Introduction
Join me in this new episode from The Odyssey to see what Alexios will learn in Athens that may lead him to the whereabouts of his mother.
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Comprehension Check
Narration Transcript
Introduction
After what I learned about the Cult last time, and all my efforts to learn anything about where my mother may be led to nothing. I am left with only one option, Athens. I will follow Herodotus’s advice and go there in the hopes of finding out something that may lead me to my mother before it is too late. If the Cult is after my mother, there is no time to waste. I could have handled the situation a lot better at that secret meeting of the Cult, but everything changed when Kassandra showed up. I was lucky to leave that meeting in one piece.
After Arriving in Attika
I feel wiser already. I’m going to meet Herodotus at the Pnyx. I haven’t been to Athens before, but I know this is going to be so different from Kephallonia or the other places I have been to so far. This is a land of playwrights and philosophers. It’s much easier when you meet your enemies in battle. I can read their eyes and predict their next moves. That has become so natural to me, but I don’t know about this place. I don’t know if I will ever fit with the people here, but that’s not what I am here to do. I am just going to play along as much as I can in the hopes of finding information. I am going to meet Perikles, the great man of Athens. I hope he doesn’t know about what I did to his soldiers in Megaris. That might complicate things a little. This silly war has been going for long enough for me to know that there are no blind loyalties to anyone. I just want to do what’s right and get my family back together. I don’t know about Kassandra, though. She seems to be beyond reason. I don’t know if I will ever have the chance to get her back, but I do hope I never have to face her in battle. I can’t stand crossing swords with my little sister. But all that doesn’t matter now. I’m here on a specific mission — learn as much as I can about Myrrine.
After Seeing Perikles
Well, the Athenians don’t seem to see eye to eye, and with that, the Spartans will not have any problems taking the city. The people here already seem divided between Perikles and Kleon, but I couldn’t care less about that. I saw the great Perikles and as usual, there is a price for everything. If I want to secure an invitation to that symposium, the best place to learn about my mother, according to Herodotus, I need to do a couple of things for Perikles. That shouldn’t be hard. He wants me to help his friends and do something about a vote, which I still don’t know what exactly.
He doesn’t seem to know about what I did in Megaris, which is a good thing. That meeting could have gone wrong and I could have ended up fighting Athenians alone in Athens, which is not a good idea, not even for me.
I will first go check on Metiochos, and see why he’s late. That should be a piece of cake, but something tells me that nothing is as easy as it sounds, so as always, I am preparing myself for the worst.
After Meeting Metiochos
So, someone has tried to kill Metiochos using snakes. That’s original. I always find striking a blade into a man’s flesh face to face a much faster and easier way to kill someone. But apparently, they like theatricality here. They brought snakes to kill a snake. Inspiring! I guess I’m up to meet people who are very different from the ones I have known all my life. And I thought Markos was crazy.
I learned from Metiochos that the people who attacked him come from the poor fishing neighborhood nearby. I will go there and see for myself. I doubt these fishermen are the masterminds behind such an elaborate plot.
After Meeting the Fishermen
Just as I expected, someone used those poor people to attack Perikles’s friends and there is the name of Kleon starting to show behind those elaborate plots. I don’t know how dangerous that Kleon might be, but he seems to be a man not to be trifled with. He’s turning the poor on the rich in a time when the city is under siege. A perfect time to start a rebellion. Nothing is more powerful a motive than hunger can be in times like that.
Well, I took care of that snake dealer, but I doubt he is more than a tool in this plan. He was just a means to an end, but he needed to be eliminated not to hurt any more people.
After Reporting Back to Metiochos
So the first task was done, and Metiochos promised to mention what I did to Perikles. One down, two to go. Now I need to see what Phidias has got himself into. Obviously, he is guarded until he’s put on trial and Perikles needed my help to smuggle his friend out of Athens. He wanted him to avoid the trial altogether, but why would anyone threaten an artist like Phidias. You just need to see the masterpieces bearing his name all over Athens. Why would anyone want to take Phidias down? I don’t know. There is a guard at the door of Phidias’s workshop. I will try to be civil and bribe the guard instead of killing him. After all, I’m in Athens, the land of democracy and good manners. A good amount of drachmae equals the same amount in blood. It’s Athens, everything and everyone has a price here.
