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Odyssey - Blog Posts
Epic: The musical
All songs are perfect, I can't stop listening to them. Help.
The Horse and the Infant, Warrior of the Mind and Polyphemus are my favourite *chief kiss*
Also, what I like about Greek mythology, is that the whole story of the world happened because gods couldn't solve their problems in a mature way...
Wonderful ten out of ten wears it as good as I
I draw normal things I swear
When writing this, I did not consider that the Odyssey takes 10 years. For most of the story Odysseus has a toddler and a first grader.
Odyssey AU where Odysseus takes Astyanax with him instead of killing him.
Plotwise everything stays the same, Odysseus just has a baby permanently strapped to his chest for the entirety of the story.
Odyssey AU where Odysseus takes Astyanax with him instead of killing him.
Plotwise everything stays the same, Odysseus just has a baby permanently strapped to his chest for the entirety of the story.
One of the most obvious arguments in favor of a romantic relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is simply that it makes sense from a writers perspective. Want to absolutely destroy your main character? Bring them to their breaking point? Punch your reader in the gut? Kill the love interest.
I mean, come on, the greeks were the inventors of the tragedy for a reason. What's more tragic? The death of cousin/comrade or the death of the person you are irrevocably and maddly in love with?
Chapters: 2/? Fandom: The Iliad - Homer, The Odyssey - Homer, EPIC - Jorge Rivera-Herrans (Albums), Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Hector/Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Diomedes/Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Diomedes & Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Andromache/Hector (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hector & Paris (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hector & Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Menelaus & Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore) Characters: Odysseus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hector (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Priam (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Castor (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Pollux (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Diomedes (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Menelaus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Agamemnon (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Nestor (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Trojan War, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Difficult Decisions, Friends to Lovers, Lovers To Enemies, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Odysseus Needs A Hug (EPIC: The Musical), Odysseus is Not Okay (EPIC: The Musical), hector needs a hug, Slow Burn, english is not author's first language, Attempt at Humor, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Bittersweet, Female Odysseus (EPIC: The Musical) Summary:
In the shadows of war and duty, quiet bonds are hidden from prying eyes—some tender, some painful, and some worth breaking the rules for. This is the story of a forbidden love between Prince Hector of Troy and Queen Odysseus of Ithaca, how it all started and what the war will force them to do.
HUH
so like in the underworld saga yk how Odysseus yells “WHO” in No Longer You. It js got my thinking ab that one tiktok audio.
The prophet (i can’t remember how to spell his name): “And like there’s some drama with bloxburg-“
Odysseus: “HUH?”
Prophet guy: “yeah-“
Ody: “I NEED TO HEAR AB THIS??”
You're so fucking insane for that and I love it
A (not) so small philosophical interpretation of Odysseus in epic
Disclaimer: I'm doing this analysis for fun, please don't take everything I write as truth, because this text is based on my interpretation and, even though it took some academic research to do it. It's worth remembering that I don't have a degree in philosophy yet, so I can still make mistakes on some points. Another point I want to highlight is that I wrote this text in a language other than English, and there may be some translation errors by Google, so I apologize if anything is confusing or if you have any questions about something, feel free to comment or send an ask, I'll do my best to explain.
(Notice that's basically me as far as you decide to read this blog)
EPIC:the musical is a work that is very present in my life and in the lives of many other people who are reading this little fan outburst; And if you've just stumbled upon this craze and are hearing about it for the first time, a brief summary is that it's a musical, more addictive than drugs, that tells the story of Odysseus, that guy from Greek mythology who spent 20 years trying to get home after the Trojan War, also known as Simp by his wife Penelope. We have moments of joy, sadness, introspection and many fan outbursts caused by the owner of it all, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, who is not only the creator but also the lead singer of this masterpiece, playing Odysseus and a few others.
But let's get back to the analysis here because I could talk about this for hours without stopping.
A few months ago, when the Underworld saga was released, I remembered the phrase:
"If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."
This phrase was written by Nietzsche in the book Beyond Good and Evil, and it reminds me a lot of the Odysseus we see in EPIC, although the phrase is incomplete in the previous quote, even though it is the most common one we see being spread around. The original is:
“Whoever fights monsters should take care that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
And I also remember thinking about that phrase by Heraclitus, which I think everyone has heard, probably incompletely, at some point in school:
“No one can step into the same river twice, for when he steps into it again, the waters are not the same, and the being itself has already changed. Thus, everything is governed by dialectics, the tension and the alternation of opposites. Therefore, reality is always the result of change, that is, of the struggle between opposites.”
