On December 25, Jorge Rivera-Herrans released the final installment of EPIC: The Musical, titled the Ithaca Saga. Since beginning the project in June 2019, Jorge has captivated audiences with his unique musical adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, first gaining traction through TikTok and YouTube Shorts in early 2021.

While rooted in the classic epic, Jorge takes bold creative liberties, reimagining characters and events in a modern, emotionally resonant format. EPIC: The Musical is divided into nine sagas, each telling a part of Odysseus’ journey. The sagas are:

• Act 1: Troy, Cyclops, Ocean, Circe, Underworld

• Act 2: Thunder, Wisdom, Vengeance, Ithaca

The Troy Saga

This saga includes the songs: Horse and the Infant, Just a Man, Full Speed Ahead, Open Arms, and Warrior of the Mind.

• Horse and the Infant opens at the climax of the Trojan War. Odysseus, king of Ithaca, leads his men hidden in the Trojan Horse. During the ambush, he receives a vision from Zeus warning him of his doom unless he kills a child—Prince Astyanax, son of Hector—who will one day destroy Odysseus’s bloodline.

• In Just a Man, Odysseus wrestles with the horrifying decision, reflecting on his own son, Telemachus, and wife, Penelope. Ultimately, to protect his future, he drops the infant from the city walls.

• Full Speed Ahead marks the end of the war as Odysseus sets sail with 600 men. With food supplies low, they follow birds to a mysterious island. Odysseus remains cautious and sends a scouting party with Polites, his best friend.

• In Open Arms, Odysseus and Polites encounter the Lotus Eaters. Polites preaches trust and kindness, but Odysseus discovers that the Lotus fruit can control minds. Before leaving, Polites urges Odysseus to embrace a more compassionate worldview.

• Warrior of the Mind sees Athena, goddess of wisdom and Odysseus’s divine mentor, intervene. She brings him to her realm, the “Quick Thought,” where time slows. Through a flashback to Odysseus’s youth, she reminds him why he was chosen as her warrior: not for strength, but intellect. Despite their bond, Athena warns him not to stray from her teachings.

The Cyclops Saga

Songs: Polyphemus, Survive, Remember Them, My Goodbye

• In Polyphemus, Odysseus’s crew stumbles upon a cave filled with sheep. After killing one, they’re confronted by the Cyclops Polyphemus. To avoid immediate death, Odysseus tricks him with wine laced with Lotus fruit and gives his name as “Nobody.”

• Survive depicts the brutal attack that follows. Polyphemus kills Polites—who refused to fight—and 13 others. Odysseus is frozen by grief.

• In Remember Them, Odysseus regains his resolve. He reveals that he had drugged the Cyclops with the Lotus and commands his men to sharpen the Cyclops’s club into a spear. They blind Polyphemus, who calls for help. But when other Cyclopes ask who hurt him, he replies “Nobody,” allowing the crew to escape. Despite Athena’s push for vengeance, Odysseus chooses mercy—taking Polites’s advice to heart. However, he recklessly reveals his identity to Polyphemus before fleeing, prompting a sinister smile from the wounded giant.

• In My Goodbye, Athena confronts Odysseus once again. Furious over his impulsiveness and refusal to follow her guidance, she declares she can no longer be his mentor. The argument turns personal, with Odysseus accusing her of emotional detachment and using him for her own ends. The confrontation ends with Athena cutting ties, reminding him that, in the end, he’s “just a man.”

The Ocean Saga

After the events of Keep Your Friends Close, we enter the final song of the Ocean Saga: Ruthlessness. Odysseus and his fleet come face-to-face with Poseidon, furious over the blinding of his son, Polyphemus. Poseidon blames Odysseus for sparing the cyclops and revealing his name, which allowed Polyphemus to call for his father’s vengeance. Poseidon offers Odysseus a chance to apologize in exchange for sparing his crew, but Odysseus refuses to express remorse.

Enraged, Poseidon summons a tsunami and commands other cyclopes to hurl boulders at the fleet, destroying all ships but Odysseus’s. Only 43 of the original 600 soldiers survive. Using the windbag, Odysseus escapes the wrath of the sea god and washes ashore on a mysterious island.

The Circe Saga

This saga includes: Puppeteer, Wouldn’t You Like, Done For, and There Are Other Ways.

