The musical is — loosely — based on The Odyssey by Homer, the tale of King Odysseus of Ithaca, as he takes his 600 men back to their homeland after they win the Trojan War. A journey that should have taken a few weeks took 10 painful and agonizing years. However, everything and everyone else was secondary to the king in his quest to reunite with his wife and son.
But the Puerto Rican playwright behind this viral success doesn’t simply retell Homer’s tale, he fundamentally reframes it. Just like the Greeks of that time, in the original story, murder is necessary and there is little guilt associated with it. Rivera-Herrans brings the themes into the present by giving Odysseus the agency to show mercy and spare someone who wrongs him.
The world that this takes place in is an unforgiving one, represented in the lyrics found in the song “Ruthlessness:” “’Cause you fight to save lives, but won’t kill and don’t get the job done.”
Odysseus is one of the most cunning mortals in Greek mythology, often foolings gods, monsters, and witches. Yet every obstacle he faces, he pays for with his sanity. While Odysseus deals with the grief of losing many of his men, he is forced to wonder if he is responsible for it all.
The musical is 40 songs long, separated into two acts and nine sagas in total. Each saga is a distinct challenge Odysseus and his crew face, making it possible to listen to the album in multiple sittings with each song having a satisfying ending.
Rivera-Herrans rewards you if you have a good ear. Everything has a unique melody/motif that repeats, giving the album a sense of cohesiveness. If you pay attention, you can hear the twists seconds before they hit. He also uses writing techniques that make the words flow, like starting and ending consecutive lines with vowels, and having a consistent pace at which one character delivers information when they appear. However, to keep the original vision of the fight sequences having the same feeling as a video game boss battle, some lyrics sound out of place.
One way to deal with that and enhance the listening experience is by watching the multitude of fan-made animatics. Epic has inspired several artists; almost every song has dozens of videos, a good number achieving over a million views. Some portray Odysseus fighting as a cocky anime protagonist. Others show a broken and tired old man begging for help. Rivera-Herrans has achieved what almost every artist wants: to move people.
From the beginning, Rivera-Herrans wanted his fans to be involved in the project. Nothing showed this conviction more than the open auditions he held through TikTok. The process was simple: Rivera-Herrans made TikTok sounds containing a snippet of every character’s song, and anyone who took videos of them singing was considered for the role. It will be interesting to see if Rivera-Herrans keeps this style of auditioning for his new The Illiad inspired musical Ilium.
Epic is still a concept album with enormous potential. Rivera-Herrans has done amazing work so early in his career. Whatever journey this musical goes through and ends up being, it will always be remembered for capturing the hearts of millions.
