Epic: The Musical

EPIC: The Musical
The album cover of The Troy Saga, the first part of the musical
Music	Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Lyrics	Jorge Rivera-Herrans
Setting	Mycenaean Greece
Basis	Odyssey by Homer

Epic: The Musical (stylized as EPIC) is a nine-part series of concept albums with music and lyrics by Jorge Rivera-Herrans. A sung-through adaptation of Homer's Odyssey inspired by musical theater, it tells the story of Odysseus as he tries to return from Troy to Ithaca after the ten-year-long Trojan War. Along the way, he must face gods and monsters that attempt to prevent him from returning to his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus.

Taking inspiration from diverse sources, the series makes use of various musical genres and narrative techniques derived from anime, video games, and theater. The musical gained popularity in 2021 through social media such as TikTok, and faced production troubles due to multiple lawsuits involving its creator. It has received praise from reviewers for the emotional depth and narrative complexity it exhibits through its musical format.

Content

The series is divided into nine concept albums, referred to as "sagas", consisting of three to five songs each. The sagas each portray a narrative arc of the Odyssey. The nine sagas comprise two acts, with each act representing half of the musical.

The characters in Epic are portrayed by multiple singers, with Rivera-Herrans portraying Odysseus. In developing the musical, he took inspiration from the 1936 composition Peter and the Wolf, which identifies different characters using unique instruments. Using this techniue, Epic uses symbolism through representative instruments, with Odysseus being represented with guitar music, Athena being represented with a piano, and Aeolus using choral vocals and flutes. Telemachus is represented by both a guitar and a piano, indicating influences from both Odysseus as his father and Athena as his mentor. This technique is also subverted to provide foreshadowing, such as in the song "Suffering", wherein Penelope is not represented by her characteristic viola, hinting that the singer is actually a siren in disguise.

The songs of the musical span multiple genres, including pop, electronic, rock, orchestral, and world music. The series takes musical and narrative inspiration from various sources, including the works of Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as anime tropes and video game mechanics. Inspired by video games, the sagas serve as "levels", often building up to dramatic "boss battles" at the end. The story of the musical has creative differences from the original Odyssey, with a defining theme of the adaptation, Odysseus's moral dilemmas, being absent in the source material. Death is also a consistent theme in the musical adaptation, with each consecutive saga becoming lyrically darker to represent the pain felt by Odysseus because of the loss he suffers.

The musical makes use of leitmotifs to reinforce thematic parallels throughout the story, such as the "Danger is Nearby" motif, which is frequently used to foreshadow incoming danger. Lyrics from previous songs are also often repeated throughout the musical to reinforce narrative themes, such as the lyric "When does a man become a monster?", first appearing in The Troy Saga, or the lyric "Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves", first sung by the main antagonist Poseidon, both being frequently invoked throughout the first act. Magic is represented in the musical through electronic music, with electronic instruments such as synthesizers becoming more common as the story incorporates more magical and godly elements.

Plot

Act 1

After ten years of fighting in the Trojan War, King Odysseus of Ithaca leads his men in a successful invasion of Troy using the Trojan Horse. While sacking the city, Odysseus receives a vision from Zeus, informing him that if he does not kill the infant Astyanax, son of Hector, the boy will grow up and enact vengeance on Odysseus and his family ("The Horse and the Infant"). Odysseus struggles with the decision, thinking of his own son Telemachus, but eventually kills the baby by throwing him off of the city wall ("Just a Man").

Following the sack of Troy, Odysseus and his fleet of six hundred men set sail towards their home in Greece. Seeking food for the men, Odysseus and his best friend Polites explore an island ("Full Speed Ahead"). Odysseus is tense, and Polites tries to convince him to move on from the war and "greet the world with open arms". They encounter the mischievous lotus-eaters who direct them to a cave in the east to find food ("Open Arms"). The goddess Athena, who had mentored Odysseus since boyhood, sees Odysseus straying from her teachings of harshness because of Polites's influence. She appears and reveals to Odysseus the memory of when they first met in order to remind him of her expectations of him ("Warrior of the Mind").

