Herodotos

Herodotos (born c. 484 BCE), alternatively Herodotus, was one of the earliest Greek historians. Often referred to as "The Father of History" in , his most famous work is the , a chronicle of Greece that was later divided into nine books named after the Muses.Assassin's Creed: Origins – Notes from Bayek's travels: "About the Muses" Detractors, however, mocked him as "The Father of Lies" owing to his penchant for embellishment.
During the Peloponnesian War, Herodotos befriended the misthios Kassandra, accompanying her on her travels and documenting her ordeals. These records would eventually become lost to time until their rediscovery in 2018 by the Assassin Layla Hassan.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Modern day
==Biography==
===Early life===
Herodotos was born in 484 BCE in the city of . He was eventually forced into exile on the island of Samos by the tyrant Lygdamis II, before later returning to overthrow him in a coup.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Layla Hassan's personal files: "Packing for Greece: Herodotos and His Works"
Prior to the Peloponnesian War, Herodotos met and became acquainted with the captain of the Adrestia, Barnabas.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey Herotodos also befriended the Athenian statesman Perikles, who led Athens in the later half of the 5th century BCE.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Consulting a Ghost
Around this time, Herodotos also regularly traveled throughout Greece, documenting the things he saw in his Histories. At one point, he visited the island of Andros, where he came upon a large vault bearing mysterious shapes carved in stone. However, as he could not gain entrance, Herodotos left it alone and continued his journey. He also became aware of the legendary spear wielded by King Leonidas I of Sparta in the Battle of Thermopylae.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Memories Awoken
In the 440s BCE, Herodotos published his famous Histories, naming each volume after the Muses of Greek mythology.
===Meeting the misthios===
In 431 BCE, Herodotos was tasked by Perikles to seek the Pythia's guidance at the Sanctuary of Delphi. There, he was reunited with Barnabas and was introduced to his companion, the misthios Kassandra, who had come to seek the Pythia's help on her family's whereabouts. Recognizing the Spear of Leonidas in Kassandra's possesion, Herotodos introduced himself to the misthios and explained his mission in Delphi. He also informed Kassandra that something was amiss in Delphi; the number of guards was increasing and people were being turned away from the Oracle.
Nevertheless, Kassandra went ahead and visited the Pythia for answers, but was eventually forced to leave by the guards. Meeting with Herodotos outside the temple afterwards, he informed her that Barnabas had returned to her ship, the Adrestia. Kassandra confided in Herodotos about her past and the Pythia being seemingly aware of it. When she spoke of the Cult of Kosmos, Herodotos revealed that he was aware of it and suggested that the Pythia was possibly influenced by the Cult. As Kassandra sought to meet the Pythia in person privately, Herotodos suggested that she visit the House of the Pythia in the Chora of Delphi, where the Pythia resided when not at the sanctuary.
After Kassandra had done so, she met with Herodotos outside the Chora and reported her findings, including the location of a chamber used by the Cult beneath the Temple of Apollo. Herodotos was told to wait for her outside the chamber's entrance, as she prepared to retrieve a Cultist mask and outfit to infiltrate the chamber.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Truth Will Out
After Kassandra changed into her Cultist disguise, she met with Herodotos outside the entrance, entrusting her equipment to him. When she resurfaced sometime later, Herodotos was told of what she had learned: the Cult's plans to control the entire Greek world, as well as her brother being alive and working for the Cult. Herodotos urged Kassandra to accompany him to Athens to report their findings to Perikles, but asked that she meet at him at the Lion of Leonidas in Malis first, claiming that he had something to show her about her spear.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Serpent's Lair
===Journey to Andros===
At the Lion, Herodotos was greeted by Kassandra and requested her to take out the Spear of Leonidas. As Herodotos touched the tip of the spear, a vision of Leonidas' final moments during the Battle of Thermopylae was shown to him and Kassandra. This seemingly confirmed Herodotos' suspicions of Kassandra's connection to the late Spartan king and he gave the misthios a brief run-through of the events of the battle.
Herodotos then told Kassandra of the vault he had discovered on Andros, suggesting that the spear could be connected to it and that they should travel there to learn more. Kassandra accepted his offer, and they both traveled back to the Adrestia in Kirrha. From there, they set sail to Andros.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Memories Awoken
As they approached the island, Herodotos asked Kassandra where she had obtained the Spear of Leonidas from, to which she revealed that it had been given to her by her mother as a heirloom. After using her spear to access the vault on Andros and upgrade the spear using an ancient forge she found inside, Kassandra returned to the Adrestia and informed Herodotos that his theory of the vault having been built by an ancient civilization was correct. The two then decided to head to Athens to warn Perikles about the threat posed by the Cult of Kosmos.
