#asscreed was not responsible for my interest in the renaissance. i read machiavelli in like. the 7th grade

[brother-emperors]

How'd you first get interested in the classics in the first place? What was your gateway?

oof, lets see.

god I can't really remember if there was a specific first. I grew up watching documentaries and reading history centric non fiction, so it feels like I've been aware of it forever, it's just that my interest in engaging with it varies. like, periodically I hit a very hostile negative with the classics and it takes a lightning strike of something special for me to get back into it. this current run of classics related fuckery is sponsored by machiavelli!

uhhhh. maybe assassins creed? when the conspirators try to use the shroud on brutus to resurrect him, and it fails, the body moves but there's no life, and they call it a second death?

that might've been the first time I realized that all of this could be narratively interesting and fun to play with. I have spent YEARS discussing the implications of this with other asscreed friends, and we applied way too much history to all of that.

that was around the time I was in middle/first year of highschool, and the iliad/odyssey were part of the literature curriculum, along with oedipus rex, antigone, and some other tragedies. and ofc dante made me obsessed with the historical virgil.

in conclusion: all of this is a ball of yarn, but probably assassins creed.

edit: tbh it could be that my teacher for the iliad/odyssey/etc also had us watch sword and sandal adaptions of myths. I like groovy visuals, and sword and sandal movies had visuals for days.

edit 2: disney's hercules. I used to fall asleep listening to a cassette tape of the soundtrack when I was. like. 5.

tldr; I have no idea