Theatre / EPIC: The Musical

”When does a man become a monster?”

As Troy burns behind him, Odysseus the Seafarer sets sail towards his home of Ithaca, burdened with the guilt of his actions during the long war. Little does he know that his journey is far from over, and he will face a great many challenges and difficult choices before he can reunite with his son and wife.

EPIC is a musical made by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, as an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. Snippets of the songs were first uploaded unto TikTok, and the full songs are slowly being released on music platforms. There will be 9 sagas, containing 40 songs in total.

Sagas & Songs

Act 1

• The Troy Saga (December 25, 2022)
  • The Horse And The Infant
  • Just A Man
  • Full Speed Ahead
  • Open Arms
  • Warrior Of The Mind

• The Cyclops Saga (January 27, 2023)
  • Polyphemus
  • Survive
  • Remember Them
  • My Goodbye

• The Ocean Saga (December 25, 2023)
  • Storm
  • Luck Runs Out
  • Keep Your Friends Close
  • Ruthlessness

• The Circe Saga (February 14, 2024)
  • Puppeteer
  • Wouldn’t You Like
  • Done For
  • There Are Other Ways

• The Underworld Saga (April 26, 2024)
  • The Underworld
  • No Longer You
  • Monster

Act 2

• The Thunder Saga
  • Unnamed song 21
  • Unnamed song 22
  • Scylla
  • Mutiny
  • Thunder Bringer

• The Wisdom Saga
  • Legendary
  • Little Wolf
  • We'd Be Fine
  • Love In Paradise
  • God Games

• The Vengeance Saga
  • Not Sorry For Loving You
  • Dangerous
  • Charybdis
  • Get In The Water
  • 600 Strike

• The Ithaca Saga
  • The Challenge
  • Hold Them Down
  • King
  • I Can't Help But Wonder
  • Would You Fall In Love With Me Again

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EPIC provides examples of:

• Action Prologue: The musical starts off with Odysseus inside the Trojan Horse right as they plan to defeat the Trojans after 10 years of war.
• Adaptation Distillation: The Cyclops Saga cuts out a few parts while still preserving the overall story. Namely that the wine Odysseus offers Polyphemus was made by one of Dionysus' sons and was exceptionally potent (instead Odysseus laces it with lotus) and that Odysseus had fully realised that the cave was inhabited and insisted that they wait to give the owner a gift as compensation for eating his food, rather than being caught in the act.
• Armor-Piercing Response: My Goodbye is basically Odysseus and Athena exchanging "The Reason You Suck" Speeches, but the sudden halt to the music after one line from Odysseus implies it really hit Athena hard:
  At least I know what I'm fighting for, while you're fighting to be known!
  Since you claim you're so much wiser, why's your life spent all alone?
  You're alone!
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Odysseus is a Guile Hero and accomplished warrior, but he's ultimately just a man and the gods simply exist on a scale beyond him. Even though he has the bravado to go as far as calling them out on occasion, whenever the gods actively impose their will on him, he's quickly reduced to powerlessly begging for their mercy. Instead of making him seem pathetic, it's incredibly humanizing.
  • When Zeus tells him that it is the will of the gods that he either kill Hector's infant son or else allow the boy to one day grow into a grave threat who will destroy his home and family, Odysseus literally gets down on his knees and begs for an alternative. He doesn't get one.
  • Poseidon manages to very effectively reduce him to this with a few words.
    Poseidon: Now get in the water. Get in the water... or I'll raise the tide so high, all of Ithaca will die. Get in the water.
    Odysseus: ...Wait.
    Poseidon: Get in the water.
    Odysseus: Stop this, please!
• Ascended Extra: Polites only ever gets mentioned twice in the Odyssey, but gets more plot relevance here, as Odysseus' best friend and Morality Chain.
• Backhanded Apology: During Ruthlessness, Poseidon suggests that he may be willing to spare Odysseus and his men if he apologizes for the suffering he inflicted upon his son.
  Poseidon, we meant no harm
  We only hurt him to disarm him
  We took no pleasure in his pain
  We only wanted to escape.
• Badass Boast: Odysseus delivers one to Polyphemus during Remember Them. Of course, this is not without consequences, as his proud declaration of who he is will cause Poseidon's hatred of him.
  Remember me
  I'm the reigning king of Ithaca
  I am neither man nor mythical
  I am your darkest moment
  I am the infamous, Odysseus!
• Bait the Dog: Poseidon tells Odysseus that he will spare him and his men if he apologizes for maiming Polyphemus. Immediately after Odysseus does so, the ocean god mocks him for being naive and murders all but a handful of his men.
• Berserk Button: As of the Wisdom Saga, insulting Telemachus is this for Athena. The sheer outrage allows her to brute force her way out of Ares’ version of quick-thought.
• Big Bad: While there are plenty of enemies that stand in Odysseus' way, by far the greatest and most powerful is Poseidon, supreme lord of the sea.
• Big "NO!": Odysseus in "Keep Your Friends Close" after he wakes up and realizes his men are opening the bag of wind. For very good reason...
• Big "WHAT?!": In "Ruthlessness", Poseidon exclaims an outraged "What?!" when Odysseus escapes him by using the bag of wind.
• Blind Seer: Tiresias is a blind prophet found in Hades who gives Odysseus a glimpse into his future in the song "No Longer You".
• Born Lucky: Discussed in Luck Runs Out. Odysseus brazenly enters challenges such as the Cyclops or Athena, and later Poseidon, Circe, and other gods and monsters, yet remains unscathed. When he wants to enter the wind god's kingdom, Eurylochus is quick to argue that his luck can easily run out and that he cannot simply rely on wit in all circumstances, leading to either his own death or the death of more crewmates.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Odysseus repeats Poseidon's "Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves" in his song Monster, to show how his ideology becomes closer to the sea god.
• Brought Down to Badass: The flower Odysseus ate means Circe can’t just delete him on the spot, but he admits in his part of the song that she’s still on par with a highly skilled Greek warrior.
• Call-Back: The song Ruthlessness ends with two; First, Odysseus quotes Aeolus as he opens the bag of winds to drive off Poseidon. Then, Poseidon quotes him from his earlier song, "Remember Them".
  Odysseus: All I gotta do is open this bag!
  Poseidon: Remember me...
• Central Theme: What are we willing to do for those we love, and when have we gone too far? Odysseus is fundamentally just a man who wants to be kind and avoid hurting people as much as possible, but circumstances keep forcing his hand, and he often has to chose between cruel brutality and losing his wife and son. The very first song establishes this, as Zeus presents him with the dilemma in a very literal way; Kill the infant son of Hector and ensure that he will never come after Odysseus for revenge, or spare him, and face the inevitable consequences of the sacking of Troy.