In my opinion, I think that both phrases fit well with the version of the character that we see starring in the entire musical, since most ancient myths and poems have different versions and translations and of course Jorge took some artistic liberties; Odysseus is a Greek hero who fights against many monsters, both mythical and internal, taking into account his ethics as a person while trying to survive and return home.
I think it's interesting to point out that from here on I'll use some different terms, but I'll do my best to explain them.
We can see that throughout all the sagas Odysseus is describing the line of what it is to be human and how one can easily slip off it; this line is located between the definition of gods and monsters/animals and is known as Metron, which gave rise to the word measure, and here we will use it as a synonym for limit for something. It's also good to say that metron has nothing to do with a person's morals/character, because it's a question of ethics.
Morals are the set of rules that concern good and evil, right and wrong. These standards refer to values that are passed down from generation to generation and guide the conduct of individuals in their daily lives. (personal)
Ethics is a field of philosophy whose object of study is the principles that guide morality. In this sense, ethics is a philosophical reflection on morality, approaching the universal principles that govern the common good and coexistence between human beings in general. (common sense)
In my opinion about the musical, the issue of gods and monsters is not so different. For me, in that context, monsters and gods are the same thing, since they are outside the ideal of humanity, but this point may be mentioned later.
Metron is not a knowledge, it is, above all, the limit between impossibility and weakness.
We can see in several Greek myths that human beings like to cross this line, most stories end in tragedy because of this, human beings can also be called “Hybris” which is an excess, it is being hybrid, having two natures, acting in two ways, it is being in the Metron and trying to be something that one is not, because thinking that we can be more than men is arrogance, and arrogance is a human emotion, another story that exemplifies this well is the myth of Oedipus who tries to overcome his destiny given by the gods and ends up fulfilling it anyway.
Hybris is a Greek concept that can be translated as "everything that goes beyond the measure; "immoderation" and which currently alludes to excessive confidence, exaggerated pride, presumption, arrogance or insolence (originally against the gods), which often ends up being punished.
It is worth noting that hybris would in no way be a sin, in the concept of the word and the ideal current translation for it would be "Hamartia", which by chance is also no longer used in its original meaning because of the Catholic Church.
Now going to the interesting part because I was just giving context of terms.
In The Horse and the Infant, we 'meet' our beloved version of Odysseus, where during the Trojan War he states that everything he is doing is for his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus, using this as a way to inspire his men to carry out the massacre that he himself did not want to participate in, I think because of his moral nature, the proof is so much that in Homer's original Odyssey, he pretends to be crazy so as not to show up when called, unfortunately he is unmasked and forced to go.
We also see here that up until now Odysseus is still a very moral character, he has his reasons for being there, he, like the other warriors, has a family and his deepest desire is to return to them. So with this we can conclude that he is still just a man, he is human.
In the same song we see how far his morality goes, as he receives the divine mission to kill the young Trojan prince, Astyanax, who is just a baby, due to the threat that one day he will want revenge on him and his kingdom.
All of this creates doubts in Odysseus, about the morality of gods and men. Here we see him crossing the line and this whole text begins to be about ethics, as it is common sense that killing a child is a monstrous act, but for him not to kill means that his family will die in a more horrendous way later and he cannot let that happen.
Then we have the monologue in Just a Man, the best song, where we can really see the doubts mentioned earlier. And one detail that I find very interesting and that will be important for this text is that in Gigi's animatic, we can see Odysseus' "monster" being 'born' and its source is the baby and his doubts about whether he would really be a monster just for that, even though at that moment the baby is still just a human, the mission to kill him little by little makes him a monster due to the possibility that one day he himself will commit several atrocities.
It's fun for me to think that representing 'the monster' as a tree could be an allusion to the fact that trees take as long to grow as a monster takes to be formed by man.
I think you now understand part of Nietzsche's quote. Odysseus looking at his own reflection and not recognizing himself, seeing the monster he will become if he crosses the metronome is very well treated in several animatics, but the most visible is in Gigi's where he is not only referenced but shown as a completely different being both in attitudes and thoughts.
I'll just pause to say that I love how Gigi did the work of showing the tree growing in the shape of a skull, which could be the deaths that the monster will bring or that it is a macabre thing to do, I don't know, I just love this detail for some reason.
And also how I think that makes a point of showing that the real problem is not the baby but rather Odysseus' unethical thoughts developing because of his doubts.
Ok, end of the pause and start of a mini explanation.
