Mythical Creatures or Legendary Creatures?
As a student of Classics who has long awaited an open-world RPG set in the promising, fascinating, and enthralling setting of ancient Greece, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey felt like a dream come true upon its release. The Assassin's Creed franchise has always blended together historical accuracy with the supernatural superstitions, literature, and beliefs of the past. Since Origins they have expanded upon the magical and mystical elements that the historical setting of each game offers, and Odyssey goes even further than Origins in this sense. In this article, we will look at the Mythical Creatures that appear in this game—the Sphinx, the Cyclops, the Minotaur, and Medusa. This is not a step-by-step guide as to how you will defeat these Creatures, but is instead a guide that will aid you in finding them, and a review of the difficulty involved in doing so.
The creators of Odyssey take full advantage of the rich mythology of the classical Greek era. The fascinating source material shines through with terrifying beasts, cursed men and women, and dangerous Demi -gods prowling throughout the game’s open world. While players will mostly take on pirates, soldiers, and members of the Cult of Kosmos, one of the most appealing aspects of the game is the potential to come face-to-face with some of the highly intriguing creatures scattered across Greek literature.
As part of the ‘Goddesses’ Hunt’ quest-line which is given to players by Daphnae of the Daughters of Artemis, players can fight against some of the legendary animals of Greek Mythology, such as Kalisto the Bear, the Erymanthian Boar, the Kretan Bull, and the Nemian Lion. The Erymanthian Boar in particular puts up one of the toughest fights in the game, due to the fact that his poisonous fart cloud—yes, his poisonous fart cloud—can easily choke you to death.
The Erymanthian Boar is one of the toughest fights in the game.
While these Legendary Creatures do pose an exciting challenge, they are often easily confused with the four Mythical Creatures. It is these Creatures and the side quests leading up to them that really strike a chord with players, as these are some of the hardest, most gruelling, and most interesting fights in the game.
Coming face-to-face with these Mythical Creatures is only possible around mid-way through the main story, once the ‘Between Two Worlds’ quest-line has opened up. This quest is given to players once they have entered the ruins on the island of Thera. After meeting your true father and discovering the existence of Atlantis, you will unlock a quest-line called the ‘Gates of Atlantis’. To open the gate, you will be tasked with finding four lost Isu artifacts that were stolen and which are now dispersed all across the Greek world. Obviously, the artifacts are not simply scattered across the map, waiting for you to come across them. They instead are in the possession of the four Mythical Creatures who you will have to face, starting with the Sphinx.
Try your hand at outwitting the Sphinx.
If you are anything like me, you will probably want to immediately drop everything else in the game and set out in search of the Sphinx. I highly recommend that you reign yourself in, and just wait until later in the game, once the main story is complete or at least almost complete. At the end of the day, Kassandra/Alexios might be the heroic ‘Eagle Bearer’, moulded in the image of Oedipus, Odysseus, Theseus, and Perseus, but we are not.
The Lore of the Sphinx (Level 34)
How to find the Sphinx
The Sphinx is unique among the Mythical Creatures. There is no winding and complex side-quest involved in order to get to her—you just have to discover her location and force her to appear. This is achieved by entering the Strange Ruins in Boeotia where you will find a statue of the Sphinx and a man called Gorgias who will direct you to find his apprentice Pibos.
Pibos, like you, was in search of the missing half of the Sphinx Medallion, but unlike you (hopefully), he met his rather unfortunate demise in doing so. By defeating the Alpha Lion that lives in the Tomb of Menoikeus, you will find the half of the Sphinx Medallion that you need. After heading back to the Strange Ruins to place the Medallion in the statue, you will find that Gorgias and the statue of the Sphinx have vanished.
The Sphinx will at last appear in her true form. I was mentally prepared—though not at all physically prepared—for a boss-fight at that moment in my first play-through. Greek literature ought to have provided me with a hint as Oedipus, in his famously sombre story, never raised his blade against the Sphinx at Thebes—he solved her riddle. I was therefore fortunate that I never received the battle I was anticipating. Beating the Sphinx instead requires you to answer three of her riddles correctly, so if wits are your strong suit, or if you’ve made it this far in the game by just looking for cheats online, this quest will suit you perfectly.
Overall, I enjoyed the Sphinx storyline. In part this was because it tied in with my favorite Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, but also because it lured me into thinking that the Mythical Creatures would be no challenge at all because of how deceptively easy it was. Believing that the remainder of the Mythical Creatures will also put up a fight no more taxing than a stroll in the park, you may set out next to find the Cyclops.