• Chekhov's Gun: The bag containing the winds of the storm given to Odysseus by Aeolus most notably comes back later in the same song, as his crew ignores his warnings and opens it, letting them out. However, he and Eurylochus manage to close it and save some of the winds, which come back later in Ruthlessness when Odysseus opens it right in Poseidon's face, blasting him to kingdom come.
• Classical Cyclops: The second saga heavily features the cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, and Trope Maker.
• Composite Character: Antinous gets merged with Eurymachus, as he is the only named suitor and serves as the suitors' leader.
• Concept Album: The songs of the musical are being released in 9 concept album sagas, starting with the Troy Saga and ending with the Ithaca Saga. Each tells the story of a different part of the Odyssey.
• Creepy Cave: The cave of the cyclops in the second saga is frightening, with Odysseus sensing danger even before the cyclops shows up.
• Cruel Mercy: Odysseus, believing that Polyphemus no longer poses any threat after being blinded, refuses to kill the cyclops. This is partly out of distaste for further bloodshed after the Trojan War but also because he wants to force the cyclops to live crippled and burdened with the knowledge of who he was beaten by, which is why he proceeds to taunt Polyphemus with his name. This twisted act of mercy quickly comes back to bite him, and is called out as such during Ruthlessness.
• Damned by Faint Praise: As Athena is arguing in Odysseus favour, she does provide good reasonings at first, but as Hera dismisses them one by one, she's eventually left arguing that Odysseus is kinda funny.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: It isn't mentioned when Polites dies in the original Odyssey, but he originally lived at least long enough to encounter Circe, whereas here he dies because of Polyphemus.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Polyphemus is rightfully angered and saddened to see that intruders have broken into his home and killed his favorite sheep, but even after Odysseus tries to explain that they hadn't intentionally wronged him and were willing to compensate him for their actions, he decides the best course is to eat them alive.
• Divine Intervention: Athena asks Zeus to intervene to help Odysseus, and all of God Games is her trying to convince the other Olympians to give their blessings. Hermes also does this twice, in both Wouldn't You Like and Dangerous.
• Double Entendre: The two words Circe uses to entice Odysseus's crew.
  Circe: Come inside~
  Odysseus: Damn.
• Double Standard: Rape, Divine on Mortal: As always, Zeus. He brags about this by using it as a metaphor in his solo, Thunder Bringer.
  Pride is a damsel in distress
  Hiding away where only I can undress her
  Try all she can not to confess
  In the end, it's all the same once I apply all the pressure
• Dream Tells You to Wake Up: Odysseus struggles to keep his crew away from the bag of winds in Keep Your Friends Close, staying awake for 9 days straight. He slowly drifts off to sleep, hearing Penelope and Telemachus' voices telling him to keep his eyes open, lamenting how he can spend time with them soon. It isn't until Penelope yells at Odysseus to wake up that they succeed, yet it is too late as the bag has been opened, and he is once again away from Ithaca.
  Wake up!
  Wake up, Odysseus, they're opening the bag,
  Wake up!
• Dwindling Party: Odysseus’ crew starts losing people in the song Survive, and later songs show that more and more of the crew will die.
  I'll unveil what I know of the top of my head
  Most of these sorry souls are gonna end up dead.
• Emotions Versus Stoicism: What Odysseus and Athena argue over, and what ultimately drives them to go their separate ways: Athena wants her ideal Warrior of the Mind to be completely logical, and even ruthless when necessary. Odysseus, however, is ultimately driven by his emotions, be that his desire to see his family again, or his care for his men, and frequently acts on those emotions.
  • Act 2 reverses these roles, with Odysseus being more ruthless and goal oriented at the cost of his crew, whereas Athena challenges her entire pantheon to save Odysseus because of her friendship with his son, Telemachus.
• Evil Counterpart: Ares acts as one to Athena, even having his own version of her Quickthought power. Fitting, as they are the Gods of War, with Ares' domain being the brutality of war.
• Exact Words: In The Horse And The Infant, Zeus sends Odysseus to kill "a foe who won't run, unlike anyone you've faced before." Odysseus has no hesitation to fight whatever epic warrior of Troy this is... only to find Prince Hector's infant son.
• Fighting Your God: Odysseus frequently disagrees and even argues with the gods, notably his own patron goddess Athena to the point of insulting her, and both Zeus and Poseidon twice.
• Foil: Odysseus and Circe in Done For. While they have many differences (one is a mortal warrior, the other is a goddess sorceress), their actions are driven by the same desire to protect those under them (for Odysseus his crew, for Circe her nymphs), especially with each already suffering from failing to protect those same people. Circe may even serve as an example of what might happen if Odysseus fully embraces pragmatism over morality, a path he's already starting to travel down. The two sing similar lines together in one chorus that emphasize this commonality:
  Odysseus and Circe in unison:
  ~I've got people to protect, friends I can't neglect!~
  ~And now there's no turning back!~
• Forced Transformation: Circe turns members of the crew into pigs.
• Gender Flip: Aeolus is a king in the original story, and a goddess in this musical.
• Guile Hero: Odysseus, as always, solves his problems through clever tactics rather than brute force. The song Warrior of the Mind is all about this from Athena's perspective.
  Athena: If there's a problem, he'll have the answer. He is a warrior of the mind!
• He Who Fights Monsters: Part of the Central Theme of the story is the lengths someone will go to for their goals, even if those goals are fully heroic and sympathetic, and when it has gone too far. Odysseus fears that he will become a monster, and as time goes on considers embracing it.
  If I became the monster, and threw that guilt away
  Would that make us stronger, would it keep our foes at bay?
• "I Am Becoming" Song: "Monster", where Odysseus contemplates Teiresias' prediction that he will have to change in order to get home and decides to become more ruthless in order to protect his crew.
• Implied Rape: Antinous and the suitors are implied to be planning this for Penelope in the song Hold Them Down. It's only alluded to without actually saying the word, instead using squicky euphemisms.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Odysseus calls out the god of wisdom Athena for being alone in My Goodbye, and Athena herself shows this by believing her path to be better than Odysseus, and as such choosing to leave him behind and be by herself.
  Since you claim you're so much wiser
  Why's your life spent all alone?
• Invisible Backup Band: Aside from being a musical, all the Olympians have backup vocals, mainly seen in God Games where the gods are introduced with their names being sung. Odysseus gets it himself while he's hunting down the suitors.
• Ironic Echo:
  • Polyphemus's half of Survive is him repeating back a much darker version of Odysseus's opening lines.
  600 lives at stake/600 lives I'll take
  It's just one life to take/600 lives I'll break.
  And when we kill him then our journey's over./And when I kill you then my pain is over.
  No dying on me now./You're dying here and now
  Defeat is not allowed./Escape is not allowed.
  We must live through this day so/You won’t live through this day now
  Fight, fight, fight/Die, die...
  • The line "Just A Man" from the song of the same name gets repeated back to Odysseus by Athena during My Goodbye to insult him.
  • In Ruthlessness, Poseidon repeats a few of Odysseus' words against him, specifically those used against Polyphemus such as "I am your darkest moment." and "Remember me." after killing all but 43 men of his fleet.
• I Will Wait for You:
  • Penelope and Telemachus continue to wait for Odysseus even after 20 years, although we know Odysseus survives to return eventually.
  • In "The Underworld", Odysseus sees a vision of his mother, who died in Ithaca while waiting for him to come home. Aphrodite brings this up in "God Games" and says that Odysseus dishonored her domain of love by breaking his mother's heart.
• Jerkass Gods: Poseidon. He slaughters Odysseus's fleet in front of him, to make him feel complete despair before he kills him, even though the majority of those men had nothing to do with Polyphemus's mutilation. He deliberately waits until Odysseus is on the shores of Ithaca before threatening to drown the entire kingdom, if Odysseus doesn't sacrifice himself. "Get in the Water" implies that he isn't even trying to avenge his son, much of worship comes from fear, so if he knowingly lets an attack on his family slide, he weakens his position as a god.
  I've got a reputation.
  I've got a name to uphold.
  So I can't go letting you walk or else the world forgets I'm cold.
  • Aeolus also deserves a mention. While initially appearing to be helpful and granting Odysseus' wish by trapping a storm in a bag, this came with the catch that the bag must never be opened. This by itself wouldn't be so bad, as such conditions or tests are common enough and this one is pretty reasonable, except that as soon as Odysseus returned to his crew, who asked what is the bag he was now carrying, Aelous (or one of her servants) immediately claimed it was treasure before running off. When Odysseus tried to explain what the truth of the matter, the crew were now skeptical, leaving him to stay awake for nine days straight so that they wouldn't open it out of greed or curiousity, which they did when he inevitably fell asleep, leading to the events of Ruthlessness. Many of Aelous' lines in Keep Your Friends Close implies they knew this would happen the entire time, deliberately setting Odysseus up to fail.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While several of the gods are cruel and tend to focus on their own interests, they're not always wrong when pointing out Odysseus' flaws. For example, while Poseidon's act of revenge against Odysseus was excessive, wiping out all but 43 of his men in one go, he's right in pointing out Odysseus' hypocrisy in trying to be a good man but committing horrific acts, and how leaving the cyclops alive but blinded and humiliated was far more cruel than just killing him.
• Karmic Jackpot: Odysseus's love and loyalty to his wife ultimately saves his life twice over.
