God Games lyrics
God Games
[ATHENA]
Father, God King, rarely do I ask for favors
Now, I'm knocking on your door
With hopes to save a friendship
With one who's a prisoner far from home
Odysseus
[ZEUS]
Divine intervention, is that what you seek?
To untie apprehensions that were placed on that Greek?
You are playing with thunder for a man full of shame
But if he's worth the risk of going under
[ZEUS, spoken]
Why not make it a game?
Convince each of them that he ought to be released
And I'll release him
[ATHENA, spoken]
Who's them?
[ZEUS, spoken]
Apollo, Hephaestus
Aphrodite, Ares
H?ra or me
What do you say?
[APOLLO, spoken]
Great
[HEPHAESTUS, spoken]
Very w?ll
[APHRODITE, spoken]
Eh
[ARES, spoken]
Alright
[HERA, spoken]
Groovy
[ATHENA, spoken]
Bring it
[ENSEMBLE]
Apollo
[APOLLO]
You all know I'm a fan of catchy songs
So with so many sirens gone
I think Ody's in the wrong
[ATHENA]
They were trying to do him worse
All he did was reimburse them
Now they'll tread with caution first
To live another day and sing another verse
[APOLLO, spoken]
If that's true, release him
[ENSEMBLE]
Hephaestus
[HEPHAESTUS]
Trust is not given, it's forged
Why should I give him my support?
He sacrificed his own cohort
[ATHENA]
Did you forget they failed to listen?
He was betrayed and then imprisoned
But if you make the right decision
He can still build a future with those who miss him
[HEPHAESTUS, spoken]
Fine, release him
[ENSEMBLE]
Aphrodite
[APHRODITE]
Your little high and mighty Odysseus
Claims to love his mother, but let her die of a broken heart
[ATHENA]
He was busy fighting
[APHRODITE]
More like busy spiting the cyclops
Let him feel the pain that his mother felt and rot
[ATHENA, spoken]
Wait
[ATHENA]
Please reconsider this
[ARES]
Really, Athena? These old tricks?
[ATHENA, spoken]
Ares
[ENSEMBLE]
Ares, Ares
[ARES]
What kind of sick coward holds back his power
While his friends get devoured?
He didn't even fight Scylla, didn't even try to kill her
Hides inside a wooden horse to get the job done
Never handles things upfront
Pathetic and weak like his son
[ATHENA]
Hold your tongue now, his son's my friend
And tell your lover that a broken heart can mend
You want more bloodshed? Then set him free
To get back to his homestead, he'll make everybody bleed
[APHRODITE & ARES, spoken]
Ugh, release him
[HERA, spoken]
Hey, baby
[ENSEMBLE]
Hera
[HERA]
So many heroes, so many tales
Give me one good reason why yours should prevail
[ATHENA]
He's got the mind of a genius
[HERA]
Try harder
[ATHENA]
He's pretty skilled with words
[HERA]
You can do better than that
[ATHENA]
He's kind of funny
[HERA, spoken]
Eh
[ATHENA, spoken]
Never once has he cheated on his wife
[HERA, spoken]
Release him
[ATHENA, spoken]
I've played your game and won, release him
[ZEUS]
You dare to defy me, to make me feel shame?
[ZEUS, spoken]
No one beats me, no one wins my game
[ZEUS & ENSEMBLE]
Thunder, bring her through the wringer
Show her I'm the judgement call
The one who makes her kingdom fall
[ARES, spoken]
Is she dead?
[Instrumental Interlude]
[ATHENA]
Let him go, please
Let him go
============================================
ANNOTATIONS:
Featuring
Teagan Earley, Luke Holt, Brandon McInnis, Mike Rivera, Janani K. Jha, Earle Gresham Jr., POESY & Cast of EPIC: The Musical
In the Odyssey, Athena must win the God Games to have Odysseus released from Calypso's island. Athena begins by referring to Odysseus as "Father, son of [Chronos], King of kings." In Greek mythology, Athena is Zeus's daughter and Zeus her only parent. Zeus gets angry with Athena later in the song and tries to smite her, making this heartbreaking for her.
Odysseus wanted to be friends with Athena since he was a kid, but she kept a mentor-student relationship with him until she befriended Telemachus. Odysseus has been imprisoned on Calypso's island for 7 years, unable to return home to Ithaca. Athena asks Zeus to help Odysseus by reminding him of all the sacrifices and stuff he's done for him. Zeus agrees, and Divine Intervention is when gods or another powerful deity becomes involved in changing a mortal's fate.
