#epic the storm saga

[chronicallye]

So something that kinda confuses me in EPIC, is when Odysseus and Athena are doing Warrior of the Mind. I thought it was their meeting for the first time, but now with the Wisdom Saga, I know that they knew each other long before that.

I can see it as an inside joke or a game they play when they meet, but otherwise I'm clueless.

[myeyesandheartadjust]

So, Jorge, are you paying for my therapy pill after nearly crying during my relisten of Love In Paradise???

[worldseer]

An update on me:

Me: ... Man, I really need to work on my fic, and also do my other work. Get out of art block- Yknow I haven't been hit with a hyperfixation much lately- Greek Mythology: I'M BACK BITCH! Me: Oh god, oh fuck- no you died with the PJO phase! Greek Mythology: LIES! NOW CONSUME! CONSUME IT! *throws the EPIC saga albums, Hades game, and other general mythos my way*

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Odysseus saying "let me close my eyes"...he used to hear Telemachus and Penelope telling him, "Keep your eyes open," but it's been so long that he's forgotten. And he's run out of hope.

[el-jarado]

"Everything's Changed Since Polites"

In light of the extensive re-litigation of the events of Storm Saga after the Thunder Saga, I find myself thinking about "Keep Your Friends Close" a lot recently, and how I think Odysseus was set up for failure from the get-go, and not because of his crew being bad.

Polites's absence is felt like a knife in Storm Saga but the whole gang is feeling it. When "Luck Runs Out" comes up, this is the first time Eurylochus has seriously questioned Odysseus's plan in the musical; probably the first time he's seriously questioned him in over a decade. And what passes between them is pretty telling to me.

Where is this coming from, my friend? I just don't wanna see another life end You're like the brother I could never do without And suddenly, you doubt that I could figure this out?

From what I've seen, Epic takes the approach that Odysseus, Polites, and Eurylochus have been together since they were children. Polites is Odysseus's best friend, but he was Eurylochus's friend too, and he's the first of all of them to die in battle since Odysseus started leading them. They're both reeling from that loss, but how it comes out is bad for both of them. Eurylochus, as we see, is someone who locks down when he's shaken; focus on immediate safety for his shipmates even if it prevents a better course of action (run when the other cyclopses show up, the food is not worth having to take on another dozen Polyphemus; get the crew the fuck away from the sexy witch before she turns the rest of them into pigs; avert starvation NOW deal with (more) angry gods LATER). He does not want Odysseus to get hurt dealing with something as dangerous as a god, and tries to express that. Odysseus withdraws into himself and lashes out at anything that tries to reach him when he's shaken; he's already lashed out at Athena when she takes him to task while he's still grief-striken over Polites, and here he doesn't hear his brother saying "please don't be reckless, I can't lose you too", he hears "you weren't good enough to bring everyone home, and we don't believe in you anymore." He's cold and dismissive to Eurylochus's doubts to cover for his own hurt, and that just makes those doubts worse.

It's exactly the wrong mindset to approach Aeolus in, and this is the part I've really been turning over in my head. Aeolus's game does sound too easy; all he's gotta do is not open the bag, while sailing on a ship staffed by 43 men he's been leading for ten years, many of whom he's probably known his entire life. The winions add the obvious catch in that they spread a rumor among the crew that the bag is a treasure Odysseus is keeping to himself before Odysseus can explain himself, but I think in many ways Aeolus's whole song is putting a finger on the scales. Aeolus, in presenting it to Odysseus, implies that some of his brothers are enemies and should be treated as such, and the winions, spreaders of mischievous whispers, keep telling him "never really know who you can trust." (And imply he should kill and sacrifice when it's convenient, the act that ultimately destroys all trust in the crew down the road.) And I think that's a malicious twist in the game just as much as "It's treasure~! Buh-bye!" :D

Odysseus went up to the island feeling sore and defensive after his last talk with Eurylochus, and when he's told to keep his friends close and his enemies closer, it's interesting to me that he doesn't think "I don't have any enemies on that ship, those men are my brothers" or even "who can I trust to help me with this?"

He thinks "I need to do this entire thing myself." It could be hubris, a quality Odysseus certainly doesn't lack for, but I think this is the shadow of Polites not being there again. Odysseus had to leave some of his men behind for the first time in ten years, and he thinks he's lost their faith because of it. He's guided to expect a betrayal and feels like he needs to do something amazing all on his own to show Eurylochus and the others he's still got it, Polyphemus was a fluke.

Part of my understanding of human nature has been that people respond to our expectations and treatment of them. I sincerely believe if Odysseus had taken Eurylochus and/or a few of his most trusted men into his confidence for managing the bag, the temptation to open it would have been greatly diminished or negated. Odysseus doesn't treat any of his friends as if they're worthy of his trust, because Aeolus got in his head and he's trying to prove something to himself and to them by doing this singlehandedly. However, people respond to how you treat them, and Odysseus not realizing the crew are just as shaken by Polites's loss as he is and treating them with suspicion makes worry fester into doubt.