  • When Circe attempts to seduce Odysseus to lower his guard, he rejects her advances and explains that he has a wife whom he desperately misses and wishes to return to. This expression of genuine love and honest vulnerability manages to touch Circe's heart and alleviate her distrust, and she willingly helps him.
    Odysseus: Wait... you're helping us?
    Circe: There are many ways of persuasion, there are many modes of control. Maybe showing one act of kindness leads to kinder souls down the road.
  • When Athena takes on the challenge of convincing the other Olympians to pardon Odysseus, Hera is utterly dismissive of why she ought to care, asking what makes him special amongst thousands of other heroes. Athena replies that he never once cheated on his wife, which wins Hera over immediately.
• Knight, Knave, and Squire: The named members of Odysseus' crew form this. Odysseus is the knight, the most experienced one and fights to go back home, Eurylochus being the Knave, arguing with Odysseus in Luck Runs Out and Puppeteer to leave other men to save themselves, and Polites being the Squire, with the most optimistic outlook but also the least experience with no scenes of him specifically fighting anyone.
• The Lancer: Eurylochus serves this role to Odysseus, being his second-in-command and frequently disagreeing with Odysseus in choice of method.
• Leitmotif: Athena has one played on piano whenever she appears to Odysseus, notably in Warrior of the Mind, Remember Them, and My Goodbye.
• Lord of the Ocean: Poseidon, the God of the Seas, shows up in the musical as a reoccurring antagonist.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Odysseus and Polites encounter the Lotus Eaters during the song Open Arms, with them both nearly falling victim to it.
• The Mentor: Athena explicitly refers to herself as Odysseus', desiring to shape him into the ultimate Guile Hero. Notably, however, Odysseus views her more as a friend.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: Poseidon believes that brutality and murder is ultimately the only way to ensure no one will come after you for revenge. He even tells Odysseus that if he had just killed Polyphemos, then Poseidon wouldn't be causing him woes later.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As detailed in the poems, Odysseus's decision to reveal his name to Polyphemus in a fit of vindictive hubris allows the cyclops to identify his attacker to his father, Poseidon, whose wrath will prolong Odysseus' journey home another 10 years and lead to the deaths of many of his crew. The fact that Odysseus chooses to do this over Athena's objections further costs him her friendship and patronage, leaving him without her divine favor for the trials ahead.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Odysseus reflects on this in the song Monster. The cyclops, Poseidon, and Circe all had people they wanted to protect at the cost of doing horrible things to him and his crew.
• Ocean of Adventure: Especially because it based on the Trope Codifier. On his way back home to Ithaca from Troy, Odysseus and his crew face giants, sea monsters, witches, and gods.
• Oh, Crap!: Odysseus and his crew suffer a number of these throughout the musical as various dangers reveal themselves.
  • In Survive when Polyphemus reveals he has a club, ruining their plans to whittle him down from a distance and flipping the balance of the song from human heroes slaying a monster to the monster massacring helpless humans.
    Polyphemus: Enough.
    Odysseus: He's got a club. He's got a club!
    Crewman: What are our orders? Captain? Captain!
  • Odysseus and his crew's reaction in Ruthlessness when they realize that they've incurred the wrath of Poseidon.
    Poseidon: That's right - the cyclops you made blind is mine.
    Odysseus: No.
• Papa Wolf: Poseidon only attacks Odysseus and his crew because they harmed his son Polyphemus.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Just as Poseidon has him and his crew at his mercy, Odysseus sings "All I gotta do is just open this bag," before blasting him with the remaining winds of the storm.
• Pre-Mortem Catchphrase: Polites both gets introduced and dies saying "Captain."
  • The same screaming of "Captain" for all but 43 of Odysseus' men after Poseidon's wrath in Ruthlessness.
  • Technically, this becomes a post-mortem catchphrase, as it gets repeated in The Underworld.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Used frequently during fight scenes from the ensemble, such as Polyphemus' name in Survive, Eurylochus' name in Mutiny, Telemachus in Royal Wisdom Burst and Odysseus' name twice in Mutiny and King.
• Quarreling Song: My Goodbye features Athena and Odysseus arguing over their differences and going their separate ways.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Odysseus and Eurylochus. While Odysseus is obviously very intelligent especially in combat, he is more impulsive to save his men from Circe and face threats such as the Cyclops. On the other hand, Eurylochus argues with his impulsiveness, saying that his luck won’t last forever and that it may be safer to leave his men.
• Restored My Faith in Humanity: Telemachus's friendship, kindness, and pure heart convinces Athena to rescue Odysseus, even though the two never truly make up.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Polites is established early on as a friend of Odysseus, yet is the very first to die in the crew, marking the start of the Dwindling Party.
