Key Takeaways
- EPIC: The Musical is an audio-first retelling inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, and many artists animate the same songs in many different styles.
- A fast-changing visual style usually means a fan compilation, a Multi-Animator Project, or a set of separate animatics edited together.
- In the Odyssey, Odysseus does not lose his men in one single instant; the losses stack up across many stops, until he is alone.
- The core cast stays clear: Odysseus is the king trying to return, Penelope waits at home, and Telemachus is their son.
Story & Details
A musical that travels through many hands
On December 30, 2025, EPIC: The Musical turned into a small lesson in storytelling. One moment sounded like a sea shanty, the next like a confession, and the next like a battle cry. The visuals kept shifting too. That was the clue. The sound stayed “EPIC,” but the look kept changing because different creators can animate the same musical in their own style.
This is why it can feel like there are “many EPICs.” There are not. The core work is the musical itself. What changes is the animation wrapper: a single artist’s animatic, a compilation, or a group project that stitches many artists together.
The moments that stuck
Short lines landed hard: “I can’t find the words,” “You will always be my husband,” “I love you,” and “Six hundred miles of open sea.” EPIC works like that. It puts big ideas into simple phrases, then lets music do the rest. A viewer can follow the emotion even while still learning who is who.
The song titles also helped keep the map in mind: “Full Speed Ahead,” “Open Arms,” “Warrior of the Mind,” “Keep Your Friends Close,” “Wouldn’t You Like,” “Puppeteer,” “There Are Other Ways,” “Scylla,” “Survive,” “Remember Them,” “Luck Runs Out,” “Mutiny.” Even without perfect context, the names point to the arc: hope, pride, danger, and the slow cost of choices.
Who is who, in plain terms
Hermes is the messenger god. Athena is the sharp-minded protector who backs Odysseus again and again. Telemachus is Odysseus’s son, growing up without him. Penelope is the wife who holds the home line while time drags on.
A big question hangs over all retellings: did Odysseus and Penelope exist as real historical people? The safest answer is that they are legendary figures from an epic tradition. Places in the poems may connect to real geography, but the characters themselves are not confirmed as historical individuals.
When the six hundred men are lost
The number “six hundred” feels like one clean tragedy, but the story does not treat it that way. The losses come in waves: fights after the war, a monster’s cave, a harbor trap that turns into a massacre, storms, hunger, and finally a shipwreck that wipes out the last companions. The turning point is not a single fight; it is the pattern of one bad decision followed by another, until the sea holds the final tally.
It also helps to separate the long absence into parts that fit the tale. The tradition speaks of about twenty years away in total, with long stretches spent fighting, drifting, and being held back by powerful forces. Retellings often spotlight two stops in particular: a long captivity with Calypso and a year with Circe, both shaping the clock and the trauma.
A small Dutch corner for the line “I can’t find the words”
Dutch phrase: Ik kan de woorden niet vinden.
Simple meaning: a speaker cannot find the right words.
Word by word: Ik = I; kan = can; de = the; woorden = words; niet = not; vinden = find.
Register and use: neutral and common, used in both serious and everyday moments.
Natural variants: Ik ben sprakeloos; Ik weet niet wat ik moet zeggen.
How to tell what kind of video it is
If the visuals change style every few seconds, look for clues in the title and description: words like “animatic,” “MAP,” “collab,” or “reanimated.” Credits often list many artists and time stamps. That is the best way to enjoy the mix without getting confused about what is “official” and what is a fan-made lens on the same song.
Conclusions
EPIC: The Musical makes an ancient epic feel immediate by putting it into modern music, then letting artists carry it further with their own drawings and timing. The result can look chaotic at first, but the structure is simple: one musical, many interpretations. Under the shifting styles, the old story stays steady—an absent father, a waiting home, a son growing up too fast, and a hero who returns alone because the journey takes almost everyone else.
Selected References
[1] https://epicthemusical.com/
[2] https://ed.ted.com/lessons/everything-you-need-to-know-to-read-homer-s-odyssey-jill-dash
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9FQxcCAZ0
[4] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer
[5] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odysseus
[6] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Athena-Greek-mythology
[7] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hermes-Greek-mythology
[8] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/we-followed-odysseus-49839113/
[9] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/animatic
[10] https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6321054/
Appendix
Animatic: A rough, storyboard-like moving version of a film or scene, often set to sound, used to test pacing and clarity before full animation, and sometimes shared online as its own finished style.
Athena: A major deity linked with wisdom, strategy, and war, often shown as a protector and guide, and a key divine ally in Odysseus’s story.
Calypso: A powerful figure who keeps Odysseus from leaving for many years, shaping the long stretch where the hero is alive but not free.
Dutch phrase: Ik kan de woorden niet vinden: A common sentence used when a speaker cannot find the right words; the parts map cleanly to English in order—Ik, kan, de, woorden, niet, vinden—and it stays neutral in tone, with variants like Ik ben sprakeloos and Ik weet niet wat ik moet zeggen.
EPIC: The Musical: A modern, audio-first musical project inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, widely shared online and often reinterpreted through fan animatics and collaborative animation.
Hermes: A fast-moving messenger deity who carries information and instructions between gods and mortals, often appearing in myths as the one sent to deliver a decision.
Homer: The traditional name linked to the ancient epic poems that include the Odyssey, a central source text for many later retellings.
Ithaca: The home kingdom Odysseus tries to reach, and the place where Penelope and Telemachus wait through years of uncertainty.
MAP (Multi-Animator Project): A collaborative animation where many animators each create a section, and the finished video is assembled as one continuous piece.
Odysseus: The central hero of the Odyssey, a returning king defined by endurance, cunning, and the long cost of getting home.
Penelope: Odysseus’s wife, known for patience, intelligence, and the long defense of home while her husband is missing.
Poseidon: A sea deity whose anger drives many storms and setbacks, turning the ocean into an active force against the journey.
Telemachus: The son of Odysseus and Penelope, coming of age during his father’s absence and searching for clarity about what happened.
The Odyssey: An epic poem about a long return after war, built from episodes of danger and temptation, ending with a homecoming that restores a threatened household.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 