===Activities in Athens===
Upon arriving in Attika, Herodotos parted ways with Kassandra, telling the misthios to meet him at the Pnyx in Athens. There, the two listened to Kleon holding a speech before a crowd of people, challenging Perikles' rule and advocating a more aggressive tactic in their war against Sparta. Herodotos then took Kassandra to meet Perikles and attempted to secure the misthios entry into Perikles' upcoming symposium, where she had a chance to acquire useful information to aid her search for her mother.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Welcome to Athens
After Kassandra accomplished three tasks given to her by Perikles, she was allowed to participate in the symposium. Meeting with Herodotos at Perikles' Residence, he introduced her to the other guests and left her to socialize and acquire any information she could while he went to speak with Perikles in private. Finding him on the balcony, Herodotos informed him about the Cult of Kosmos, but the Athenian leader was not concerned. The two were later joined by Kassandra, who convinced Perikles that the Cult was targeting him, prompting the statesman to increase his security.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Perikles's Symposium
Leaving Athens, Herodotos continued to accompany Kassandra aboard the Adrestia as the misthios searched for her mother and attempted to reunite her broken family, as well as eliminate the Cult.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
===Olympic Games===
When Kassandra was tasked by King Pausanias of Sparta to ensure Sparta won the 428 BCE Olympic Games, Herodotos was delighted to learn that they were to escort the Spartan pankratist champion Testikles. Testikles unfortunately never reached the Sanctuary of Olympia, and Kassandra had to compete in his place.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Delivering a Champion
During their stay in Olympia, Herodotos himself became embroiled in an argument between Makar the Dorian and Lelex the Ionian and asked Kassandra to solve the two men's conflict as it threatened the truce of the Olympics.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Drachmae of Romance
===Taking back Athens===
Following Perikles' death at the hands of Deimos in 429 BCE, Kleon, who was secretly a member of the Cult of Kosmos, became the new leader of Athens. In 425 BCE, Kassandra and her various allies, including Herodotos, met at Perikles' former residence to establish the Periklean Circle, a group dedicated to undermining Kleon's popularity with the people, and therefore his authority, in order to restore democracy to Athens.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Resistance They were eventually successful in their goal after Kleon met his end during the Battle of Amphipolis in 422 BCE.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – We Will Rise
===Journey to Atlantis===
Around 422 BCE, Herodotos and Barnabas accompanied Kassandra when she went to Thera to meet her birth father, although they remained on the Adrestia. When she returned and told them that her father was none other than the famed philosopher Pythagoras, Herodotos was shocked.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – A Family's Legacy
After Kassandra had gathered the four Atlantis artifacts and sealed the ancient city, she made Herodotos and Barnabas promise never to tell anyone about the place, to which they agreed. The trio then reminisced of their adventures together while preparing for their next journey.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Atlantis Destroyed
===Return to Samos===
Some time after accompanying Kassandra to Atlantis, Herodotos received a letter from home informing him of his parents' demise. Unfortunately the letter had reached him five moons too late and he missed the funeral. Herodotos asked Kassandra if she would accompany him home to pay his respects, to which she obliged. Arriving on Samos, Herodotos and Kassandra mad their way to the former's childhood home. There they met Herodotos' childhood friend Mestor and older brother Theodoros. Mestor was happy to see Herodotos again after so long, but his brother did not feel the same, as he told Herodotos to pay his respects and leave.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Lost Tales of Greece – Letter from Home
After trekking to his parents' memorial with Kassandra, the two were set upon by the Followers of Ares, although Kassandra quickly dispatched them. Catching up with Mestor and Theodoros, they informed them of what had just transpired. While neither seemed knowledgeable about the cult, they did point them to a nearby cave where members of the cult had set up operations.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Lost Tales of Greece – Regrets
After Kassandra had gone ahead and killed all the Followers in the cave, she and Herodotos investigated the cave and found a collection of Theodoros' poetry, a family heirloom, and a list of influential people with Mestor's name missing. They discovered that Persia was planning an invasion of Samos with the backing of either Mestor or Theodoros, and subsequently traveled to Pythagoreion to accuse the one responsible.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Lost Tales of Greece – Followers of Truth
Upon accusing the traitor, Herodotos and Kassandra were ambushed by bandits, though the misthios made quick work of them. As Theodoros had been captured during the confusion and taken to a Pirate Coast camp, Herodotos and Kassandra went to rescue him. They then confronted Mestor, the true culprit. Herodotos asked Mestor why he would betray his family and Samos, to which his old friend responded that Persia had promised that he would rule Samos.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Lost Tales of Greece – Family Values
