Odysseus Lyrics – Epic: The Musical
Odysseus Lyrics
In the heat of battle at the edge of the unknown
Somewhere in the shadows lurks an agile deadly foe
We have the advantage, we've the numbers and the might
No, you don't understand it. This man plans for every fight
Where is he? Where is he?
Keep your head down, he's aiming for the torches
Our weapons, they're missing!
He's using the darkness to hide his approaches
We're empty handed up against an archer
Our only chance is to strike him in the darkness
We know these halls, the odds can be tilted
[ODYSSEUS]
You don't think I know my own palace?
I built it
[AMPHINOMUS]
Damn, he's more cunning than I assumed
While we were busy plotting, he hid our weapons inside this room

Song Overview

Personal Review
Odysseus erupts like the angry heartbeat of a war-scarred king who has finally reached his bloody threshold. The lyrics waste no breath: “For twenty years, I’ve suffered every punishment and pain …
” A cello growl slides into martial drums; a male choir chants his name until it feels carved in marble. One instant sears itself into memory: torches snuffed, suitors groping in sudden dark, and a single arrow whistling—Odysseus’s reply to twenty years of cosmic harassment.
Song Meaning and Annotations

The track opens in G-minor at 90 BPM—slow enough for menace, steady enough for precision. Odysseus lists his grievances like a legal indictment; every phrase ends on a downward perfect fourth, mimicking a blade drop. The ensemble’s Gregorian-style chant “Odysseus” overlays dissonant horns, blurring reverence with dread.
Suitor versus function as panicked commentary. They praise numbers and might, only to watch arrows thin their ranks. Rivera-Herrans shifts to half-time whenever a new body thuds; the sudden tempo drag feels like time stretching before death.
Mid-song, Eurymachus begs for mercy, but Odysseus repeats Poseidon’s earlier credo—“My mercy has long since drowned
.” That echo shows how ruthlessness has hopped hosts: god to king; vengeance metastasised.
The instrumental break—distorted guitar tremolo over taiko barrels—tracks Telemachus’s scramble. When Melanthius grabs the prince, the strings screech an augmented fourth; then a knife glints and the chord resolves down, signalling Odysseus’s lethal return.
Symbolically, every arrow restores a household rule: light the halls (torches), return the bow (ownership), purge the rot (suitors). Rivera-Herrans even has Odysseus roar, “You don’t think I know my own palace? I built it
,” a meta-nod to the composer’s all-in creative authorship.
Verse Highlights
Opening Monologue
Starts on G3, climbs to D4 on “desecrated,” then plunges a sixth on “Troy,” mirroring a demolished city gate.
Ensemble Chant
Odysseus, Odysseus
Odysseus, Odysseus
The four-syllable name hits beats 1-3-1-3 in 4/4, forging a pulse that never lets the king rest.
1. Position in the macro-narrative
“Odysseus” is the ninth track of The Ithaca (or Vengeance) Saga, the final mini-arc of EPIC: The Musical. For nearly three hours of runtime (and twenty Homeric years) the audience has watched a crafty, sometimes tender tactician erode into the creature that Poseidon prophesied: “Close your heart, the world is dark, and ruthlessness is mercy.” The preceding songs move the king step-by-step toward that endpoint:
Saga | Pivot song | How it bends Odysseus |
---|---|---|
Troy | The Horse & the Infant | Plants warrior-cult pride |
Ocean | Ruthlessness | Poseidon slaughters 543 men; mercy fractures |
Cyclops/Storm | Monster | Odysseus vows to become the monster |
Underworld | No Longer You | Tiresias predicts that vow will cost his soul |
Wisdom | We’ll Be Fine | Athena transfers her hope to Telemachus |
Vengeance | Six Hundred Strike | Odysseus cripples a god; mercy officially “drowns” |
Ithaca | Odysseus | The prophecy is paid in blood |
Thus, when the palace doors swing open, the audience is not asked, “Will he kill the suitors?”—Homer already answered that. The musical asks, “Now that he has killed gods, what kind of monster will he be when he kills mortal men?”
2. Structural anatomy
Timestamp | Section | Function | Key motifs / callbacks |
---|---|---|---|
0:00-0:25 | Prologue – Odysseus’ litany of sufferings | Frames the slaughter as overdue justice | Horse & Infant guitar arpeggio underpins |
0:25-0:38 | “I have had enough” | Spoken trigger; ensemble chant begins | “Danger Is Nearby” motif now chants O-dy-sseus |
0:38-1:36 | Stalking phase (Suitor POV) | Horror-film tension, kills in shadows | Mirrors Survive but roles reversed |
1:36-2:05 | Eurymachus begs for mercy | Tests whether “Open Arms” still lives | Callback lyric, arrow answers “No” |
2:05-2:54 | Armory beat (Melanthius) | Temporary shift of power; Telemachus reveal | Instrumental of Legendary under Athena quick-thought |
2:54-3:45 | Hostage sequence | Telemachus seized; Odysseus re-enters | Battle foley set to Little Wolf + Warrior of the Mind rhythms |
3:45-end | Extinction event | Mercy monologue ? beheading ? mass kill | Tiresias “no longer you” cadence closes curtain |
The form balances suspense and release: three crescendos (shadow kill, weapon rush, final massacre) and three “needle-drops” where previous leitmotifs supply instant subtext.
