AS PROMISED: this latest installment of #ArtofACOdyssey features the beautiful, deadly, and always badass Medusa. This is going to be a very long thread so strap in and bring a shiny shield.   Medusa standing over Kassandra's body. Screenshot from Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018)   First, a bit of background. Medusa is one of the most recognizable monsters in the classical pantheon and, I daresay, one of the most popular. She lives with her two immortal sisters, Stheno and Euryale, on an island at the edge of night (translation: very far away). Her story grows as time goes on, although she seems to have been associated with Perseus for most of it. She starts out as a child of Phorkys and Keto (Hesiod, Apollodoros, Aeschylus, Pausanias, Nonnius Dionysiaca - Hyginus says Gorgo and Keto and Homer nixes the sisters). Notably, the whole thing about her being a beautiful woman cursed by Athena for being raped by Poseidon in her temple doesn't come along until Ovid. So...

Someone at Ubisoft Quebec is a Rubens fan! The monumental statue of Kronos above Olympia is clearly inspired by Rubens' 1636-8 "Saturn" (now in the  Museo Nacional del Prado at Madrid). Kronos devouring a child, Assassin's Creed Odyssey screenshot (Ubisoft 2018)   There are changes to the right arm, robe, and hair, not to mention the addition of wings and blood. The composition and anatomy are clearly post-classical, however. The wings might be inspired by Romanelli's 17th c. painting, as ancient works portray him as a normal, mature man.   Saturn Devouring a Son , Peter Paul Rubens, 1636-1638. Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, P001678. Photo: wiki, public domain.  

Kassandra took some time out of her busy schedule to pose with her newly completed set of Greek Heroes armor! Let’s take a look at the pieces in #ArtofACOdyssey   Kassandra with a wolf friend, wearing the Greek Heroes armor set. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).   First up, we have Perseus’ helmet. The artistic sources don’t agree on its precise form, although it often had wings (which are replicated here, on Kassandra’s temples) and conveyed invisibility. The flavor text alludes to both this and Perseus’ harpe. Pseudo-Hyginus (Astronomica 2.13) notes that the Greeks called it the Helmet of Hades and that Mercury gave it to Perseus along with talaria and a petasos, but notes that it wasn’t ACTUALLY the helmet of Hades because that would be stupid. Hesiod, on the other hand, says it was the cap of Hades and that it had the gloom of night about it (Shield of Heracles 216ff). There also seem to have been competing versions where Perseus got the ...

  I’ve got something a little different today for #ArtofACOdyssey . I spent some time climbing around the Parthenon (as one does) to check out the ionic frieze and found something SUPER interesting on the inside of the porch. Turns out, the Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey Parthenon has a bunch of anachronistic names inscribed! Pictured here are Ubisoft/Ubisoft Quebec technical art director Yannick Morel, 3D artists Hugo Lamarre and Mikael Boulet, and others that google isn’t letting me track down.   Ionic porch graffiti, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018). While we take artist signatures for granted these days, most works in ancient Greece and Rome weren’t signed. There are some obvious exceptions of course…the Orestes and Elektra group from Palazzo Altemps is signed by Menelaos, student of Stephanos (who signed his own version, currently in Naples), and numerous ceramic vessels signed by potters and/or painters. When buildings are inscribed, they most often re...

And we’re back with another installment of #ArtofACOdyssey ! Today we’re exploring the Lion of Keos.   Lion of Keos, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).      If you’ve seen the actual Lion of Keos you probably think Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey has lost its mind. If you haven’t…here it is.   A very long, flat stone lion on the side of a hill. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, Phso2, CC-BY-SA 3.0/GNU. This is a great example of an archaic-style lion and is in pretty good condition, although it does look more like the Lion of Gripsholm Castle* than an actual lion. *The Lion of Gripsholm Castle resulted from King Frederick I of Sweden’s need to have a stuffed lion in 1734. He sent the remains back to the royal taxidermist, who had evidently never seen a lion before, but did his best. The lion is now on Facebook and on display in the castle. Clearly neither of those are the lion we see in the game. What we are actually seeing is much closer to the 10m l...

Rounding out our launch week extravaganza, we’re finishing strong on DAY 7 of #ArtofACOdyssey with the Great Bronze Athena.   Great Bronze Athena, Acropolis of Athens. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).     Obviously, such a gigantic statue is not extant but we do know a few things for sure. Pausanias (1.28.2) tells us that you could see the tip of the spear and crest of the helmet when you rounded Sounion which, I am happy to confirm, you can also do in AC Odyssey.       It was made by Phidias, who also made the colossal chryselephantine statues of Zeus at Olympia and Athena Parthenos. The statue was referred to as Phidias’ Athena Promachos in the 4th c. CE and kept that name for a while – Athena ‘first to the fight.’     “Promachos” is also applied to the genre of striding Athena representations with raised shield and spear. The misnomer influenced generations of scholarly thought on the Acropolis, as can be s...

