Epic: The Musical, by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, (also known by devout fans as Jay, Mr. Jalapeño, Jorgenbog Borgenbog, and “Captain,” among many other riveting epithets,) is a musical adaptation that follows the story of Homer’s original poem The Odyssey. Odysseus, a Greek military general and king who led in the Trojan War against Ilion, has spent twenty years at sea away from his homeland and kingdom, Ithaca. The Odyssey is about the ten years he spends getting home, the foes he faces, and the challenges he must overcome. The story that Homer is originally credited with started as an oral tradition passed down between the people of Ancient Greece, performed by a reciter called a rhapsode, and this tale was eventually written down by Homer in a more comprehensive piece. Epic: The Musical, however, was composed by Jorge himself and recorded with voice actors in a studio. The full soundtrack for Epic: The Musical can be found on most music-listening platforms, such as YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, and SoundCloud. Although Epic: The Musical has no official visuals barring those commissioned by its creator for certain songs, many artists have used their talents to create animations for it, and thus now a fully animated video for every track in the musical can be found on YouTube. This is especially helpful for those who prefer a more visual format and find it hard to focus and absorb information when simply presented with audio.

Epic: The Musical’s first installment, “The Horse and the Infant,” was released on December 25, 2022. The entirety of the musical’s release took 2 years from start to finish, with the latest installment of the “Ithaca Saga,” the final part of the musical, having been released not too long ago on December 25, 2024. According to Jorge, he wrote the tracks a long while before releasing them, not necessarily always in order, and had to scrap many songs from the tracklist that never made it into the musical. Jorge typically took auditions to voice characters before a new saga was released that included them, so more voice actors were added to the cast as characters were introduced. 

Epic: The Musical is separated into a tracklist of 40 songs, which are organized into 9 sagas categorized by what part of The Odyssey they take place in. For example, The Troy Saga takes place when Odysseus and his crew are about to leave Ilion, while The Ocean Saga details the time which they spent travelling at sea.

Epic: The Musical gives more personality and dimension to the characters than seen in Homer’s original epic, but there are some other key differences between the poem and its recent adaptation. To start, The Odyssey takes place after the majority of Odysseus’ journey is over and focuses mostly on how the Kingdom of Ithaca fares in his absence. It details the handiwork of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, and how he goes on his own journey to find the whereabouts of his father. Most of the information we learn about Odysseus’ challenges comes from his retelling of his voyage to a Phaeacian King, Alcinoös; this is all told in past tense. However, Epic: The Musical takes place as Odysseus is facing these difficulties, and the listeners witness his conflict when he has to make hard decisions. Epic: The Musical has central themes of Odysseus’ gradual resort to ruthlessness instead of mercy over the course of the musical, for he is desperate to do whatever it takes to get back to his kingdom. By the time Odysseus reaches his home in Ithaca, he is no longer the man he once was. Jorge has said that Odysseus’ progression to cruelty was the focal point of his adaptation. The Odyssey does not explore this internal conflict as much and instead has central themes about Odysseus’ recklessness and greed, and how heroes aren’t perfect. In Epic: The Musical, Polites, Odysseus’ childhood friend and brother-in-arms, is an important character who impacts Odysseus’ mentality throughout the story. However, in The Odyssey, Polites is a very minor character, only mentioned once or twice (albeit, he is once mentioned as Odysseus’ most trusted crew member). 

Epic: The Musical gives a lot of depth to its cast. There is thoughtfulness even in the instruments chosen for songs. Each character has a certain motif that is specific to them. For example, Athena, the goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’ mentor, is typically represented with a piano chord that plays when she is present. Odysseus, our hero and main character, is represented by a bold guitar that stands out and is usually the focal point of arrangements. Furthermore, all central characters have at least one song where they are the main focus in the musical, giving listeners the opportunity to get to know their identities and become acquainted with their role in the story.

Epic: The Musical establishes relationships and dynamics between characters using every trick in its domain from lyrics to sound design. The suitors, central antagonists in both The Odyssey and its newer adaptation, are represented using a harsher version of Odysseus’ symbolic instrument, and are typically heard accompanied by a deep, reverberative electric guitar, illustrating their role as an antithesis of the main character. 

Overall, Epic: The Musical is heard as a compelling exploration of the world Homer has written out in The Odyssey, giving listeners more insight into its characters and cultivating a devoted fanbase. The musical ends on a sweet romantic note, with Odysseus finally reclaiming his throne and reuniting with his wife and son in his homeland of Ithaca, just as its original predecessor concluded.