I didn't think this analysis would be so long and in my original thought I was only going to end up mentioning a few songs and focusing more on "No Longer You" and "Monster" but it ended up getting out of control and listening to the musical again it seems like I can make a lot of connections that I hadn't thought of before but now I can't express them properly, so from now on there will be a gigantic gap in content that I might fill later in another post or by editing this one, but at the moment thinking too much about it is giving me a headache and I really wanted to be able to post this now along with the Wisdom Saga because it's something I did for fun from fan to fan and I know that now the fandom is busier. One day I swear I'll do a complete analysis relating song by song, but not today for the sake of my mental health.
End of explanation, subject change.
Going through his entire journey, Ody goes to the underworld after Tiresias who reveals that he will never return home, which makes him indignant, I think any human would be, how much he suffered to get there for nothing. Here we can see how Heraclitus fits into the prophet, and as much as I hate cutting philosophical phrases in half, I don't think I need to use the whole thing to make sense of it here, because the most well-known part of it is enough to get to the point discussed here, since it really won't be him who returns to Ithaca, but rather another man, a man haunted by his own past and by the ethics of his people.
There is no way a man who spent 20 years away from home, suffering for the divine and for his own mind, can be the same, because this is a human characteristic, humans are hybrid beings, which implies that we can change our own nature while gods and monsters will always follow the same line of thought, since they are perfect they do not need drastic changes to live as they are.
That's it. So finally we have the mental breakdown where Ody begins to accept that it doesn't matter if he is a monster to everyone, he did what was necessary. He looked into the abyss and was looked back. He becomes the monster, even if he compares himself to the other divine creatures, which I think he never really learned to differentiate from humans, because Ody my friend there is no way you can really reach the level of a cyclops or a god with a wounded ego, or a traumatized nymph, time makes things very trivial for them and let's face it you will not live even half as long as they do because you are just a mortal.
And I don't know how to make gifs so here are some prints to illustrate the last paragraph. But before that I wanted to thank you if you read this far, I know the ending was kind of bad but I'm emotionally tired, I hope I at least conveyed the idea that was in my head. Thank you and stream the new saga!!!!
(All arts belong to gigi!! go check out this amazing work!!!)
POSEIDON (and Jay) part 2
It is from my AU where Jay is the reincarnation of Odysseus and Poseidon is still afraid of him XD
Also inspire by Steven's video and a Jay reel. No me termina de convencer los colores de mi Poseidón, puede que lo cambie.
View between villages. Posting it here because apparently the YouTube video is unavailable in some regions agajsbs
POSEIDON (and Jay) part 2
It is from my AU where Jay is the reincarnation of Odysseus and Poseidon is still afraid of him XD
Also inspire by Steven's video and a Jay reel. No me termina de convencer los colores de mi Poseidón, puede que lo cambie.
Yea, let me just... *goes to his bedroom to cry*
Aftermath (odypen fanfic)
TW: mentioned SA and (according to my friend) slightly (and I mean SLIGHTLY) suggestive
[I was pretty proud of this one so I wanted to share :D]
[credit to @dootznbootz for the Water Wife™ headcanon]
The palace halls were deserted this time of night. The two lovers had taken an evening stroll — more like midnight stroll — and were still drenched from the creek. It wasn’t her fault, she insisted — Odysseus started it. Had he never smugly commented about his “godlike looks,” Penelope might have not used her naiad powers and they both would probably still be dry. But no.
That lovable little bighead, she thought to herself, smiling.
“What is it?” he asked from beside her. She snapped out of her thoughts and glanced at him — then, seeing his cocky grin, looked back down. Her cheeks felt hot.
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how embarrassed you looked after the creek incident.”
“Did not!”
“Did too.”
“Did not!”
“Quit arguing like a child,” she chuckled.
He pretended to pout, softening his expression like a little pup as he always did to persuade her.
“Don’t make that face at me.”
His grin returned, wider this time. “Why not? Too gorgeous for you?”
She stopped walking and playfully shoved his shoulder into the nearest pillar. Before she could say anything else, he grabbed her arm and pulled her close. For a second, they stayed there, looking into each other’s eyes, barely able to breathe.
She eyed his lips. He eyed hers. She inched her face closer, almost closing the gap between them —
“Wait.”
Confused, she pulled back. “What?”
Odysseus was trembling. His breathing was shallow and uneven, his skin pale. “I just … I can’t.”
“Why not?” Penelope’s brows furrowed. “Odysseus, what’s wrong?”