3. Musical language
- Modal palette – The intro sits on E Phrygian, an unsettling minor mode (?2) previously reserved for Poseidon. By inheriting his scale, Odysseus sonically inherits the Sea-God’s barbarity.
Instrument hierarchy –
- Electric guitar = cunning / planning (first heard in “Horse & Infant”).
- Low brass / taiko hits = brute wrath (used for Poseidon’s “Shatter the Ocean”).
- Solo viola = Penelope’s yearning; notice its absence until Telemachus appears—his helmet glints with Athena’s blue, not Penelope’s sepia; love is recessive, strategy ascendant.
- Percussive diegesis – Steel-on-steel clashes substitute for snare fills; each kill literally sets the tempo. At 3 min 45 sec, the metric grid dissolves: screams and blade swings crash against free-time choral sustain—chaos given musical form.
4. Lyrical dissection
Lyric | Hidden resonance |
---|---|
“Sacked like Troy” | Odysseus equates his home’s violation with the very atrocity he masterminded—ironic self-indictment. |
“I have had enough” | Exact phrase Poseidon barked at Odysseus in “Get in the Water” (reverse mirror). |
“You don’t think I know my own palace? I built it.” | Echo of Different Beast: “Throw their bodies back in the water.” A craftsman’s pride now fuels carnage. |
“Open arms instead” (Eurymachus) | Weaponised nostalgia: Polites’ motto twisted; arrow rejects it. |
“My mercy has long since drowned” | Literal (Poseidon waterboard) + metaphorical (600 men drowned) + theological (final baptism into monstrosity). |
5. Character studies
Odysseus – From Builder to Butcher
- Motivation shift – Early-saga Odysseus kills as means (escape), here as end (retribution).
- Self-mythologising – He weaponises his builder identity (“I built it”), making the palace a death-maze only he can navigate—architect as Minotaur.
- Ruthlessness doctrine – He cites Poseidon almost verbatim, confirming the god’s ideology has overwritten Athena’s.
Telemachus – The Little Wolf Grown
- Arrives in full “Legendary” armor; spear patterns quote his earlier stutter riff (“l-l-legendary”) but now with confident attack accents.
- Offers mercy first—demonstrates his mother’s patience and his father’s former self, foiling Odysseus’ present savagery.
- Survival, not victory, is his brief; proof of his wisdom training.
Antinous / Eurymachus / Melanthius
Three-tier mini-boss sequence:
- Antinous – coup leader; arrow to throat (classic Homer).
- Eurymachus – diplomat; arrow to heart (words fail).
- Melanthius – traitor; decapitation (worst betrayal, worst death).
- Each death punishes a different sin: lust, hypocrisy, opportunism.
6. Thematic lattice
- Monster versus Monster – The chant motif normally marks non-human antagonists. By applying it to Odysseus, the musical literalises Tiresias: the hero has metamorphosed into the very threat he once out-thought.
- Memory as motive – The suitors quote “Hold him down,” tying their assault plan to Antinous’ earlier rally. Odysseus’ arrow literally interrupts that phrase—memory weaponised as cue for violence.
- End of “Open Arms” – The project of mercy that began with Polites shatters; the lyric reappears only to be silenced by an arrow and drowned in leitmotif.
- Architectonics of Revenge – Every material choice (unlit torches, hidden weapons, locked halls) is a brick Odysseus once laid. The architecture itself becomes accomplice to revenge—his foresight outlives his compassion.
7. Mythic & literary echoes
- Book XXII of the Odyssey – Rivera-Herrans keeps core beats (Antinous first, Eurymachus plea, Telemachus arms room, Melanthius mutilation) yet re-orchestrates intention: the musical stresses psychological horror over Homeric heroism.
- Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus – The line “My mercy has long since drowned” parallels Titus’ line “I now draw near to my revenge.” Both question whether vengeance completes or empties a man.
- Modern pop-culture – The creeping eyes-in-darkness staging nods to Batman interrogation tropes; arrow-through-torch mirrors Peter Jackson’s LotR opening in Moria.
8. Staging & cinematography notes
- Lighting – Total fade to black after each arrow; the audience “sees” kills by sound before bodies hit dim spill light—like flickering horror jump-cuts.
- Choreography – Suitors form concentric panic circles; Odysseus always enters from a blind spot, reinforcing the architect's advantage.
- Blood symbolism – Gwendy’s animatic ends with maroon tide reaching Odysseus’ ankles—a final callback to Poseidon’s ocean, but blood-red.