Zeus tells Athena that Odysseus has made a million mistakes, sacrificing his own crew, and making enemies with Poseidon. This is a reference to how Poseidon was unaware of this discussion over Odysseus' fate. Athena might be risking angering or having to fight Poseidon by helping Odysseus, as her and Poseidon already had a rivalry in the mythos over becoming the patron god of Athens.
The Odyssey also features various gods belittling human lives and treating them as pawns in a game, a theme that is very common in Epic and Greek mythology. Apollo, the God of Light and Music, is here because of the loss of the sirens at Odysseus' hands and loathes the suffering that was caused. Hephaestus, the God of the Forge, is here because of Odysseus' ingenuity in battle, such as his creation of the Trojan Horse.
Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and lust, draws Odysseus' ire for abandoning his mother while warring with Troy. Ares, the God of War, is despised by Ares, who prefers senseless violence over logic and guile. Hera, the Goddess of Marriage, Queen of the Gods, doesn't think of Odysseus as any special compared to other heroes, which in her case would be that he too is disloyal to his wife.
Zeus, the God of Thunder, King of the Gods, is angered that Odysseus didn't (successfully) stop his crew from slaughtering the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios, and maybe also because he chose his own life over his crew's.
Athena's first trial is easier than expected, as she appeals to Apollo by saying Ody was doing so in self-defense to try and get back home. To inhance her argument, Athena also replies with the fact that not all the Sirens were killed and many of them were able to get away and warn those in their brood to be cautious when using their songs, lest they incurred Ody's wrath once again or the wrath of his powerful one-ship fleet.
It's also notable that Apollo refers to Odysseus as "Ody," a nickname, like how Eurylochus called him Ody or how the Fandom tends to call him by this nickname. The gods tend to treat human matters as a game or entertainment, so Apollo calls Odysseus by a nickname, much like someone could when referring to a character in a piece of media.
Apollo, the Trojan god, was a key figure in Homer's "Iliad," guided Paris' arrow into Achilles' heel. In Homer's "Odyssey," Odysseus and his men raided Ismarus, defacing Apollo's temple. However, neither of these events spurned Odysseus' wrath, as he seemed to be just there for the show.
Level Two follows closely, with Odysseus passing Scylla without fighting her and 6 of his men being eaten. In the Trojan War, Odysseus hid inside a wooden horse disguised as a gift for the trojans and led his men to strike the trojans at night. Athena gains wisdom and befriends Telemachus (Odysseus' son), instead of treating him like a student. She does not want to repeat her mistake with Telemachus that she made with Odysseus.
In the song "Warrior of the Mind" and "My Goodbye," Athena tries to get Hera's vote with traits that SHE values in Odysseus; things like being intelligent would get Athena's approval, but not Hera's. Hera is the goddess of marriage and fertility, so she was more interested in Odysseus' relationship with Penelope than anything else.
In the original interpretation of the story by Homer, Odysseus never consciously or consentingly cheats on his wife. In the Odyssey, Odysseus remains faithful to his wife Penelope throughout his long journey and resists the seduction of both Circe and Calypso. This makes Hera even more likely to side with Athena and allow him to be released as marriage is her domain and sacred to her.
As Athena has convinced each required god to release Odysseus, she has indeed won Zeus' game by his own parameters, believing he should and will release him as previously decided when the rules were set. Zeus is a notorious sore loser in most myths that depict him in a less savory way, and most modern media also seems to run with this trope. Jorge coined "Beast Mode Zeus," which can be heard in his voice, the usual regality of it replaced by pure anger.
To win his own game, Zeus calls upon the power he holds as the god of lightning and attacks Athena with the same Thunder Call that took down Odysseus' ship. The livestream visuals during the release of the Wisdom Saga give an additional menace to this portrayal of Zeus, who attacks Athena multiple times to the extent of leaving her bleeding on the ground with significant burn scars on her body as she tries and fails to stand.
The instrumental music continues to play until it concludes with a segment of "Legendary," reminding Athena about the friends she feels duties to help. The instrumental over all reminds her about the friends she feels duties to help, leading to her heartfelt response.
With this final line, Zeus accepts defeat. Although in the Livestream visuals depicted this moment as Athena's defeat at the hands of Zeus, in the animatic by YouTuber Neal Illustrator, this moment is a true triumph of Athena, showcasing how she succumbs to her wounds yet defeats Zeus in a final confrontation. After running the gauntlet with five deities and Athena's pleading of her case, Calypso will be forced to return Odysseus to his journey back to Ithaca, and Athena's two champions will be able to reunite against the threats to their thrones.
The Wisdom Saga concludes here, and Athena's prize is claimed at last. Level Six Complete, Athena Wins.
Last Update: December, 26th 2024