 It’s time for DAY 6 of #ArtofACOdyssey , brought to you by a very disappointed art historian who did not find the Bronze Athena in Piraeus. So, we’re going to my other happy place – Delphi!   Now, a word before we start. The layout of the sanctuary it pretty solid – rather than just climbing over anything in my way like I normally do, I made sure to walk AROUND the mountain and up the sacred way. It was stunning, and I fangirled. A lot. Unfortunately, while the geography is good the decorations aren’t as accurate. Since making it to Athens I’ve decided this was likely a result of Ubisoft rationing their time towards places where the majority of players are likely to hang out. We don’t spend much time in Delphi. Well, most people don’t. I spent 30 minutes taking detail shots of Athena Pronaia. ANYWAYS. Back to today’s object. The first treasury you see is the Sikyonian Treasury, not labelled on the game map but right where it should be.   Sikyonian Treasu...

 It’s hard to believe we are already on DAY 5 of #ArtofACOdyssey . Today’s offering (see what I did there?) is a…well-loved vessel with a picture of one of the most recognizable Greek monsters.    Altar with offerings and a Typhoeus vase. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018). It’s also apparently a favorite of the dev team as you will find it EVERYWHERE. If you guessed Typhoeus (Typhon), you’re right! The original is on a Chalcidian black figure hydria currently in the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, c. 540 BCE. Typhoeus was the last and greatest child of Gaia and the last obstacle between the young Zeus and supremacy. He was chaos incarnate: Hesiod describes him as having a hundred dragon heads, eyes that shot fire, and a voice that included every inhuman sound (Theo. 820ff). Suffice to say it was a tough fight. Zeus finally took him down with his lightning bolt, but not before much of the earth was scorched and Typhoeus had sired numerou...

  Hunt scene based on the Tomb of Philip fresco, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).   And here we are with DAY 4 of #ArtofACOdyssey ! Today’s showcase is rather anachronistic, but so fabulous I don’t blame Ubisoft for including it in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Here it is in (I think) the temple of Athena at Megara. Now, you might be tempted to identify it as one of the many Calydonian boar hunt vases/friezes but if you look closely you’ll also note a lion and a few deer. In a related note, you do get to fight the Calydonian boar in game but have to do it by yourself. I know Kassandra is part of “the bloodline” and all but even Meleager got to bring a party! I’m lodging an official complaint. At any rate, this particular hunt isn’t from a vase at all but rather the late 4th BCE facade (from the “Tomb of Philip”) of the Great Tumulus at Vergina . By far the most impressive thing about the tomb is that it had not been looted – tomb III was intact as well...

Bonus #ArtofACOdyssey – this potter at Delphi, who will be having none of your questions and would thank you kindly to get out of his light.   Potter at Delphi. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).  This was originally posted on Twitter, October 9 2018.

Statue base featuring a Parthenon frieze block. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).   Day 3 of #ArtofACOdyssey ! I’ll give you a second to think about where you’ve seen this before. Hint: it’s a huge tourist attraction in London that probably shouldn’t be there. That’s right! It’s Block W-5 from the Parthenon Ionic Frieze! You may be wondering why I am so frightfully specific. That, dear reader, is because I am very familiar with this block. Very, painfully, familiar. Mostly because I worked around the clock for weeks making a 1:1 scale model out of rigid foam insulation, glue and cement compound, cheesecloth and specially mixed paint. Here’s a picture of my low-relief panels (5 in colour, half of 6 in white) juxtaposed with Rebecca Levitan’s 2-D panels on Nashville’s Parthenon. Painted 2D and 3D replicas of Parthenon frieze blocks, on the Nashville Parthenon. Photo: K. Jones. We (Emory Parthenon Project) were testing the visibility of the Ionic...

  Fountain in Megara. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018). Are you all ready for Day 2 of #ArtofACOdyssey ? Today I finally made it off of Kefalonia and sailed my fancy new ship to the mainland where I found these lion head waterspouts in Megara. This particular fountain arrangement was probably inspired by scenes like the one on this hydria in the MET . Lion heads weren’t just for fountains either. As you can see in the reconstruction drawing of the Stoa at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace, they could also aid in roof drainage . You probably noticed the lovely gilded marine life as well. These don’t appear to have come from any one source, but the octopus and striped fish in the upper left are very similar to those on an Apulean fish plate (workshop of Asteas/Python, c. 340-330 BCE) in the Toledo Museum.  Rear wall of a fountain house in Megara. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018).      Originall...

    Kassandra in front of a wooden temple, with brightly painted wall panels. Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Ubisoft 2018) First up in #ArtofACOdyssey , we have this lovely painting on the Temple of Zeus in Sami. We’ll leave aside Bellerophon with his tricked-out Pegasus for now and focus on the central figure. If you recognize it, good job! The original is on an Attic kylix (480-470BCE) attributed to Douris, an Attic painter who worked during the early 5th c. BCE ( Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Vatican Museums ).  Colchian Dragon disgorging Jason This is one of my favorite pieces. It shows an alternate version of the Argonautica, wherein Jason gets devoured by the Colchian dragon and has to be saved by Athena. I like to think of her as saying something like “It’s a good thing you’re cute, Jason.” There were a LOT of different versions of Jason’s story, some of which survive; Valerius Flaccus, Hyginus, and of course Apollonius of Rhodes. Narrat...