A Delve Into EPIC: The Musical

Troy Saga: The Horse and the Infant (Song #1)

Starting with the Troy Saga, we meet Odysseus (played by Jorge Rivera Herrans) in the first song "The Horse and the Infant". He is the first to speak in the song, commanding his men to "make the Trojans pay" for killing people slowly in the ten years of war they've had with them. From this alone, we could assume Odysseus is a leader, as he is leading his men, making the commands, and calling the shots. He also seemed to have a plan set already, as he calls upon people to carry out certain jobs, an example verse being "Diomedes will lead the charge, Agamemnon will flank the guards, Menelaus will let our mates through the gates to take the whole city at large, Teucer will shoot any ambush attack, And little Ajax will stay back, Nestor, secure Helen and protect her, Neo, avenge your father, kill the brothers of Hector".

   In this song, we are introduced to many mythological Greek heroes, mentioned in the verse I referenced in the paragraph above. Odysseus, being the protagonist, is ironically not mentioned by name until the second saga, only being referred to as "Captain", "a boy" or "sir". This could be done deliberately as he is the narrative for the musical, however, in other musicals, such as Hamilton, the protagonist, Alexander Hamilton (played by Lin-Manuel Miranda) is introduced in the first song, despite being the main narrative. Another example is the Lightning Thief Musical, another musical based on a Greek mythology story, where the protagonist, Percy Jackson (played by Chris McCarrell) is introduced by an algebra teacher calling his full name. So, the fact that Odysseus's name is omitted until the second saga is a unique choice.

   The fact of his name being omitted could be referencing how perhaps his soldiers didn't know his name, or weren't allowed to speak it, instead calling him "Captain" and "sir". It's like how at school you call a teacher Mr./Mrs./Miss. [surname] instead of their first name like you would any of your friends. It could also be omitted because Odysseus didn't want the Trojans knowing his name and causing havoc in Ithaca, which would threaten the lives of his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus.

   The importance of his wife and son are referenced in the song when the lyrics "What do you live for? What do you try for? What do you wish for? What do you fight for?" are repeated. Throughout the musical, it's made clear that his only goal is getting himself and his crew home, specifically to see his wife, Penelope, and hopefully his son, Telemachus, who he left when he was an infant to fight in Troy. This strongly shows the audience what exactly Odysseus cares about, and what's driving him forward as the journey goes on.

   After the verse is repeated multiple times, we meet Zeus, the God of Thunder. He appears only to give Odysseus a mission he isn't even sure he's ready for. However, before he states his reason for being there, he says "A vision, of what is to come, cannot be outrun, can only be dealt with right here and now." This could be foreshadowing the future sagas and battles Odysseus will face. It could also be implying that Odysseus will meet Tiresias in the Underworld later on, who tells him what is to come and what he may face in the future. The fact that Zeus is telling him this using the same backing track used in Mutiny, from the Thunder Saga, tells the audience it is an important verse, considering the Thunder Saga is where Zeus has his main musical number and (so far) does a lot of damage to Odysseus's crew, including making Odysseus choose between his own life or his crews'.

   In this verse of the first song, Zeus tells Odysseus he needs him to kill someone's son, but won't say who until the infant is in Odysseus's arms. Odysseus seems to have empathy for the child, perhaps because he has his own son, Telemachus, back in Ithaca who was the same age as this infant when he left for war. He says "what sort of imminent threat does he pose that I cannot avoid?" implying that he thinks the child is innocent, reminding him of his own son, and he can't possibly conjure up any immediate or overhanging threats this child could cause to his homeland, Ithaca, or his crew.

   Zeus reveals to Odysseus that this is the prince of Troy (Hector)'s son. He tells Odysseus the boy will grow to be an "avenger", one "fumed with rage". An avenger is a person who exacts punishment/inflicts harm in return for wrongdoing. Him saying this implies he believes the child will be like Hector and inflict harm on Odysseus for fighting against the people of Troy rather than fighting alongside. The phrasing "fumed with rage" supports this theory.

   Zeus says that if Odysseus doesn't kill the infant now, he won't have anyone to save, implying the child will grow to be against Odysseus and the gods themselves. This could also be foreshadowing as after Zeus says this, their journey back to Ithaca has lots of bumps in the road, resulting in loss, conflict, battles and difficult choices.

   The first theory is then confirmed as Zeus goes on to tell Odysseus how the child will "burn [his] house and throne, find [him] wherever [he goes]". He then says, "the gods will make it known, we're bringing you down on your knees for you" which could technically be, again, foreshadowing as after this, we meet a lot of gods and goddesses as Odysseus travels the deep seas, trying to return home. We meet people like Circe, Calypso, Poseidon, Hermes, Helios (though, only mentioned so far), Zeus etc etc. They make it known that they are mad, or in love, or upset in multiple (for some, sort of brutal) ways.

   The last lines Odysseus speaks in this song are the same ones he says in "Thunder Bringer" when Zeus asks him to choose his own life or his crews'. He says, "please! Don't make me do this! Don't make me do this!" Every time he says this line, it's always circling around a decision of who dies, which could be foreshadowing the future events of the storyline.