Epic: The Musical Song Guide and Coloring Pages
Epic: The Musical is a retelling of Homer's Odyssey written and composed by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, who also sings the part of Odysseus. It started as his university thesis, took off on TikTok, and was released between 2022 and 2024 as nine short albums called "sagas." Put together, the sagas make a two-act, 40-song musical that's sung from start to finish.
Jump to the Saga :
Act 1: Troy | Cyclops | Ocean | Circe | Underworld |
Act 2: Thunder | Wisdom | Vengeance | Ithaca
Characters
Below you'll find every saga in story order, with a short summary of each song and the coloring pages from our Odysseus section that match that part of the story. Epic follows Homer closely in some places and changes things in others, so it's fun to compare the two.
A note for parents and teachers: Epic deals with war, loss, and some dark moments, especially in the later sagas. The song summaries here are kept family friendly, but you may want to preview the music before sharing it with younger kids.
Tap any image to open the full-size printable, then download or print it.
The Troy Saga (Act 1)
The Trojan War is finally over, but winning it comes at a cost. Odysseus starts the long trip home already carrying a heavy choice.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, Zeus, Polites, Eurylochus, the Lotus-Eaters, Athena
- The Horse and the Infant: The Trojan Horse works and Troy falls. In the middle of it all, Zeus warns Odysseus that the baby son of the Trojan prince Hector will one day grow up and come looking for revenge.
- Just a Man: Odysseus thinks of his own baby boy back home and struggles with what Zeus is asking. The choice he makes stays with him for the rest of the story.
- Full Speed Ahead: The fleet of 600 men sets sail for home. Odysseus and his best friend Polites head to a nearby island to look for food.
- Open Arms: Polites encourages Odysseus to meet the world with kindness instead of suspicion. They make peace with the playful Lotus-Eaters, who point them to a cave further east.
- Warrior of the Mind: Athena, who has mentored Odysseus since he was a boy, worries he's going soft. She shows him the memory of the day they first met and reminds him what she expects.
The Cyclops Saga (Act 1)
Looking for food leads the crew straight into the cave of a giant. Odysseus has to decide how far he's willing to go to get his men out.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, Polyphemus, Polites, Eurylochus, Athena
- Polyphemus: The crew finds a cave full of sheep and helps themselves to one. Its owner, the Cyclops Polyphemus, isn't happy about it. Odysseus offers him wine to make up for it and tells him his name is "Nobody."
- Survive: The Cyclops attacks anyway, and Odysseus loses several men, including his friend Polites, before Polyphemus suddenly collapses.
- Remember Them: The wine was laced with lotus. The men blind the sleeping Cyclops and slip away with his sheep. Athena tells Odysseus to finish the job, but he spares Polyphemus and shouts his real name as they leave.
- My Goodbye: Athena and Odysseus argue over his choice to show mercy, and the goddess walks away from him.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
The Ocean Saga (Act 1)
Out on the open sea, a gift from the god of the winds could get everyone home, as long as nobody opens the bag.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, Eurylochus, Aeolus and his wind spirits, Poseidon
- Storm: A huge storm hits the fleet, and Odysseus spots a floating island in the sky, home of Aeolus, keeper of the winds.
- Luck Runs Out: Eurylochus, Odysseus' second-in-command, doubts the plan to climb up and ask Aeolus for help. Odysseus tells him to keep those doubts away from the crew.
- Keep Your Friends Close: Aeolus traps the storm in a bag and tells Odysseus to keep it shut until he's home. Rumors of hidden treasure spread, and after days without sleep, Odysseus nods off and the bag gets opened.
- Ruthlessness: Poseidon rises from the sea, furious about what happened to his son Polyphemus. He sinks every ship except Odysseus' own, and only the last bit of wind left in the bag carries them to safety.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
The Circe Saga (Act 1)
The crew lands on an island ruled by a powerful witch, and Odysseus gets some unexpected help from a god.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, Eurylochus, Circe, Hermes
- Puppeteer: Scouts led by Eurylochus find a palace where the witch Circe turns the men into pigs. Eurylochus escapes, and Odysseus decides to go after his crew.
