cowboys-tshot

[cowboys-tshot]

Anyway really enjoying the underworld saga

[cowboys-tshot]

it seems like i am incapable of making serious art for epic

[cowboys-tshot]

“God Games“ form #epicthemusical slaps so hard😳

[cowboys-tshot]

"Is the cyclops struck with guilt when he kills? Is he up in the middle of the night?

Or does he end my men to avenge his friend, and then sleep knowing he has done him right?"

"When the witch turns men to pigs to protect her nymphs is she going insane?

Or did she learn to be colder when she got older, and now she saves them the pain?"

"When a god comes down and makes a fleet drown is he scared that he's doing something wrong?

Or does he keep us in check so we must respect him, and now no one dares to piss him off?"

"Does a soldier use a wooden horse to kill sleeping trojans 'cause he is vile?

Or does he throw away his remorse and saves more lives with guile?"

[cowboys-tshot]

The most devastating part is, unlike in The Odyssey, Epic Odisseus doesn't get to talk to the souls. They're just there, talking to themselves, and he can't do anything but look.

#LITERALLY #but honestly i dont think i wouldve been able to handle the other option #that being odysseus trying to hug his mother then falling to the ground in grief when he realizes he cant #AGH GREEK TRAGEDIES YOU ALWAYS GET ME

[cowboys-tshot]

Fun fact: I’ve been having a minor to severe Odyssey hyper fixation for over a year now

[cowboys-tshot]

What if I’m the problem that’s been hiding all along?

[cowboys-tshot]

penelope

[cowboys-tshot]

arthur study

[cowboys-tshot]

i love him so much HELP MEEEE

[cowboys-tshot]

a little tribute to my new fav song from the epic musical

[cowboys-tshot]

I keep thinking about how Eurylochus does not appear (at least not with any solo lines) in the Underworld Saga. At the start of the Circe Saga, Eurylochus was about to confess something to Odysseus, but because Odysseus is distracted and brushes Eurylochus aside, we never get to see what it is that Eurylochus meant to say. We have also seen Eurylochus defy Odysseus twice now; first when he questions Odysseus before they go to the island of the wind god (this is more doubt than defiance, but it is the start of Eurylochus's departure), and secondly, when Eurylochus says "No we don't!" and chides Odysseus for wanting to go back and rescue the men Circe has cursed. So, we know that Eurylochus has been doubting Odysseus's ability to lead them home to safety more and more since Odysseus's departure from Athena.

(Notably, Eurylochus does not question Odysseus throughout the first two sagas, even during the attack with Polyphemus. He only begins to question Odysseus after "My Goodbye".)

The events in the Underworld in both the Odyssey, and from what we know about Act II from the lyrics we have so far, so this lack of lines becomes particularly chilling. Song IV in Act II, "Mutiny", details Eurylochus's turning away from Odysseus and taking a stand against him as Captain. Eurylochus blames the deaths of their men on Odysseus; on his cowardice, his mercy, and on Odysseus's selfish obsession with getting himself home over the lives of his crew.

In the lyrics we have from "Mutiny", Eurylochus says this to Odysseus:

"When we fought the cyclops,

you were quick to hatch a plan

And when we fought with Circe,

it was you who left behind no man

But when we saw this monster,

we didn't take a stand

We just ran"

"You miss your wife so bad,

you'd trade the lives of your own crew"

"If you want all the power you must carry all the blame!"

These are interesting to me, because when they cross through the Underworld in the Odyssey, Odysseus makes two deliberate choices that endanger the crew in order to save more lives than he would have lost if he did not. Circe and Tiresias give him two bits of advice in this area;

Do not touch the cattle of Helios. They are sacred to the Sun god, and the crew will pay dearly for touching the cattle (Tiresias).

Cross closer to Scylla when they pass her and her sister Charybdis in a strait in the Underworld. Both of them are monstrous creatures that sit on either side of the river; if you stray too far from one, you are pushed into the arms of the other. Circe advices to pass by Scylla because she will kill "only six" men, whereas Charybdis will kill the entire crew and drown the ship.

In The Odyssey, Eurylochus disobeys command number one by persuading some of the starving and mutinous crew to kill and eat a few of the cattle. This leads to Eurylochus and the remainder of the crew - except for Odysseus - to be killed in a storm by Zeus. Their ship is also destroyed, and Odysseus is stranded on Calypso's island.

Now, in context of all of this, Eurylochus's silence in The Underworld Saga is extremely loud to me. Eurylochus is already doubting his devotion to Odysseus, and has already outright challenged Odysseus's actions that lead to the deaths of their men. So now, when the souls of those same men are confronting Odysseus in the Underworld and Odysseus is actively choosing to become a monster? Eurylochus is suddenly silent.

I can only picture him standing on the deck of their ship with the rest of the crew, watching Odysseus see their crew, see the prophet, and be turned more by the threat of another man with his wife than the crews' sacrifice. Odysseus is more disturbed by his wife's (theoretical) moving on than he is the deaths he has caused, and he actively states he is willing and going to become a monster.

Maybe Eurylochus says nothing because he already saw a monster standing where Odysseus stood.

#FUCK #Eurylochus must've done a double take when he saw how Odysseus reacted to thinking another man was gonna take his wife #i don't think he (or anyone else for that matter) had ever seen Odysseus THAT furious before #imagine seeing your captain get mildly upset about 558 of your men dying then become filled with rage at the mere thought of his wife #(who is percevied to be a widow by everyone but Odysseus + his crew + herself) #remarrying #i wouldve thrown his ass off the ship #epic the musical #epic the musical the underworld saga #the underworld saga #odysseus #eurylochus

[cowboys-tshot]

Damn son calm down the one with a trail of bodies is still you

#Tiresias: i meant 'its not you' METAPHORICALLY you dumb bitch

[cowboys-tshot]

so i noticed some cool things while listening to the underworld saga.

but before i begin.

*clears throat*

hey jay WHEN I CATCH YOU. WHEN I CATCH YOU JAY. /j

THIS FREAKING BROKE ME OMG. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS SO BAD but i'll do that tmrw since it's too late for me rn.

in the meantime please enjoy this list of cool noticings (BIG SPOILERS AHEAD)

#i have shit auditory processing so thank you for noticing for the rest of us🙏🙏 #epic the musical #epic the underworld saga

[cowboys-tshot]

"..Mom?"

[cowboys-tshot]

Epic: The Dog

Totally not wondering if they'll include the bit with the dog in the Ithaca Saga.

You know, Odysseus finally making it home, passes through the gates of his palace in disguise, yet his faithful dog Argos recognizes him because he's a good pupper.

Yet almost immediately after seeing him, Argos dies of old age because he was such a good pupper that he waited twenty years for his master to come home and not minute more.

Ithaca Saga...don't do this. The fans won't survive.

#i literally wont make it #like the mythology nerd in me wants it to be included #but the animal lover in me would walk into the ocean and let poseidon kill me

[cowboys-tshot]

*SCREAMS* -cough cough- (I’m empathizing with Odysseus rn)

And screaming, because I can’t believe that my favourite song from EPIC is released (No Longer You)