He didn’t respond. His chest was heaving, his eyes flicking wildly from one spot to another — looking at everything but her. And he wouldn’t stop shaking.
“Odysseus. Ody, look at me.”
He did, but his eyes were wild.
“You can tell me if something’s bothering you. Did I do something? Say something?”
“No — no, I …” He trailed off, shaking his head.
“It’s okay, Ody. You can tell me.”
“Ca — ” his breath hitched. “Calypso,” he breathed, barely audible.
“What — ” Suddenly, Penelope understood. She’d heard that word before. Calypso wasn’t a what.
She was a who.
“Another woman?” Penelope took a step back. “Is that what this is about?”
No response. Just more ragged breathing.
“Answer me, Odysseus,” she spat angrily. “Who is this woman you slept with? Why did you choose her over me?”
His eyes widened more, suddenly flicking up to meet hers. “No! No, it’s not like that. She — ”
“What’s going on, Odysseus? What else haven’t you told me? What else are you hiding?”
“Penelope, listen — ” He paused, choking a little as tears formed in his eyes. “I tried to stop her but she — ” Suddenly, he dissolved in tears. “I’m so sorry.”
Oh.
Penelope’s heart dropped. He didn’t choose Calypso over her — no, the reality was much worse.
She stepped closer again. “Ody, it’s okay — ”
“No. No, it’s not. I’m sorry.”
Reaching out to touch his face, she repeated, “It’s okay — ”
But he jumped away from her hand like it was the point of a sword.
“Don’t touch me.”
She froze, realizing why he said that. “I’m sorry, Ody — ”
His expression softened. “No. I’m sorry. I — ” his voice caught in his throat as his eyes widened again.
“I have to go,” he said, slowly backing away.
“Odysseus — ”
“I’m so sorry.”
And he turned and sprinted away.
•••
“Odysseus? Ody, where are you? Odysseus!”
Penelope ran through the halls, almost tripping and cursing at her dress for being so long. She called her husband’s name over and over again, worry blossoming in her heart like a poisonous flower.
She checked the gardens. Nothing.
She checked the main hall. Nobody in sight.
She checked the courtyard. Completely empty.
Where was he?
Realization struck her — there was only one place left.
Panting, she knocked on the bedroom door. “Ody? Ody, it’s me, are you in there?”
No response. She was about to knock again but then —
Sniffle.
Her heart felt like it had been ripped into pieces. Just that one sound made her knees feel week. Odysseus was crying — because of her. Because she decided to do the one thing that made him uncomfortable — touch him.
Although, she thought, Odysseus had never acted like this before. If anything, they both loved curling up on that wedding bed of theirs and losing themselves in love. It made them feel … intertwined. Not just their limbs. But their hearts. Their souls. Like two olive bushes — one tame, one wild — growing from the same stem with their branches wound together so tightly that nothing, not even the wind or rain, could pass through.
Now, it felt as if someone was hacking at the wild branch with an axe, trying to cut him off from his stem and pry him away against his will. That someone was Calypso.
Or maybe — Penelope dreadfully thought — it was herself.
Either way, she could not let him feel like that any longer. She opened the door, stepping inside.
“Ody?”
Another sniffle.
She gently closed the door, then followed the sound to behind the bed. Curled up in a corner was the king of Ithaca — shaking, sobbing, choking on his breath with his head against the wall and knees tucked into his chest.
“Odysseus.”
A pained groan escaped his throat as he winced. His eyes were shut tight, his skin dripping with sweat and tears.
Her gut twisted. What was happening to him? “Odysseus. Ody, wake up. Please.”
“Enough, goddess,” he croaked quietly. “Please.”
“What — Odysseus, it’s me —”
“No!” His body twitched as if someone had sent a bolt of lightning through him. His brows furrowed in pain. “You’ve — you’ve hurt me enough. No more — no more games. Please, I beg of you.”
“Odysseus! Please! Wake up!” she cried, crouching down and desperately taking his face in her hands. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, clouding her vision. What must he have gone through to get this upset?
His eyes still squeezed shut, he jumped away from her touch. “Get away from me!” he yelled. “Please — leave me alone. Let me — let me have one peaceful night. One. Please —”
“ODYSSEUS, IT’S ME! It’s Penelope! You’re home, remember? You’re safe. Please, come back to me.” She choked, the tears flowing freely down her face now.
His eyes flew open as he jolted awake. At the sight of her, his breath hitched. “Penelope,” he whispered. “It’s you.”
