and Barnabas help Leda kill her suitors, references Rhapsody Χ', in which Odysseus, having finally arrived on the island of Ithaca, infiltrates his palace and, with the help of his son Telemachus, murders the 108 suitors who had taken over it while waiting for the presumed dead Odysseus's  wife, Queen Penelope, who was already considered a widow, to chose one of them as her new husband. This stage of Homer's epic is one of the most impressive parts with its vivid, detailed descriptions and gory details.

 

Odysseus and Telemachus slay the suitors, by Thomas Degeorge

 

In the end, Alexios and Barnabas say goodbye to Leda but Alexios, seeing how much his friend wanted his daughter to join them, puts a bold plan to practice in the secret quest Demeter's Fire. He sets Leda's farm on fire and when she rushes in despair to find out what happened, he tells her that Demeter herself caused this so as to make her leave and follow her father. Leda takes this development as a sign that she should really put her past behind her, and start a new life by her father's side, this time at sea, just like her mother did before.

 

Alexios hires Leda as a ship lieutenant

Taking the stories from Homer's epic as a base, the questline switches playfully between myth and reality, as we can never know for certain if the three adventures that we go through in the locations indicated by Barnabas's visions really correspond to reality, if they are just co-incidental or if there is a hint of mythology behind them. All three people, Eurylochos, Polyphemos and Circe, mentioned a woman who passed from the places where they were, with their descriptions matching Leda almost perfectly. Leda could very well have arrived as a castaway on those islands, staying in all three places for some time, either voluntarily or by force, before leaving again. The fact that she found herself on the land of Attika, gave birth and created a new family there, clearly proves that she, at least, survived the stormy sea when Barnabas lost her. On the other hand, it could be three different women who passed from those islands, each on a different time. Parallel to all this, the unbreakable bond of friendship and comradeship that Alexios and Barnabas share is highlighted in this adventure, and its title, A Friend Worth Dying For, could apply to both of them, as they would both do anything to make each other happy.

 

Barnabas and Alexios are best buddies

The three people involved in the three stories / visions all have something in common: they were living in the margins of society, being forced to become outcasts and look for a better life elsewhere, in isolated places, without any other people around them. In the case of Polyphemos and Eurylochos, they found sympathy and understanding in each other, and it is clearly a blooming bromance that Alexios made happen there. Cicre's case was a bit different in this matter; what she describes as a wild nature could very well be an allegory for maybe a licentious way of life that she liked to live that was not socially accepted. In any event, the three stories worked as guidance for leading Barnabas to his daughter, although again we can't tell for sure if those were truly signs, or Barnabas interpreted them this way, following his instinct. In the background of these stories, there is always the fancy, the mythology, and Homer's epic poem which, like all heritage, work as backdrop loomed centuries ago, which is always alive, offering the wisdom of the past as a compass for every era's present.