Athena & Odysseus

The tale of The Odyssey is a tragic one of a soldier named Odysseus, being kept from home for ten years after having fought in a war for the past decade - a soldier who the Goddess Athena often aided in his times of need. Written by a man during the age of Ancient Greece, Homer.

I learned of the Odyssey after listening to a musical composed and written by the genius of Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Epic: The Musical. Epic is a musical based on the events of the Odyssey, but Jorge has taken creative liberties to make the story fit his theme more. After stumbling upon Epic, I became obsessed with Odysseus's tale. Once I learned that Jorge's interpretation of the tale was not exact, I set out to read the original story. I bought the translation of Emily Wilson's Odyssey and loved her creative wordplay and interpretation of Homer's classic tale.

I was drawn in by the stories, characters Homer depicted, and the songs Jorge wrote. It made me want to write this, my version of the story, but focused more on the relationship between Odysseus and his godly patron-my vision of these characters. I want to remain closer to the original Odyssey's depiction but have some of the creative liberties Jorge took.