A God Among Men (Level 35)
The questline that culminates with a fight against the Cyclops begins on the island of Kythera. He isn’t found on Kythera; instead, you are forced to embark on an extended adventure given to you by a man believing himself to be a god.
There are three quests you must complete to finally reach the Cyclops:
- A God Among Men
- Left to Dye
- Stairway to Olympos
After completing this series of missions you will sail to the Forgotten Isle, which is found off the coast of Phokis to the west. There, you will finally confront the Cyclops.
Ultimately, the Cyclops is just a big boss fight, and the only real way to beat him, on any difficulty, is by dodging his attacks. Once the cave roof starts crumbling, too, the only way to evade getting squashed to death is to simply dodge the chunks of rock raining down.
Despite his hulking size and earth-shattering swings, it isn’t too hard to wear the Cyclops down. Like the Sphinx before him, this fight boosted my ego and hubris far more than I deserved; I was Icarus, flying higher and higher, just waiting for someone—the Minotaur, coincidently—to drag me back to earth.
Myths and Minotaurs (Recommended level of 28, but should be at least 40)
The quest to find the Minotaur is hidden away on Messara, way down along the southern border of the map. Head to Knossos Palace in the area called Minos's Legacy and find the quest ‘Myths and Minotaurs’ whereby an increasingly irritating child named Ardos will set you off on a series of missions necessary to acquire the key into the Labyrinth.
The missions given to you are:
- Myths and Minotaurs
- Recollections
- Full Circle
- Seeking Answers
- He Waits
Quite a lot is involved in finding the Minotaur, compared to the Sphinx and the Cyclops. Once these missions are complete, you'll be able to head down to the catacombs, where you will follow along a golden thread that can be used to navigate your way around a maze, before facing the Minotaur.
Employing the same tactics as in the Cyclops fight is an effective way of fighting the Minotaur—dodge, dodge, dodge. However, he is a much harder enemy to defeat than the previous two opponents were combined. In the end, it only took me several dozen attempts on my Easy-Mode play-through to beat him, which was nothing at all compared to the fight with Medusa. In fact, it is really the laborious effort it takes to finally arrive at the Minotaur’s lair that makes this questline feel more difficult than it is. I did find that on my Hard Mode play-through the Minotaur fight dragged on for an exceedingly long time, so I would recommend coming to the fight over-prepared rather than simply at the suggested level.
Romancing the Stone Garden (Level 46, but really Level 50)
Medusa. Ah, Medusa.
Romancing the Stone Garden, the questline that culminates with the fight against Medusa, referred to in dialogue as the ‘Writhing Dead’, can be located in the Petrified Valley in Lesbos. I may moan a lot about how hard the Medusa fight is, but honestly, the questline involved in reaching her was one of my favorites in the game, as I have a terribly soft spot for tales revolving around star-crossed lovers. Bryce’s lover has disappeared within the ruins of the Petrified Temple found in the Petrified Forest, located deep in the Petrified Valley—they got very creative with the naming of this one.
The quests that will lead you to Medusa’s lair are:
- Romancing the Stone Garden
- Love's Long Shadow
- A Slithery Plea
- Heavy is the Spear
- Hard to Artemis
- Keys to Happiness
- Writhing Dread
Once these quests are complete, you’ll finally face the hardest boss to fight in Odyssey, and, if you win, retrieve the final missing Artifact. Sometimes at night I have vivid nightmares about this fight, from when I played it on Easy Mode. When it came time to fight her on Hard Mode, I had flashbacks to being pummeled to death every two minutes by the Nameless King in Dark Souls. Those fights had nothing at all in common, save for the continuously recurring and increasingly infuriating loading screen that popped up every time I died.
Like any good boss fight, there are stages in the battle against Medusa. Just when you think you’ve figured out her moves, the fight kicks up a gear, and Medusa avails of her summoned minions to help her out. Ultimately, this fight can be won through some routine movements and well-timed attacks, but it drags on longer than most fights in the game, at nearly ten minutes on Easy Mode. It cannot be overstated that players need to come prepared for this battle the first time around, and armed with the best weapons.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the Mythical Creatures are one of the most enjoyable parts of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. On all difficulty levels they present a tough challenge to overcome, but there is no denying the huge sense of accomplishment once they have been defeated. They also pay homage to their original tales, too, in a way that serves to highlight just how successfully the game weaves together history and myth. Walking in the footsteps of the greatest heroes of Classical Mythology is an exciting opportunity for anyone with a love of the ancient world, and these fights are a gruelling, arduous, and rewarding experience for players of all kinds.
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