plasma-studios

[plasma-studios]

I’m like, personally offended that achilles wasnt in the underworld saga at all. the conversation he has with odysseus is really fun.

this segment from the odyssey is really cool, this is the first thing Achilles says to Odysseus in the underworld. He characterizes Odysseus by his wits, and simultaneously refers to him as “Incorrigible”.

from here

Achilles and Odysseus are parallels. Achilles knew from the beginning he was never going to return home, and Odysseus’s journey home is literally Fucking Cursed to be deadly and dangerous. They are the mortal parallels to Ares and Athena, Wrath and Strategy. They are one in the same, and all too different.

here is another screenshot from that website describing odysseus and achilles’ conversation.

Yeah i just really like them.

[plasma-studios]

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.

[plasma-studios]

“Waiting… Odysseus, when you come home I'll be waiting… Even if you're the last thing I see, I'll be waiting…” ~ Anticlea in The Underworld

“And though I never thought that it would end like this just know, I'll be here… Waiting, waiting…” ~ Penelope The Challenge

“I know that you've been waiting… Waiting, for love…” ~ Odysseus in Would you fall in love with me again

[plasma-studios]

Not the realization that Tiresias repeating his prophecy in No Longer You is him desperately trying to get Odysseus to heed his warnings after seeing the monster in him during his angry outburst of “WHO?!?!?”. The prophet knowing he can’t offer any reassurances that things will turn out alright, so all he can do is try to get Odysseus to understand what he’s already said.

[plasma-studios]

the soft pained voice KILLS me

[plasma-studios]

I think one of the most interesting thing about the use of “Ruthlessness” in The Underworld Saga is that in that song Poseidon is …. wrong. the line “you totally could’ve avoided all this if you’d just kill my son” is technically correct, but wasn’t Odysseus’ only option.

What actually lead to his death was his hubris - Gods in Greek Mythology aren’t omnipotent, so if Odysseus didn’t give him name, address and credit card info to the cyclops, then Poseidon wouldnt have been able to track him down and the rest wouldn’t have happened.

idk i think his character is so interesting and i think the musical does such a good just capturing it in the lyricism because like ,,,,, yeah idk this musical has been rotting my brain

[plasma-studios]

the fact that what the ghosts were singing in epic the musical are what they were last thinking is so genius and upsetting.

polites wanted him to continue being kind

his mother wanted him to return

his dead soldiers were thinking that odysessus betrayed them

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Odysseus: sings about how he is losing his humanity in order to make it home

Tumblr: ah yes, this is trending material

[plasma-studios]

Odysseus : -and if i have to drop another infant from a wall in an instant so we all dont die, then I'll become the monster!

his men, watching him slip into madness and admit to infanticide :

[plasma-studios]

Fascinated and devastated by EPIC: The Musical flipping the moral script of Odysseus' arc, yet coming to the same conclusions.

There's Classic Odysseus, who accepts that his fate and the fate of his men are out of his control. Classic Odysseus, who knowingly sacrificed six men to Scylla and accepted the cost without second thought. Classic Odysseus, who mourns his men then blames them for their own deaths because of disobedience or cowardice or hunger, comparing them to the goats herded on Ithaca.

And there's EPIC Odysseus, who from the start chafes against the will of the gods in favor of his compassion. EPIC Odysseus, who does not accept that his fate and the fate of his men are out of his control and suffers because of it. EPIC Odysseus, who is clever as ever, yet reckless with his heart.

But they are not so different as that. Troy did make Odysseus kinder. Patroclus demonstrated to them all how compassion is more honorable than any act of glory when he lied and took up arms and fought without thought to his own prestige, but only so that the slaughter of his friends would end. Odysseus saw the horrors committed after Troy's walls fell. He--the liar, the schemer, the man of many turns--understood the dishonor more than anyone and refused to repeat it for the sake of others.

They both come to understand that the wicked, vicious, ruthless aspect of their nature is acceptable when used in defense of their own. They slaughter their enemies with honor, but they will slaughter their enemies. They draw the line in the sand. Every man will be given the chance to prove their honor--hospitality and strangers, it always returns to hospitality and strangers, Zeus is the god of both and demands their sanctity--and every man who crosses that line will prove himself an enemy. And enemies will be slaughtered and sacrificed like cattle.

Ruthlessness is mercy--mercy for Penelope and Telemachus and Laertes who have suffered by his absence, who survived twenty years unprotected and three years under siege only by Penelope's cleverness. Not even to mention Ithaca and its people left without a king. Who else could have saved them? With Laertes too old and Telemachus too young and Penelope confined to only her loom and her tongue as weapons.

Were they worth the deaths of 600 soldiers? 108 young men? 12 enslaved women?

Athena, and through her the epic itself, declares that they are worth the bloodshed, for they are on the right side of the line.

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How can I greet the world with open arms in these conditions

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Polites' reprise sounds so happy and comforting. It's like Polites' spirit isn't even sad or upset that he passed away. Like he sees Odysseus traveling in the Underworld and he just wants to say hi, wants to remind him of his advice. He doesn't regret taking the blow that killed him. I can easily picture him waving with a smile, then gesturing for Odysseus to keep going, like "It's okay, you have important things to do. We'll have all the time we want someday. Take care".

[plasma-studios]

“ventured too far” just feels like something a mother would say about her little kid.

Odysseus is his mother’s baby always and forever, he just ventured a little bit aways, surely he’ll be back by his mother’s side soon. right where he should be. soon.

[plasma-studios]

"Guys I am so ready for Act II"

-me before Act II completely destroys me in every musical ever

[plasma-studios]

Haven't seem anyone mention this yet, but in addition to Polities' words, it is deeply tragic that the first time being kind/making peace works, the Circe Saga, it's immediately followed by the saga where Odysseus decides to become a monster. Polites' kindness was proven to work, but everything else was just too much.

[plasma-studios]

Well, i'm not okay. Y'all can't be either.

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[plasma-studios]

the underworld in a nutshell