Epic: The Musical is an in-progress concept album and loose adaptation of The Odyssey. It is written/composed by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, who began the project in 2019 but first posted about it to the public in 2021.
Production is ongoing, and completed songs are released on story-arc clusters called "Sagas" while incomplete demos (usually sung by Rivera-Herrans himself) are released on Rivera's social media accounts. Notably, the project garnered popularity through TikTok, where Rivera initially released the songs. After gaining a sizeable following, he was able to engage in more professional production, including hiring voice actors/singers for other characters, leaving him to voice Odysseus.
The album/musical is planned to have Two Acts, with twenty songs each. Songs are partitioned into "Sagas," with Act One containing five Sagas and Act Two containing four. As of this writing, Sagas 1-5 are released, with the "Underworld Saga" having been released last week.
I'll link the songs in each title, and for some of the released songs (as well as some of the demos) I will be posting links to animatics and animations I like done by fans. Those will have asterisks next to them. (*)
Act One consists of:
The Troy Saga
1. The Horse And The Infant - Taking place during the battle of Troy, Odysseus is commanded by Zeus to kill the infant son of Hector, Astyanax.
2. (*) Just a Man - A remorseful and uncertain Odysseus sings to Astyanax and comes to terms with the fact that he will have to murder a baby.
3. (*) Full Speed Ahead - Baby killing quandary over, Odysseus and his 600 soldiers head out towards home.
4. Open Arms - Odysseus and company meet the Lotus Eaters while searching for supplies; Odysseus is suspicious and defensive, while his friend Polites encourages him to be more trusting. The Lotus Eaters direct them vaguely to a cave that's supposed to be full of food.
5. (*) Warrior of the Mind - Athena appears to Odysseus and scolds him for his sentimentality in Troy and his trust of the Lotus Eaters. We get a flashback to when she first appeared to a young Odysseus and decided to become his mentor.
The Cyclops Saga
6. (*) Polyphemus - Odysseus and the others find that cave and it's not as uninhabited as they had thought.
7. (*) Survive - Negotiations with the cyclops have not gone well.
8. (*) Remember Them - While still mourning their fallen comrades, Odysseus and the survivors blind an unconscious Polyphemus. One of the most iconic moments in literature occurs, and on the way out the door, despite Athena's advice, Odysseus tells his new blood-sworn enemy his name and address.
9. (*) My Goodbye - Athena, having had enough of Odysseus' shit, says that she's leaving. He refused to kill the cyclops -- not out of necessity, but out of some misplaced sense of mercy, and Athena's not having it.
The Ocean Saga
10. Storm - Odysseus and crew are caught in the middle of a -- it's the title of the song, do I have to say it? At the end, they notice a mysterious island floating in the sky, and Odysseus instructs his men to launch harpoons at it, hoping to anchor themselves.
11. Luck Runs Out - Odysseus' second in command, Eurylochus, questions Odysseus' choice to try and visit the island.
12. (*) Keep Your Friends Close - One of my favorites animatics, please watch the video. Odysseus meets Aeolus, who is a lil' shit in this version. Aeolus gives Odysseus a bag with the winds of the storms contained inside and says they'll make it a game: Odysseus just needs to keep the bag closed, and he'll get home fine. When Odysseus gets back to the ship, before he can explain what's inside, Aeolus' minions claim it's treasure, then vanish. Aeolus sings about how Odysseus really shouldn't trust any of the people around him, and in the end is proven right as one of the men (implied in a later song to be Eurylochus) opens the bag and sends them all to the Land of the Giants. Odysseus manages to get the bag closed before all the winds are released, but they're clearly too far off course for the wind to be useful.
13. (*) Ruthlessness - Despite being told we're in the Land of the Giants, the musical skips over the Laestrygonians and instead introduces us to the Earthshaker himself: ya boi Poseidon with a powerful desire to deal out revenge and life advice. He's pissed that Odysseus hurt his son, but he's also professionally affronted that Odysseus would let an enemy live, claiming that he hates self-righteousness. He espouses the virtue of ruthlessness and wipes out most of Odysseus' fleet. Just as he's about to personally kill Odysseus, Odysseus opens the bag of remaining winds, wooshing the ship away. Poseidon decides to sit on revenge for a while longer.
