A Delve Into EPIC: The Musical

Troy Saga: Full Speed Ahead (Song #3)

We then switch to an ocean setting, where the song "Full Speed Ahead" begins.

The opening lines are sung by Odysseus, who says "Six hundred men under my command". This is a commonly repeated lyric, altered slightly in many of the sagas' songs to fit the theme and mood of the musical number. The phrasing "under my command" confirms that Odysseus is leading these men, whether it be in battle, on quests, or in general, on their journey home.

He says their only goal is "[making] it back alive to [their] homeland", which is Ithaca. This line tells the audience what the main goal of the characters are during the musical, which may impact how the audience views them in the upcoming sagas, whether it be feeling sympathy for them, or seeing them as a total monster.

"The problem's not the distance, it's what lies in between!", the crew says. This is ironic, considering how many problems they come across during their journey crossing the open seas. The choice of words, however, implies that the crew knows about the dangers that roam the seas, showing their potential knowledge of the problems that lay hiding beneath the surface. It may have been potential foreshadowing, but it seems a little too obvious to be so.

"Full speed ahead!" Odysseus commands. This is a commonly repeated phrase in the upcoming sagas as they come across various threats and foes on their journey home to Ithaca. His leadership is shown more as the crew ask, "Captain, what's the plan?". They're looking to their captain for a command, as they have done before. This could also show their trust in Odysseus at the beginning of the musical, as they look to him without hesitation. This changes as they go through many hardships and fight many battles.

During this number, we are introduced to Eurylochus, who is Odysseus's supposed "Second in Command". We are also introduced to Polites, who Odysseus is quite familiar with and trusts to go with him alone on a quest.

During the early stage of their journey back to Ithaca, Polites spots an island emitting a warm light. He wants to explore it, but Eurylochus says "I say we strike first, we don't have time to wait, so let's raid the place and–". He is cut off by Odysseus, who insists on checking out the island and says that "six hundred men can make this place burn" if he were to not return.

Referring back to Eurylochus's lyric, I could assume that the character doesn't like taking chances with most things. He says "we don't have time to wait" which indicates that Eurylochus could be only thinking of getting home, instead of acquiring supplies such as food. Getting home is their main priority in this musical and the Greek myth it was inspired by. It could also mean he has some sort of mental timer in his head, based off the line, but that's a stretch.

He insists on checking out the island to find a way "no one ends up dead". This could be him caring for his crew and trying to find a solution as their leader, as at the time, he wanted (and still doesn't) want to see any of his shipmates die on this journey, as they already lost enough people to the war in Troy.

To further support the quest theory, we can see this when Odysseus chooses to investigate the island with Polites rather than Eurylochus. This could be because he trusts Polites to have a better judgement of the island than his second in command, or it could be because he didn't want to risk Eurylochus getting hurt and having no one to lead his men.

After this, the crew (including Eurylochus and Polites) act as an echo for Odysseus, repeating his words as he says "full speed ahead" repeatedly. This could also show his impact on the crew, and how, again, he's their leader and they don't hesitate to do what he has commanded.

Another thing to note is that both Legendary (a song from the Wisdom Saga) and Full Speed Ahead both have an upbeat optimistic tone. However, there's a contrast as in this song, Odysseus is constantly talking about reaching those halls and getting home, whereas Telemachus wants to escape them and escape the castle in general.