Arriving at the island that the lotus-eaters had directed them to, Odysseus and a scouting party find a cave full of sheep, killing one for food. The sheep's owner, the cyclops Polyphemus, angrily emerges and threatens to eat the men. Odysseus attempts to reason with him and offers the cyclops a drink of fine Greek wine as payment for the sheep. Polyphemus accepts the wine before asking Odysseus his name, to which Odysseus responds that his name is "Nobody". Polyphemus thanks "Nobody" for the wine, but still attacks the men ("Polyphemus"). Odysseus rallies his men to fight against Polyphemus, succeeding for a moment, but the cyclops retrieves a massive club that gives him an advantage. He slaughters several men, including Polites, before passing out ("Survive"); it is revealed that Odysseus had drugged the wine with lotus fruit taken from the lotus-eaters. With the cyclops unconscious, Odysseus tells his men to fight on in the memory of their dead comrades, instructing them to use their swords to sharpen the club into a spear. They impale Polyphemus in the eye, and his screams of pain attract other cyclopes, who ask Polyphemus who has hurt him. He responds that he was hurt by "Nobody", causing the other cyclopes to tell him to be silent if he is not being attacked. Odysseus and the men steal the sheep of the blinded cyclops and escape, but Athena appears once again and tells Odysseus to kill his foe. Odysseus ignores her order and reveals his true name to Polyphemus in an act of hubris ("Remember Them"). Athena and Odysseus argue about this, causing them to end their relationship ("My Goodbye").

As the crew carry on, they fight a large storm before coming across a floating island ("Storm"). Odysseus plans to visit the island to ask the god Aeolus for help, but Eurylochus, his second-in-command, tells him that the plan is risky. Odysseus pulls Eurylochus aside and tells him to follow orders and not contradict his plans ("Luck Runs Out"). Upon reaching the island, Aeolus gives Odysseus a magical bag of wind that will allow him to return home, as long as it is not opened. Odysseus and his crew almost make it home, but the bag is opened while Odysseus sleeps. Odysseus and Eurylochus quickly close the bag to trap whatever air is left, and the fleet find themselves near the land of the Laestrygonians ("Keep Your Friends Close"). The god Poseidon appears, revealing that he is the father of Polyphemus, vowing vengeance for the pain that Odysseus caused his son. He sinks all of the ships except for that of Odysseus, leaving only forty-three men under his command. Before Poseidon can destroy the last ship, however, Odysseus releases the last of the wind from Aeolus's bag, allowing him to escape ("Ruthlessness").

Beaching on an island, Odysseus sends out a scouting crew, led by Eurylochus, to search for threats. They encounter the enchantress Circe, who transforms all of them except for Eurylochus into pigs. Odysseus and Eurylochus argue whether they should rescue the men or cut their losses, and Odysseus eventually begins heading to Circe's palace ("Puppeteer"). The god Hermes appears to Odysseus and gives him the magical moly herb, which allows him to match Circe's power ("Wouldn't You Like"). Circe and Odysseus battle and Odysseus gains the upper hand ("Done For"). Switching tactics, Circe tries to seduce Odysseus, but he rejects her advances, revealing to her his commitment to return to his wife, Penelope. Circe agrees to let the men go, granting them access to the underworld, where they can seek advice from the blind prophet Tiresias ("There Are Other Ways").

Entering the underworld, Odysseus and his crew see the souls of his slain fleet, including Polites, as well as Odysseus's mother Anticlea who had died while waiting for her son to return home ("The Underworld"). Odysseus reaches Tiresias, who claims that despite having clairvoyant vision of the past and future, he does not see a future in which Odysseus returns home unscathed ("No Longer You"). Grieved, Odysseus decides to bury his softer side, embracing ruthlessness and resolving to return home by any means necessary ("Monster").