- Wouldn't You Like: Hermes, messenger of the gods, shows up to help and gives Odysseus a magic herb called moly that protects him from Circe's spells.
- Done For: Odysseus and Circe face off in her palace, and Odysseus comes out on top.
- There Are Other Ways: Circe tries a different approach, but Odysseus stays loyal to his wife Penelope. Impressed, Circe frees his men and sends them to the Underworld to find the prophet Tiresias.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
The Underworld Saga (Act 1)
To get past Poseidon, Odysseus has to visit the land of the dead, and what he learns there changes him. This saga closes out Act 1.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, Polites, Anticlea, Tiresias, the crew
- The Underworld: Odysseus sails among the spirits of the dead, including members of his lost crew and his mother, Anticlea, who he learns passed away while waiting for him to come home.
- No Longer You: The blind prophet Tiresias tells Odysseus he can make it home, but not as the man he is now.
- Monster: Shaken, Odysseus decides to bury his softer side and do whatever it takes to get home.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
The Thunder Saga (Act 2)
Act 2 opens with a harder, colder Odysseus. Sirens, a six-headed monster, and an angry crew all stand between him and home.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, the Sirens, Scylla, Eurylochus, Zeus
- Suffering: A Siren disguised as Penelope tries to lure Odysseus into the water. Along the way she lets slip that the only route Poseidon won't follow is through Scylla's lair.
- Different Beast: Odysseus reveals the crew plugged their ears with beeswax. This time, he shows the Sirens no mercy.
- Scylla: Eurylochus confesses that he was the one who opened the wind bag. Odysseus has six men carry torches through Scylla's dark lair, and the monster goes after the torchbearers while the ship slips through.
- Mutiny: Horrified, Eurylochus turns the crew against Odysseus and lands on the island of the sun god Helios, where they eat one of his sacred cattle.
- Thunder Bringer: Zeus arrives to judge them and forces Odysseus to choose between himself and his crew. Odysseus chooses home, and the ship and crew are lost.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
The Wisdom Saga (Act 2)
The story jumps to Ithaca, where Odysseus' son is all grown up, and then up to Mount Olympus, where Athena makes her case to the gods.
Characters in this saga: Telemachus, Antinous and the suitors, Athena, Odysseus, Calypso, Zeus, Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares, Hera
- Legendary: Seven years later, Telemachus is twenty. He dreams of being a hero like the father he never knew and wants to protect his mother from the suitors filling the palace.
- Little Wolf: Telemachus stands up to the suitor Antinous and gets badly beaten, until Athena steps in to help him.
- We'll Be Fine: Athena opens up about an old friend she misses. Not knowing she means his own father, Telemachus tells her to reach out and make things right.
- Love in Paradise: Athena finds Odysseus stuck on the island of Ogygia with the goddess Calypso, who has kept him there for years. Homesick and worn down, he calls out to Athena for help.
- God Games: Zeus agrees to free Odysseus only if Athena can win over five other Olympians: Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares and Hera. She does it, but Zeus doesn't take losing well.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
Athena coloring pages Olympian coloring pages
The Vengeance Saga (Act 2)
Odysseus is finally free and heading home, but Poseidon is waiting for one last showdown.
Characters in this saga: Odysseus, Calypso, Hermes, Charybdis, Poseidon
- Not Sorry for Loving You: Calypso learns she has to let Odysseus go and says a heartbroken goodbye.
- Dangerous: Adrift on a raft, Odysseus gets a visit from Hermes, who gives him advice and hands back Aeolus' wind bag.
- Charybdis: Odysseus gets past the giant whirlpool monster Charybdis and finally sees Ithaca on the horizon.
- Get in the Water: Poseidon gives Odysseus a terrible choice: give himself up to the sea, or watch Ithaca be flooded. Odysseus is dragged under.