Odysseus’s crew explores the island while Eurylochus warns of a dangerous sorceress named Circe who turned his fellow crewmen into pigs. Odysseus refuses to abandon them. Guided by divine intervention from Hermes—his great-grandfather—Odysseus receives a magical herb called moly that grants him protection.

In Done For, Odysseus confronts Circe. When she summons a Chimera to defend her palace, Odysseus counters by conjuring a Cyclops. After the beasts battle, Odysseus demands the release of his men, but Circe isn’t done yet.

In There Are Other Ways, Circe attempts to seduce Odysseus, but he remains loyal to Penelope. Moved by his devotion, Circe relents and tells him to visit the Underworld to find the prophet Tiresias, who can guide him home. She reverses the spell on his crew.

The Underworld Saga

Songs: Underworld, No Longer You, Monster

Odysseus and his crew brave the Underworld, where they’re haunted by the souls of fallen comrades and lost loved ones. He meets Tiresias, who offers only cryptic warnings.

As they leave, Odysseus reflects on his past, realizing how far he’s fallen—killing innocents, sacrificing comrades, and embracing brutality. He concludes that to survive, he must fully become a monster.

The Thunder Saga

Songs: Suffering, Different Beasts, Scylla, Mutiny, Thunder Bringer

Haunted by guilt and memories, Odysseus hallucinates a vision of Penelope urging him to dive into the sea, but it’s a siren in disguise. Odysseus sees through the illusion and orders his men to silence the sirens.

They enter the lair of Scylla, and Eurylochus admits to betraying Odysseus by opening the windbag earlier. When Odysseus commands him to carry torches, Scylla devours the six bearers. Eurylochus, devastated, leads a mutiny.

After a skirmish, Odysseus is tied to a statue as his men slaughter a sacred cow on Helios’s island. Zeus appears and gives Odysseus a choice: sacrifice himself or his crew. Odysseus chooses the latter, and Zeus kills all but him.

The Wisdom Saga

Songs: Legendary Little Wolf, We’ll Be Fine, Love in Paradise, God Games

Now 20 years old, Telemachus dreams of living up to his father’s legend. Harassed by suitors, he is beaten by Antinous until Athena helps him fight back. She sees her old friend in Telemachus and guides him.

Meanwhile, Athena discovers Odysseus on Calypso’s island, deeply depressed. She petitions Zeus for his release, entering a divine trial in God Games. Convincing each Olympian one by one, Athena finally wins. Hera, the last to be persuaded, yields after Athena highlights Odysseus’s 20 years of faithfulness.

Despite her victory, Zeus refuses to accept defeat and attacks Athena. Badly wounded, she uses her last strength to plead for Odysseus before losing consciousness.

The Vengeance Saga

Songs: Not Sorry for Loving You, Dangerous, Charybdis, Get in the Water, Six Hundred Strikes

Calypso lets Odysseus go, offering him godhood, which he declines. On his raft, Odysseus battles Charybdis and narrowly escapes. As he nears Ithaca, Poseidon appears and gives him a final choice: die, or let Ithaca drown.

Odysseus chooses his home, and Poseidon attempts to drown him. Miraculously surviving, Odysseus uses the windbag as a jetpack and fights Poseidon. Delivering six hundred strikes—one for each lost comrade—he stabs Poseidon with his own trident, ending the god’s torment and finally heading home.

The Ithaca Saga

Songs: The Challenge, Hold Them Down, Odysseus, I Can’t Help But Wonder, Would You Fall in Love With Me Again

Penelope tricks the suitors by unraveling a burial shroud every night. She declares a challenge: string Odysseus’s bow and shoot through twelve axe heads. No one succeeds.

The suitors plot to murder Telemachus and seize Penelope. Before they can act, Antinous is killed by a sudden arrow. Odysseus has returned—and he’s furious. One by one, he slaughters the suitors in a gory battle of vengeance.

Telemachus and Odysseus reunite in I Can’t Help But Wonder, reflecting on how little they know each other after 20 years. Athena bids farewell, realizing that Odysseus’s journey has changed him too much for her ideals.

In the final song, Would You Fall in Love With Me Again, Odysseus reunites with Penelope. Burdened by the violence he’s committed, he fears he’s no longer the man she once loved. But when Penelope tests him by asking about their bed, Odysseus’s answer proves he is still her husband.

They embrace at last.

And with that, Odysseus’s journey ends.
That was the end of Epic: The Musical.