She nodded, smiling through her tears. “Yes, my love. It’s me. You’re home.”
For a second, he was silent, taking in everything about her — her face, her electric blue eyes, now overflowing with tears. She held his gaze, watching him realize that this was Penelope — his loving wife. She’d never hurt him. Never.
Suddenly, he threw his arms around her, dissolving in tears again. She hugged him back, her fingers combing his sweat-soaked hair as sobs racked his body. She fought the urge to cry with him, knowing that she had to be strong for the both of them if she wanted to help him.
“It’s okay,” she whispered into his ear over and over again until he had somewhat calmed down. “You’re okay.”
He waited until the tears stopped flowing, then let go and met her gaze again. “I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry, Penelope.”
“No, I’m sorry. I made you uncomfortable. I won’t touch you anymore —”
“No!” he exclaimed. “No, please do.” His eyes glinted with longing. “Twenty years I have been starved of your touch. I can’t hold back any longer. I just — it’ll take some time for — for me to get used to it.”
“Take your time, my love. I’ll be right here by your side.”
He nodded, biting his lip as his eyes moistened again. Burying his face into her shoulder, he sat with her in silence.
After a moment, Penelope spoke. “If you ever want to talk about it —”
He shuddered.
“You don’t have to,” she stammered. “Talk about it, I mean. I know it’s hard. I know you’re hurt. But if you do —”
“No, I do. Just — give me a second.”
“Take your time,” she repeated.
A few seconds passed as he steadied his emotions. Separating himself from the embrace, he took a deep breath. He couldn’t meet her eyes.
“It wasn’t just Calypso. Before that … Circe.”
Oh, gods. Penelope felt dizzy.
“But at least I got something out of that. Hermes told me that for her to release my men, I — I had to allow myself into her bed. So I did, reluctantly.” His voice cracked. “It worked. She released my men and sent us on our way to the Underworld. I thought that would be the last of it.”
Penelope started to take his hand in hers, then stopped herself. But Odysseus looked down, then took her hand instead. She smiled at him comfortingly.
“Calypso was a different story.” He swallowed. “After my ship was struck down by Zeus, I washed up on an island. She greeted me, appearing kind at first. She gave me shelter, food, clothing, and company. One day, I told her that I must be on my way. But she —” He hesitated. “She had different plans. ‘I gave you everything I could. It’s time you repay me.’ I agreed. ‘Anything, goddess.’” He paused. “I wish I had known what she had meant.” His voice cracked again as he finally met Penelope’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, my love.”
She shook her head.
“I'm just a man, Penelope. A mortal. I was no match against this goddess. I’m so sorry. Every night, no matter how hard I resisted, she’d — she'd force me into her bed; every night after … her, I’d lie awake thinking of you — of how I betrayed you, even when you were waiting for me for all these years —” He choked, letting out another sob.
She wrapped her arms around him again as he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t, Ody.”
Silence fell again between the two as he composed himself. Penelope spoke again — “This happened … every night?” she whispered.
He slowly nodded into her shoulder.
“For how long?”
No response.
“Ody —”
“Eight years.”
Gods.
Now tears fell from her eyes too as his fingers dug into her back, desperately grasping for her affection. The realization that this — being forced to betray his beloved; not the monsters, the gods, or anything else he faced — was the worst he could have ever suffered.
For eight years. Penelope felt sick.
“I’m so sorry,” he kept saying, but she only shook her head.
Her heart shattered. None of this was his fault; why was he apologizing? And this was nothing like the Odysseus she knew. Odysseus was a hero — strong, brave, and cunning. No, this was … broken. A man who had been through far more than he let on; far more than he deserved.
Even heroes need to be consoled sometimes, she figured.
They sat like that for a while, taking comfort in each other. When they finally parted, they both felt different — healed.
All that was in the past now. They had each other now, as they always would. They were safe. They were home.
They were together. And that’s what mattered.
“Penelope?” Odysseus asked.
“Hm?”
“Thank you.”
She only smiled.
That night, the two of them fell asleep in each other’s arms — the two olive bushes, intertwined again at last.
Never to be separated again.
me: oh yea i’m still on my first draft
me: oh yea i just made a book cover design
Could you imagine the vibes on that boat after Odysseus’ crew go against his word and open the bag sending them all the way back to where they started near enough…
I like to think there was a moment somewhat like this
pov: you done fucked up
Alt versions and a little anatomy study I did while traveling yesterday (the guy next to me kept looking over at me)
let me know which version is your favorite!
screaming crying throwing up this is amazing