Polites's loss is felt keenly again; he's not there to tell Odysseus he can relax, that kindness is brave and he should trust in his friends to support him instead of treating them like potential enemies (Ody remarks on being unopposed as if he was expecting otherwise, which is not the relationship he's had with the crew up to now), and he's not there to reassure Eurylochus and the crew Odysseus must have a good reason for his cagey, secretive behavior and they shouldn't listen to the winions continuing to suggest a little peek to make sure of things wouldn't hurt. (I take the continued presence of the winions in the song to imply they're harassing the crew with rumor the entire time Odysseus is keeping to himself and trying not to sleep.) I don't think Eurylochus would have wanted to look in the bag if he was brought in on protecting it, that's not his relationship with Odysseus, but when they're nearly to Ithaca, Odysseus hasn't said a word to anyone in days, nobody really knows what's going on but there's all these rumors flying and the Captain's acting strange...

It would not surprise me if Epic's interpretation is similar to the Odyssey where they're almost back when the bag opens, in which case it might be even more tragic as an Orpheus & Eurydice twist; I don't think it was a case where the bag would've been opened the moment Ody turned his back, I think he stayed awake for nine days out of wholly unjustified paranoia/trying to make a point he's still got it by doing everything himself, and Eurylochus and the crew celebrated too early when their destination was in sight. They thought they were home, there's no harm in having a look now, right? Wrong; Aeolus (probably deliberately) didn't specify when it would be safe to open the bag, and certainly didn't feel the need to warn Odysseus the magic winds inside would blow them miles away from where they opened it. Like Orpheus makes it out of the underworld and then ruins his hard work because he looks back just before Eurydice has, I suspect the crew was not trying to open the bag during the days Odysseus was depriving himself of sleep to watch it; it's at the seeming end of the journey that "they wanna get the bag open so they can have closure." Like most bad ideas, it is likely Eurylochus did what he did when it didn't seem like there was any obvious harm in it; Odysseus said don't open the bag until we're home, but Ithaca's in sight, what could it hurt to celebrate a little early?

To make a long story short, I think Ody and the boys were hosed with the wind bag trial from the start without Polites around, and it's not just because the crew fell for a rumor introduced to make the game harder and Eurylochus eventually acted on it; it's also because a god Ody just met told him not to trust his friends, and he believed the god he just met instead of them because he's still mourning his best friend and misread his other best friend's concern for his safety as a sign his leadership was faltering. God games are rarely if ever fair; the house always wins, and it's a lesson Ody learns slowly and painfully.

I'm also not gonna do another long post about my point that people, Odysseus included, keep forgetting making it back to Ithaca with Poseidon still royally pissed at them would've been very very bad, but making it back to Ithaca with Poseidon still royally pissed at them would've been very very bad!

[deathnguts]

The best way to describe the intricacies of Eurylochus and why I believe a majority of people don’t get him is that if he were a woman certain souls would have a fucking field day hating her

[mxrizza]

Epic memes bc I can

[lesbianlotuswitch4]

GUESS WHO FINALLY FOUND OUT HOW TO PLAY LUCK RUNS OUT WITHOUT SHEET MUSIC ON PIANOOO

(it's sloppy tho but what is joy if not doing things imperfectly)

[estie-posts-shit]

You reveal your name? You reveal your name then you let him live? Oh! Oh! Death for Odysseus! Death for Odysseus’ 600 men!

[yinmndragon]

Something I noticed during the wisdom saga live steam is that in Ruthlessness Poseidon refers to Odysseus and his crew as "the pack of wolves" and then in Little wolf Telemachus is refed to as well "little wolf"

Do I have any thoughts about it? Absolutely not

I thought it was cool and wanted to share

[myeyesandheartadjust]

THE ALBUM ART IS OUT!!

THE ALBUM ART IS OUT!!

LOOK AT IT!!

[hornyforpoetry]

I have a question for you, guys. You probably already saw that I'm a huge fan of classic literature and ancient greek myths. With the recent popularity of "Epic: The Saga", a lot of people on Tumblr are talking about the legend of Odysseus. I absolutely love the musical and all of the fanarts and posts. I also saw a lot of analysis from a "modern" point of view that are very interesting, but work just for the musical. So, my question is:

[reallydifferentcaptain]

Crazy how Eurylochus encouraged Odysseus to not mess with the gods or use his wit anymore in "Luck Runs Out" and then gets made at him when he does that in "Scylla" and "Mutiny"

Like he specifically says that Odysseys left behind no man with Circe and hatched a plan with Polyphemus which he complained about "In Luck Runs Out" because "he relies on wit and people die on it" but then when he doesn't use it Eurylochus accuses him of sacrificing people 🙄

[stayasleepanddream]

Relistening to Ruthlessness now and let's be honest, Ody definitely didn't apologise. Like, at all. And I get it, Polyphemus killed his best friend. And maybe he felt too proud and arrogant to apologise (although he definitely can do that when something matters to him, like him begging Zeus or Circe for mercy), because he doesn't think he did anything wrong.

But, but, let's assume he apologised properly, I wonder if Poseidon would have let them go. I wonder if Odysseus tried to put himself in Poseidon's place as a father, he'd be able to apologise genuinely and go back home (although let's be real, Poseidon suggesting he should have killed the cyclop definitely shows that he isn't really that caring, it sounds more like he feels someone played with an object belonging to him and wanted to punish them for boasting about it)

Or maybe it wouldn't have mattered at all and Poseidon would have still killed his crew because he still wanted to make a point, and the apology was just a nice bonus.

[clio-daughter-of-dionysus]

WISDOM SAGA IS OUT BABY

[jkriordanverse]

sometimes when ants die i wonder if its like an oddyseus/ cyclops situation where you are the cyclops and the ants are the crew returning back with some of their men gone and empty...