- Six Hundred Strike: Odysseus opens the wind bag one final time and fights back with the strength of his six hundred lost men, beating Poseidon at last.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
The Ithaca Saga (Act 2)
Twenty years after leaving, Odysseus comes home to a palace full of suitors and a family that has been waiting for him.
Characters in this saga: Penelope, Antinous and the suitors, Odysseus, Telemachus, Athena
- The Challenge: Penelope sees the storm out at sea and senses Odysseus is close. She sets the suitors a nearly impossible test: string Odysseus' old bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe heads.
- Hold Them Down: Antinous realizes Penelope never planned to choose any of them and turns the suitors against her and Telemachus, until an arrow stops him.
- Odysseus: The archer is Odysseus, home at last. He takes on the suitors, and Telemachus joins the fight beside him.
- I Can't Help but Wonder: Father and son finally get to talk. Then Athena returns, and she and Odysseus wonder whether a kinder world is possible.
- Would You Fall in Love with Me Again: Odysseus and Penelope are reunited. She tests him with a secret only he would know, their bed built around a living olive tree, and the story ends with the two of them together.
More Coloring Pages from our Odysseus section:
Characters in Epic: The Musical
Here's who's who across all nine sagas, with the sagas where each one shows up.
Odysseus and His Family
- Odysseus: King of Ithaca and the hero of the story, known for his clever plans. He spends the musical deciding how much of himself he's willing to give up to get home. (All sagas)
- Penelope: Odysseus' wife, who spends twenty years holding off suitors and waiting for him. (Ithaca)
- Telemachus: Their son, a baby when Odysseus leaves and a young man by the time he returns. (Wisdom, Ithaca)
- Anticlea: Odysseus' mother, who he meets again in the Underworld. (Underworld, Vengeance)
The Crew
- Polites: Odysseus' best friend, who believes in meeting the world with kindness. (Troy, Cyclops, Underworld)
- Eurylochus: Odysseus' second-in-command and brother-in-law, and the one most willing to question him. (Troy through Thunder)
- The crew: Six hundred men set out from Troy. Their losses along the way shape every choice Odysseus makes.
Gods and Goddesses
- Athena: Goddess of wisdom and war, and Odysseus' mentor. Their falling out and making up runs through the whole story. (Troy, Cyclops, Wisdom, Ithaca)
- Zeus: King of the gods, who sets Odysseus on his path in Troy and judges him later on. (Troy, Thunder, Wisdom)
- Poseidon: God of the sea and father of Polyphemus. He's the main villain of the musical. (Ocean, Vengeance)
- Aeolus: Keeper of the winds, who gives Odysseus the bag of storm winds. (Ocean)
- Hermes: Messenger of the gods, who helps Odysseus twice. (Circe, Vengeance)
- Circe: A powerful witch who turns the crew into pigs, then helps them on their way. (Circe)
- Calypso: A goddess who keeps Odysseus on her island for seven years. (Wisdom, Vengeance)
- Helios: The sun god, whose sacred cattle the crew should never have touched. (Thunder)
- The Olympians: Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares and Hera, who each have to be won over in Athena's "game." (Wisdom)
Monsters, Prophets and Foes
- Polyphemus: A Cyclops and Poseidon's son, whose cave the crew wanders into. (Cyclops)
- The Lotus-Eaters: Laid-back islanders who live on the lotus plant. (Troy)
- Tiresias: A blind prophet in the Underworld who can see the future. (Underworld)
- The Sirens: Sea creatures whose songs lure sailors into the water. (Thunder)
- Scylla: A six-headed monster living in a dark sea cave. (Thunder)
- Charybdis: A monster that swallows the sea in a giant whirlpool. (Vengeance)
- Antinous and the suitors: Men who move into Odysseus' palace hoping to marry Penelope and take the throne. (Wisdom, Ithaca)
Odysseus coloring pages Greek heroes coloring pages