Act 2

Two years later, while out at sea, Odysseus encounters a vision of Penelope. He asks her how he can return home, and she reveals that he can only return home by going through the lair of the six-headed sea monster Scylla, where even Poseidon would never enter. She then tells Odysseus to join her in the water, saying that she would relieve him of all of his suffering ("Suffering"). Odysseus appears to give in before attacking her and exposing her identity as a siren in disguise. He reveals that he and his crew had resisted her magical song by plugging their ears with beeswax, and his crew captures the rest of the sirens in the water. The sirens beg for mercy, but Odysseus vows to not make the same mistake he made with Polyphemus and commands his crew to slaughter them ("Different Beast"). The crew sail to the lair of Scylla, where Eurylochus reveals to Odysseus that he was the one who opened Aeolus's wind bag. Ignoring him, Odysseus commands him to light six torches and pass them to six crew members as they sail through Scylla's dark lair. Scylla, attracted to the lights, eats these men, allowing the ship to escape with only six casualties ("Scylla").

Angered at Odysseus's willingness to sacrifice six of his men, Eurylochus heads a mutiny, injuring and imprisoning Odysseus. The ship lands on the nearest island, which happens to be where the sun god Helios lets his cattle graze. Despite warnings from Odysseus, Eurylochus slaughters one of Helios's sacred cattle ("Mutiny"). Helios sends Zeus to pass judgement on the crew, and Zeus forces Odysseus to choose between his own life or the lives of his remaining crew. Odysseus ultimately chooses to sacrifice his crew, and Zeus kills them all except for Odysseus ("Thunder Bringer").

Seven years later, in Ithaca, Telemachus is now twenty years old and longs for a chance to be a legendary hero like his father, praying for an opportunity to protect his mother from her increasingly violent suitors ("Legendary"). He stands up to the suitor Antinous to defend his mother's honor but is badly beaten in a fight before Athena appears and gives him aid ("Little Wolf"). When Telemachus asks Athena why she helped him, she reflects on her relationship with Odysseus and expresses regret about how it ended. Telemachus, unaware that she is referring to his father, encourages the goddess to reach out to her old friend and repair their relationship ("We'll Be Fine").

Athena decides to look through Odysseus's memories to find out what happened to him and discovers that he has been trapped on the island of Ogygia with the obsessive goddess Calypso, who has continuously tried to make Odysseus fall in love with her. Over the years, Odysseus has become increasingly depressed and desperate to escape the island ("Love in Paradise"). Athena appeals to her father, Zeus, to free Odysseus, and Zeus offers a wager. He constructs a game wherein Athena must convince five other Olympians—Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hera—that Odysseus deserves to be freed, agreeing to release him if they are all convinced. Athena uses her wit and wisdom to successfully convince the other gods and demands that Zeus uphold his end of the bargain, enraging him. He attacks Athena with lightning for making a fool of him, but she survives and makes a final plea for Odysseus's freedom ("God Games").

Calypso bids Odysseus farewell before he leaves Ogygia, expressing remorse for the pain she caused him in her obsessive behavior, but declaring that she is not sorry for the love she feels towards him ("Not Sorry For Loving You"). Hermes appears once again, offering guidance and Aeolus's wind bag to help Odysseus return home on a hand-made raft ("Dangerous"). Odysseus evades the sea monster Charybdis before seeing the shores of Ithaca, where he encounters Poseidon again ("Charybdis"). Poseidon gives Odysseus the choice of drowning or watching all of Ithaca be submerged in a tidal wave. Odysseus is dragged to the bottom of the ocean ("Get in the Water"), but opens the wind bag one final time to fight back, striking Poseidon six hundred times in retribution for his six hundred dead comrades. Poseidon tells Odysseus that by opening the wind bag, he released Poseidon's storm, meaning that he has destroyed his last chance of returning home. Odysseus begins to torture Poseidon by repeatedly stabbing him with his own trident, forcing him to relent and call off the storm ("Six Hundred Strike").

The final saga, The Ithaca Saga, has yet to release. 