After Talking to Phidias
So I need to smuggle Phidias to Seriphos. His friend will be waiting for him there. I told him to meet me at the docks while I get rid of the guards, but it seems the Cult wants Phidias dead. Why would they want Phidias dead, and it’s true. I remember now hearing something about that in the Cult’s meeting. But why? I can understand that they want to kill Perikles, my mother or myself, but why Phidias? I don’t know. I guess all I can do is help him escape Athens and that will leave me with one more task to do for Perikles. I hope that will secure me that invitation because although I still have a heart to sympathize with what people are going through here, I care about nothing more than my mother now. She’s in more danger than any of those fools. I hope it’s worth it. I hope I’m not wasting my time here, but then I have no other clues anywhere else.
On the Way to Seriphos
The seas are more dangerous around here. It’s difficult to go anywhere without having someone on your trail. I had to face a couple of ships on the way to Seriphos, but I guess I’m getting the hang of being a captain of the Adrestia. I don’t want to exaggerate and say that I feel invincible on this ship, but it’s a very good ship, and I am a very good captain, I guess.
After delivering Phidias
So the Cult is after Phidias. The letter Theras gave me confirms it. This Cult is everywhere. Anyway, I was happy that I helped Phidias. I really respect his work and he seems to be so innocent and has nothing to do with plots, schemes and politics. He’s just an artist who wants to create more art. A man like that should be cherished and respected, not hunted down. I hope he’ll be safe here on Seriphos, and brining him here means that I have only one thing left to do. I have to see that man to learn from him what Perikles wanted me to do about this Ostracism vote. I wouldn’t know what that even means if Herodotus didn’t explain it to me. Well, this one seems to be a sneak and peek job, which is not my forte, I’ll have to admit. I’m a more hack and break guy, but I’ll do my best.
After seeing the contact
So, I’m rigging elections now. I never thought a day like that would come. I would kill bandits, face countless men on the battlefield, kill bad guys all over Greece, but to rig a vote, that’s a first and I will have to say last for me. I will never do that if I don’t really have to, not morally speaking, but it’s a complete waste of time. I hope Perikles’s symposium has some real good leads for me, or I may have to kill everyone there if I get nothing. But one more task and I’ll be done. I hate Athens. It’s a beautiful city, but I would never understand how people think here. They never say what they mean.
The job seems to be easy. Sneak in, replace the ostraka. That shouldn’t be difficult, but I don’t need to guess, the place will be heavy guarded. I will try to sneak inside without anyone noticing me, although I know how that usually ends for me, but I’ll try anyway.
After the Ostracism Vote
And I thought other Athenians are difficult to understand. Well I was wrong about them. I met Sokrates. He seems to be an intelligent man, but he’s obviously too intelligent for me. I hope he’s not invited to the symposium. I don’t think my brain can handle two Sokrates’s conversations in one day. However, he’s right about something, why would Perikles rig the vote to exile his own friend. I thought he was going to do it the other way round. I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t really care. I have done what Perikles asked me to do, and now I’m ready to go to that symposium and meet the so-called Athenian elite.
I got there and I saw the last person I could possibly imagine would be there. It’s Phoebe. She somehow left Kephallonia and got here, and she didn’t only managed to get to Athens, she’s working in Perikles’s house. This girl will grow to be a dangerous woman, but amidst all this chaos, I was so happy to see Phoebe. I know by now that Kassandra didn’t die, but I still feel that Phoebe is that little sister that I should always keep safe and care for.
I expected anything to happen, but I never thought I would wear one of those silly dresses to get inside the symposium, but it seems that it will help me mingle better. Last time I left my weapons and armor and dressed in a costume almost cost me my life. I hope this is not going to be a mistake like last time.
After the Symposium
I was happy to get out of that symposium in one piece. For me, that was more difficult than infiltrating the Cult’s meeting. I don’t know how these Athenians survive parties like that, and how is that any good for the future of their city, which is under siege by the way. Earlier today, I saw those poor fishermen, but now I guess I understand how easy it is for Kleon to sway people like that to serve his own purposes. These were two different worlds.
But the good thing is that I have some leads. Although I wished for something more direct as if to know where my mother was, but it was a good start. There are three places I have to go to to seek information about my mother, who, according to what I heard, might have turned into a pirate, or a prostitute. I hope to see her again soon, and I know Myrrine is a true Spartan woman. Nothing could ever break her, but then I wouldn’t know what it feels like for a mother to lose her children. That, I guess, could break the strongest woman. I hope to find her first in one piece, both her body and mind. So off to Keos Island to meet this pirate called Xenia. I have a feeling that if my mother turned into anything, she would be a pirate. I’m not much better myself; I turned into a mercenary.
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