The Circe Saga
14. (*)"Puppeteer" - Another animatic that I adore. Eurylochus tries to confess something to Odysseus, but Odysseus sadly tells him it can wait, and that he should go scout out the island they've landed on. Eurylochus returns shortly after with his scout team gone and explains that they've met our favorite witch, Circe. They were all invited into Circe's palace to share a meal, but he stayed outside and watched as the others were transformed into pigs. Odysseus' first impulse is to save them, but Eurylochus begs him to let it go and get the hell out of there. Odysseus ignores him and goes to confront Circe.
15. Wouldn't You Like - A great song that, tragically, I can't find a good animatic for. On the way to Circe's palace, Odysseus is met by Hermes who offers to help. He gives Odysseus a magic flower that will defend him from Circe's magic, allowing him to temporarily summon up a monster while remaining immune to any spells she casts.
16. Done For - Odysseus confronts Circe. The two banter and we learn a bit more about Circe's motivation. The noise of a brief battle is heard-- including a monstrous noises that are apparently supposed to represent a battle between a chimera summoned by Circe, and a phantom cyclops summoned by Odysseus. Odysseus wins, and Circe mentions that perhaps they could try a different kind of negotiation.
17. There are Other Ways - Circe tries to persuade Odysseus to sleep with her. We get a Hamilton-style "should I sleep with this lady?" song where, ultimately, Odysseus can't go through with it, and explains to Circe about how he's trying to get back home to his wife, and how Poseidon is after them. Circe, upon hearing Poseidon is involved, agrees to help Odysseus. She can't actually do anything to get him to Ithaca, but she can show him how to get to the underworld and speak to a prophet there who can help him: Tiresias.
The Underworld Saga
18. The Underworld - In a callback to Full Speed Ahead, Odysseus and his men have been instructed to sail through the underworld and not stop under any circumstances until they find Tiresias. As they travel, they find the spirits of the 558 men who died under Odysseus' command, Odysseus is plagued with nightmares about the people he's killed indirectly or directly (including Astyanax), and passes by the spirit of Polites, who echoes Open Arms. The final spirit Odysseus meets is his mother, Anticleia, who sings about how she waited for Odysseus, and will continue to wait.
19. No Longer You - Having found Tiresias, Odysseus asks for his help getting home. Tiresias is resoundingly unhelpful, cryptically telling Odysseus that though there is a future where a man goes home to his wife, that man isn't Odysseus.
20. Monster - The musical's less-murderous version of Odysseus realizes that he will have to become more cutthroat in order to get back home.
Act Two: (Incomplete)
The following songs/sagas are incomplete. Many have been released as demos, while others don't even have their titles revealed. I will only be linking the ones that have animations I like.
Thunder Saga
21. "Song 21"
22. "Song 22"
23. "Scylla"
24. "Mutiny"
25. "Thunder Bringer"
The Wisdom Saga
26. "Legendary"
27. "Little Wolf"
28. "We'd Be Fine"
29. "Love In Paradise"
30. "God Games" - Athena asks Zeus to free Odysseus from Calypso's island. He tells her she must convince several other gods to free him first: Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hera. Apollo and Hephaestus don't have lyrics or singers for their sections yet, though Ares, Aphrodite, and Hera do. Hera's is hilarious. Here's a 33 second long animation of it.
The Vengeance Saga
31. "Not Sorry For Loving You"
32. (*) Dangerous - Hermes getting Odysseus off of Calypso's island.
33. "Charybdis"
34. (*) Get in the Water - One of my favorite animations despite the fact that the song is jarringly incomplete. Poseidon confronts Odysseus again, just as the latter has reached Ithaca.
35. "600 Strike"
The Ithaca Saga
36. "The Challenge"
37. "Hold Them Down"
38. (*) King - Odysseus is home, and the suitors are having a bad time. The song is painfully short, and I look forward to the full version. Fun note: in previous songs, the only people who got their names ominously chanted in the background were villains, usually as Odysseus and the lads fought them (like Polyphemus), but this is the first time Odysseus has his name ominously chanted in the background. Fans have dubbed this his Boss Fight song.
39. "I Can't Help But Wonder"
40. "Would You Fall In Love With Me Again"