As the Persians initiated their invasion, deploying several ships to attack Samos' coast, Kassandra dealt with Mestor and boarded the Adrestia with Herodotos to destroy the Persian ships. Afterwards, they bade farewell to Theodoros and left Samos.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Lost Tales of Greece – Defense of Samos However, Herodotos decided it was time for him to move on and asked Kassandra to take him to the Port of Piraeus in Athens to say some final goodbyes before he journeyed to . He thanked Kassandra for taking him on her quests and reminisced on their time together, before the two friends parted ways.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Lost Tales of Greece – Moving Forward
===Treasure hunt on Korfu===
In 420 BCE, after Kassandra mysteriously vanished for six months, Barnabas recruited Herodotos to search for her, eventually finding her relaxing at a villa on the island of Korfu. After Kassandra explained that she had taken a vacation, her friends were concerned that she had lost her adventuring spirit and was becoming sedentary, so they convinced her to partake in a treasure hunt, secretly organized by them.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories – No Rest For the Misthios
While searching for the treasure, Kassandra was captured by pirates who were similarly hunting something valuable: an Apple of Eden hidden on the island centuries ago by a famed treasure hunter. Deciding to find the artifact before the pirates, Kassandra escaped and stole a document from their camp which she presented to Herodotos and Barnabas after explaining what had happened. While Kassandra went to retrieve a key mentioned in the document, her friends traveled to the Korkyra Polis to find a colleague of Herodotos who could decipher the document.
However, at the professor's house, Herodotos and Barnabas were attacked and captured by the pirates, who also killed the professor. Although Barnabas later managed to escape, Herodotos was not as lucky and had to be saved by Kassandra, who exchanged the key she had found for her friend. After following the pirates' captain to the treasure, Kassandra killed him and then attempted to take the Apple. However, the artifact interacted with her spear, resulting in an explosion which sent the Apple flying to the northern side of the island and depowered the spear.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories – Not All Treasure Should Be Found
Later, Herodotos met up with Kassandra and informed her that Barnabas had gone to retrieve the Apple in the hopes of using it to repair her spear. This led Kassandra to search for Barnabas, eventually discovering that he had been corrupted by the Apple's power and forcing her to fight her friend to separate him from the artifact.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories – Power Corrupts All
Afterwards, Kassandra decided to leave Greece to go on a journey across the world for reasons she refused to disclose to her friends. Meeting with them at her vacation house, she invited Barnabas to accompany her on her new adventure while bidding farewell to Herodotos, who gifted her a scroll of his Histories and promised to write about her. In turn, Kassandra gifted him the depowered Spear of Leonidas, which Herodotos claimed he would cherish forever.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories – A New Horizon
==Legacy==
Centuries after Herodotos' death, Kassandra, who had been granted immortality by the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus in her possession, visited the Library of Alexandria in Egypt to place the manuscript Herodotos had given to her among other works on the shelves, thus preserving her friend's stories. By 48 BCE, this copy of Herodotos' Histories could still be found in the library.
In 38 BCE, Herodotos' notes about Egypt were used by the priests of the Temple of Thoth in Sinai for research. However, they were later deemed to be filled with misinformation and odd anecdotes, resulting in some of his research being dismissed.Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones
In 2018, the Assassin Layla Hassan discovered the place where the Spear of Leonidas had been buried after Herodotos' death, as well as a copy of his Lost Histories, which described his adventures with Kassandra. The Assassin would subsequently use both in her search for Atlantis, where she believed the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus to be located.
==Behind the scenes==
Herodotos is a historical character introduced in the 2018 video game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, where he was voiced by Peter Polycarpou. Historically, Herodotos died around 425 BCE, but in the game he is shown surviving beyond this date.
==Gallery==
ACOD Herodotos Concept Art.png|Concept Art
ACOD Bust of Herodotus.png|A bust depicting Herodotos
ACOD Herodotos Promotional Art.jpg|Promotional Art of Herodotos
The Serpents Lair - Assassins Creed Odyssey.png|Herodotos and Kassandra in front of the door to the Cult's lair
ACOd-HerodotosaboardAdrestianight.jpg|Herodotos aboard the Adrestia during the night
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Origins 
**The Hidden Ones 
*Assassin's Creed: Odyssey 
**The Lost Tales of Greece
**Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories
*Assassin's Creed Odyssey novel
*Echoes of History 
==References==
Category:484 BCE births
Category:Individuals
Category:Greeks
Category:Halicarnassians
Category:Ethnic Greeks
Category:Writers
Category:Historians
Category:Adrestia crew
Category:Proto-Assassin allies
Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden
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