  Everything's changed since Polites!
• Sadistic Choice: Odysseus is given a few of these by the cruel whims of the gods and fate.
  • Immediately during the fall of Troy, Zeus presents Odysseus a vision of the future detailing how Hector's infant son will one day grow into a warrior who will avenge himself upon Odysseus and his family for his part in the Trojan war, and that this cannot be avoided through any means except killing the boy here and now. Forcing him to choose between having the blood of his loved ones on his hands, or that of an innocent baby's.
  • After 10 long years of being lost at sea, right when Odysseus is within sight of his homeland of Ithaca, Poseidon completes his revenge for Odysseus maiming his son Polyphemus by demanding that Odysseus willingly walk into the sea and drown himself or else he will drown all of Ithaca, particularly Odysseus's wife and son, under the waves.
• Sadly Mythtaken: Neoptolemus (son of Achilles) doesn’t kill the brothers of Hector, but rather his father.
• Scylla and Charybdis: Odysseus encounters the monsters themselves in Act 2, going for Scylla at first but then later on chooses Charybdis.
• Seen It All: Hera is unimpressed with Athena's plea that she bless Odysseus, stating that she has seen tons of heroes come and go and Odysseus is not unique. She is equally unimpressed by Athena's pleas that Odysseus is clever, articulate, and funny, but she is convinced when she claims that Odysseus never cheated on his wife.
• Start of Darkness: Despite his initial refusal, killing Hector’s child in Just a Man, as well as the death of his most of his crew proves to be the catalyst for Odysseus' slow acceptance of violence and ruthlessness.
  And if I gotta drop another infant from a wall
  In an instant so we all don't die
  Then I'll become the monster
• Strong Family Resemblance: Ares' attitude in the song God Games, that Odysseus is too soft and should be more brutal, is notably very similar to his sister Athena's view on her chosen hero in My Goodbye.
• Sunken City: Poseidon threatens to drown all of Ithaca in Get In The Water.
• Time Master: Athena can slow or stop time when she wants to as a show of her divine power. It generally works, though her brother Ares is unimpressed, and dismisses it as "old tricks".
• The Title Saga: The musical has been released on streaming services in installments called "Sagas".
• Too Clever by Half: Eurylochus accuses Odysseus of this as his faith begins to wane. Odysseus is clever, sure, but his failures mean death for his crew and Odysseus's recklessness will catch up to them.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Polites is introduced as the nicest character in the show, advocating for peace while the crew make their way home. He then becomes the first of the crew to die in Survive.
• Too Good to Be True: Said word-for-word by Odysseus when entering the cave the lotus-eaters directed him to.
• To Hell and Back: For the end of Act 1, Odysseus and his remaining crew enter Hades in the fittingly named Underworld Saga to meet the prophet Tiresias.
• The Trickster: As in most instances of the character, Odysseus.
• Triumphant Reprise: The final motes of the show is the same as the first notes of Just a Man, in a more peaceful context.
• Trojan Horse: Odysseus is first introduced giving orders inside the Trope Namer.
• Two-Act Structure: The songs for the musical are grouped into two acts, with songs 1-20 (Troy to Underworld Saga) being Act 1, and songs 21-40 (Thunder to Ithaca Saga) being Act 2.
• Villain Song: Arguably for Poseidon's Big Bad status, Ruthlessness is the sea god criticizing Odysseus' attempts to be passive and empathetic on his voyage home. Calling him self-righteous and actually argues he could avoided all this trouble if he'd just killed his son–which he would've preferred–and lectures him on mercy having a price.
  Ruthlessness is mercy on ourselves!
• War God: Both Athena and Ares show up in the musical.
  Goddess of wisdom, master of war
  My life has one mission, create the greatest warrior
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In this interpretation, Circe's primary goal is to protect the nymphs under her care (even saying that they are like daughters to her in Done For) and her turning Odysseus' men into pigs can be viewed as pre-emptive self-defense, as welcoming a previous group of strangers incurred a "heavy loss" for her family. While her goals are sympathetic, the fact she doesn't even bother to verify if Odyssess' crew had any malicious intents before transforming them is what makes her the antagonist of the Circe Saga.
• Wham Line: When the suitors are under attack by an unknown assailant in the dark, they plan to make use of their knowledge of the palace to even the playing field, right before the assailant appears and lets them know just who they're dealing with.
  Suitor: We know these halls, the odds can be tilted!
  Odysseus: You don't think I know my own palace? I built it!
• Would Hurt a Child: Played for Drama, Zeus tells Odysseus that the infant child of Hector will soon grow to avenge and kill Odysseus and his family. While initially hesitant, he mournfully kills the child to protect his family.
• You Killed My Father: Supposedly how the son of Hector would act if allowed to live.

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