Musical numbers

Act I

The Troy Saga

• "The Horse and the Infant"
• "Just a Man"
• "Full Speed Ahead"
• "Open Arms"
• "Warrior of the Mind"

The Cyclops Saga

• "Polyphemus"
• "Survive"
• "Remember Them"
• "My Goodbye"

The Ocean Saga

• "Storm"
• "Luck Runs Out"
• "Keep Your Friends Close"
• "Ruthlessness"

The Circe Saga

• "Puppeteer"
• "Wouldn't You Like"
• "Done For"
• "There Are Other Ways"

The Underworld Saga

• "The Underworld"
• "No Longer You"
• "Monster"

Act II

The Thunder Saga

• "Suffering"
• "Different Beast"
• "Scylla"
• "Mutiny"
• "Thunder Bringer"

The Wisdom Saga

• "Legendary"
• "Little Wolf"
• "We'll Be Fine"
• "Love in Paradise"
• "God Games"

The Vengeance Saga

• "Not Sorry for Loving You"
• "Dangerous"
• "Charybdis"
• "Get in the Water"
• "Six Hundred Strike"

The Ithaca Saga

Currently unreleased

Cast

• Jorge Rivera-Herrans as Odysseus, the lotus-eaters, Polyphemus, and the Cyclopes
• Luke Holt as Zeus and Elpenor
• Armando Julian as Eurylochus
• Steven Dookie as Polites
• Teagan Earley as Athena
• Ayron Alexander as Perimedes and Antinous
• Kira Stone as Aeolus
• Steven Rodriguez as Poseidon
• Talya Sindel as Circe
• Troy Doherty as Hermes
• Wanda Herrans as Anticlea
• Mason Olshavsky as Tiresias
• Anna Lea as Penelope and the sirens
• KJ Burkhauser as Scylla
• Miguel Veloso as Telemachus
• Barbara Wangui as Calypso
• Brandon McInnis as Apollo
• Mike Rivera as Hephaestus
• Janani K. Jha as Aphrodite
• Earl Gresham Jr. as Ares
• Sarah Botelho as Hera
• Diana Rivera-Herrans as Aeolus's "Winion" (wind minion)

Production

Epic: The Musical began production in 2019 as Jorge Rivera-Herrans's senior thesis at the University of Notre Dame, but gained widespread popularity in 2021 when he posted videos documenting his creative process on TikTok. The first part of the musical, The Troy Saga, released in December 2022, being followed shortly therafter by The Cyclops Saga in early 2023. The project was stuck in development hell for around a year due to a lawsuit involving Rivera-Herrans and the recording company, with the third part, The Ocean Saga, releasing in December 2023.

In 2023, the recording company Blair Russell Productions filed a lawsuit against Rivera-Herrans, seeking a ruling that they owned full copyright of the first two sagas of Epic. Rivera-Herrans filed a countersuit claiming that he was the exclusive writer, musical director, and lead performer. The lawsuits caused a split between the recording company and the production, and Rivera-Herrans founded Winion Entertainment as an independent recording company. The musical's cast re-recorded the first two sagas to release them independently.

Reception

Within the first week of release, The Troy Saga surpassed three million streams, reaching second-place on the Billboard Cast Album Chart (behind Hamilton) and becoming the number one Soundtrack Album on iTunes on the day of release. Since then, Epic has had consistent popularity, with each saga reaching the number one spot in the week of its release. In the week of July 4, 2024, six of the top ten albums were sagas from Epic.

Epic has been praised for its emotional depth and character development, with reviewer Ally Kelly describing it as having her in a "chokehold", and reviewer Océane Adams saying that Rivera-Herrans's emotive voice "will slam you to your knees if you let it".

Reviewer Eliana Hernandez described Rivera-Herrans's singing as "passionate", saying that he "accurately captures the essence and complexity of a man willing to do practically anything to make it back home to his wife, son and kingdom even if it forever changes the person he is." She also praised the album's worldbuilding and effective abridgement of the source material, saying that despite the creative liberties taken for brevity, the songs "still emotionally pack a punch". In a review of the musical, the website Xavier Newswire described The Wisdom Saga as Rivera-Herrans's best work, praising its character depth and describing the songs "Love in Paradise" and "God Games" as "simultaneously some of the most epic and gut wrenching songs in the whole show".

Reviewers have drawn attention to the fact that the musical found its cast entirely online, and that all of the marketing is done on social media. Eliana Hernandez said that this method of social media-driven production "honors the original source material while transforming the story into a medium that will speak to a more contemporary audience". Reviewer Wyn Caulde described the musical's integration with social media as "a new form of production".