0

EPIC vs The Odyssey – the Troy Saga infographic

It’s the Summer Holidays!

Now that I’m free (almost) of commissions, what better thing than to relax listening to EPIC The Musical? A musical based on the Odyssey, but an AU retelling, which I LOVE and have been following the progress of for some time now.

A few weeks ago I was watching a video post where Jorge Rivera-Herrans – creator of EPIC – was talking about how it’s not a direct retelling, and fans shouldn’t base their knowledge of the Odyssey on EPIC, especially if they’re at school.

I’m going to be teaching the Odyssey again myself in September (for the 15th…16th time? I forget) and I’d love to introduce my students to EPIC… BUT I also want them to know the Odyssey well and not write the wrong thing in their exams (I used to teach English Lit too and remember well the Romeo and Juliet vs Baz Luhrman ‘no, they didn’t have helicopters’ essay debacle), hence this loving infographic series. I figure other teachers may get some use out of it too!

As it’s pretty text-heavy, I’ll post my original notes in this Post too – see below.

Happy listening, and happy holidays (if you get them)!

____________________________

TEXT:

Horse and the Infant (Book 0) – Odysseus leads the final attack on Troy

• not in the Odyssey (try Aeneid Book 2)
• Heroes mentioned all correct (Neo = Neoptolemus aka Pyrrhus, son of Achilles
• No gods speak to Odyssey – is conceit to give Ody readon to kill baby Astyanax, which he is meant to have done for same reasons given (he *is* the clever one)

Just a man (Book 0) – Ody sings to Astyanax before killing him

• doesn’t happen in Odyssey (but reasonable that he’d have these thoughts – he is polytropos and ‘turns his mind this way and that’

Full speed ahead (Book 9) – Leaving Troy / Introducing Eurylochus and Polites

• these are two of the only named characters among Ody’s crew, and Eurylochus is indeed the suspicious and critical one while Polites is described as Ody’s favourite kinsmen
• 600 men is correct – see my Odyssey Death Maths for calculations! (BELOW)

Open Arms (Book 9) – Polites and Odysseus go to the Lotus Eaters

• actually is the second episode after leaving Troy: the sack of the Cicones is first
  • THIS MISSING EPISODE IS IMPORTANT FOR TWO PLOT REASONS:
    • SETS UP CREW AS DISOBEDIENT FROM THE START
    • ODY GETS SUPER-STRENGTH WINE FROM MARON, SON OF EUANTHES, PRIEST OF APOLLO WHO THEY RIGHTFULLY SPARE.
      HELL DEFEAT POLYPHEMUS THE CYCLOPS WITH THIS
• Lotus eaters are meant to be regular people who eat fruit that stops them wanting to do anything (WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE ALL THE THREATS IN B00K 9 ARE ANTHROPOMORPHIC – THE EPISODES GET WEIRDER AND MORE MONSTROUS IN EACH B00K OF THE NARRATIVE).
  • What actually happens: Ody sends a party of three men and a scout (Polites is not actyually mentioned) to go inland and they are given the fruit. When they don’t return, Ody goes back to get them, smacks the fruit from their hands and drags them violently back to the ship – the lotus has caused them to lose their nostos – need for homecoming (*MAJOR THEME*)
• ‘A cave’ is not mentioned (here it is setting up for The Cyclops Saga)

Warrior of the Mind (Book ?) – Athene appears to Odysseus and gives him a pep-talk

• Athene doesn’t appear to Odysseus at this point; she appears as a young girl when he reaches the land of the Phaeacians (Book 7)
• BUT Athene does appear in Books 1-3 of the Odyssey, to Telemachus but disguised as Mentor (check), inspiring him to go on a trip to visit Ody’s old friends and get news of him
• Athene here says ‘I had a challenge, a test of skill/A magic boar only the best could kill/One day a boy came for the thrill/A boy whose mind rivaled the boar’s own will/Let’s go!’ This refers to Odysseus’ own origin story killing a boar, leaving him with a recognisable scar. This is referenced in Book 19.
• Odysseus pretends to recognise her, and they have a bit of a fun chat. Generally characters always say ‘you look like a goddess’ because it’s polite, flattering, and true. The chat is fun and sets us up to understand their relationship just like in the Odyssey: she is his patron because of his cleverness, but she is more powerful and brutal when it comes to carrying out revenge for killing breakers of Xenia.

OVERVIEW: SKIPPING SOME DETAILS TELLS US THIS IS AN AU WHERE ODYSSEUS IS A NICER PERSON, BUT IT DOES REMOVE SOME OF HIS COMPLICATED NATURE THAT MAKES HIM SO BELOVED AS A CHARACTER

---

Odyssey Death Maths!

12 ships x 50 crew = 600 crew

6 from each ship lost to

⚔️Cicones = 72

(now 44 on each ship)

600-72 = 528 left

️Ody’s crew eaten by

Polyphemus = 6

528-6=522

(44 on each ship but 38 on Ody’s ship)

️Laestrygonians eat 11 ships x 44 crew

= 484

+ Ody loses at least 1 scout = 1

= 485

= Ody + 37 men on his ship by the time he

reaches Circe

Elpenor falls off Circe’s roof = 1

= Ody + 36 men go to Underworld

Total dead: 486

NB: Dead crew greeted at entrance to Underworld: 1 (Elpenor)

Scylla = 6

= Ody + 30 crewmen left

Hyperion’s cattle = none killed, all doomed

final storm = 30

= Ody + 0 crewmen

TOTAL DEAD: 600 men

Not Counted: ALL THE TROJAN SLAVES ON BOARD EACH SHIP

DAMMIT ODYSSEUS

Odyssey Death Maths!

The only maths I can actually do

I hope this is right – I’m terrible with numbers and this is off the top of my head! Let me know of I missed anyone!

WHY HAVEN’T I MADE A COMIC OF THIS?

NB: this is assuming 50 crew on EACH ship (mentioned in text), and Odysseus ship is 50 + him – we are told this somewhere (I think the catalogue of ships in Iliad Book 2?)

Search

Search by Comic Category