9. Ethical aftermath – is Odysseus still a hero?
The musical forces the listener to confront complicity: we have cheered each tactical flourish, each survival, yet by the time Odysseus beheads Melanthius the sound design mutes even the ensemble chant—it is uncomfortable, not cathartic. Athena, notably, is sonically present for Telemachus but absent for Odysseus. The goddess of wisdom has already written him off; in moral terms, he is beyond tutoring. The audience must decide whether returning home is a victory if the traveler brings a stranger’s soul.
Song Credits

- Featured: Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Jamie Wiltshire, Dennis Diaz, Tristan Caldwell, MICO & Cast of EPIC: The Musical
- Producer / Composer / Lyricist: Jorge Rivera-Herrans
- Release Date: December 25 2024
- Genre: Pop-orchestral Musical (battle-anthem)
- Length: 5 min 32 sec
- Key: G-minor; Tempo: 90 BPM
- Instruments: Taiko drums, French horns, distorted guitar, men’s choir, archery SFX
- Label: Winion Entertainment LLC
- Streams: 34.8 million on Spotify (July 2025)
- Album: EPIC: The Ithaca Saga
- Mood: Vindictive, Cathartic
- Poetic Meter: Mixed dactylic with spondaic battle shouts
- Copyright © ? 2024 Winion Entertainment LLC
Songs Exploring “Home-Coming Rage”
“Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” (Les Misérables) dwells on survivor’s guilt; “Odysseus” channels that sorrow into active slaughter—same grief, reversed direction.
“A Little Priest” (Sweeney Todd) marries revenge with dark humour; Rivera-Herrans drops the humour and doubles the arterial spray, yet both pieces make horror thrillingly melodic.
“Bury a Friend” by Billie Eilish whispers threats over industrial beats; Odysseus shouts them, but the creeping-in-the-dark vibe resonates across genres.
Questions and Answers
- How many YouTube views does the animatic have?
- 4.0-million plus in six months.
- Why release on Christmas Day?
- Rivera-Herrans called it a “gift of wrath,” offsetting festive warmth with mythic bloodletting.
- Who sings the suitor solos?
- Jamie Wiltshire (Suitor #4), Dennis Diaz (Suitor #6), and Tristan Caldwell (Suitor #9) trade panicked lines.
- Does Telemachus kill anyone?
- No—he offers mercy; Odysseus rejects it, underscoring generational contrast.
- Is the violence historically accurate?
- The scene mirrors Homer’s Book 22; Rivera-Herrans amplifies it with modern cinematic pacing.
Awards and Chart Positions
The Ithaca Saga debuted at #130 on the Billboard 200 the week of January 11 2025. The track “Odysseus” ranked among the project’s top three Spotify cuts, topping 34.8 million streams.
How to Sing?
Range: Odysseus B2 – G4; suitors A2 – E4. Breath: grab air before the 11-syllable tirade “For twenty years, I’ve suffered every punishment ….” Placement: forward mask for belts, pharyngeal growl on “I have had enough.” Tempo: internalize a 90 BPM march; push on dotted-eighth rhythms for arrow releases. Dynamics: ride between mezzo-forte narrative lines and fortissimo kill-shots; drop to a hiss on “mercy? Mercy?” for eerie calm.
Fan and Media Reactions
“That arrow thunk at 2 : 48 is the single most satisfying sound in the entire musical.”YouTube comment
“34 million streams for a five-minute massacre—guess rage really is relatable.”Kworb analytics feed
“I realised Odysseus’s chant mirrors the ‘This is Sparta’ cadence—absolute chills.”Reddit thread r/Epicthemusical
“Rivera-Herrans wields silence like a blade—the torch-snuff section is horror-movie gold.”The Guardian arts blog
“My Christmas playlist now ends with 40 dead suitors. Festive!”Twitter user @yulekilljoy
Music video
Epic: The Musical Lyrics: Song List
- The Troy Saga
- The Horse and the Infant
- Just A Man
- Full Speed Ahead
- Open Arms
- Warrior of the Mind
- The Cyclops Saga
- Polyphemus
- Survive
- Remember Them
- My Goodbye
- The Ocean Saga
- Storm
- Luck Runs Out
- Keep Your Friends Close
- Ruthlessness
- The Circe Saga
- Puppeteer
- Wouldn't You Like
- Done For
- There Are Other Ways
- The Underworld Saga
- The Underworld
- No Longer You
- Monster
- The Thunder Saga
- Suffering
- Different Beast
- Scylla
- Mutiny
- Thunder Bringer
- The Wisdom Saga
- Legendary
- Little Wolf
- We’d Be Fine
- Love in Paradise
- God Games
- The Vengeance Saga
- Not Sorry For Loving You
- Dangerous
- Charybdis
- Get in the Water
- 600 Strike
- The Ithaca Saga
- The Challenge
- Hold Them Down
- Odysseus
- I Can’t Help But Wonder
- Would You Fall In Love With Me Again