It's only the start of EPIC THE MUSICAL and oh boy am I already so tense

[@MathewMcKenna]

i would v much appreciate it if u checked out my new webseries & gave it a sub: bit.ly/STTOP 💙

[@galaxiexie8213]

Matthew, can you please react to the great gatsby songs? Especially the ones: better hold tight, only tea, new money, roaring on and the met? Also love ur vids. ❤

[@somedudewatchintv5297]

The lotus eaters weren't demons they just loved the lotus because of its effects on them. They weren't malicious.

[@AlrikJohan]

Can you react to epic unnecessary censorship

[@paolavasquez-h2e]

fun fact, Matthew: the new saga comes out on Halloween:)

[@bmoore4016]

That eyeliner is just so gorgeous. I love it so much. I had to pause the video to stare at for a while. You are rocking it. I haven't even seen the video yet.

[@SkylerMaster_]

5:56 Actually Odysseus was forced to go to the war, he tried to pass as an insane man to stay at home but someone put his son in danger to prove he is healthy.

[@dopaminevamp399]

Agamemnon tested if Odysseus was insane by seeing if Odysseus would run over his own son Telemachus. Because Agamemnon is a raging cunt

[@amyyyshere]

Pretty sure it was agamemmon

[@mashagrin338]

Didn’t he also make a vow to protect Helen and her husband for all time, and Helen and Penelope are cousins so he felt like he was protecting family?

[@jasonsmith6219]

Ironically it was his own idea that forced him to go to war. You see, Helen was the most beautiful maiden in Greece and every major prince wanted her meaning her father was terrified that a war would break out once he picked a fiance. Enter Odysseus who offered his aid in return for her father basically being Ody's wingman when he tried to marry Penelope. Odysseus had Helen's father make all the suitors swear to defend Helen's marriage against anyone who tried to break it meaning none of the suitors could try anything without being destroyed by all of Greece. However Odysseus also had to sign it since it would be suspicious if the young prince who came up with the idea didn't. So when the prince of Troy kidnapped Helen, all of Greece including Odysseus now had to go to war to save her.

[@colt1903]

​@@jasonsmith6219 Yeah... Ody's story really does amount to him being genuinely really smart and clever, but ultimately short sighted in that something always goes wrong SOMEHOW.

[@Lilyiplier]

12:50 Yes, they had glasses in Ancient Greek. They were first invented by Euclid, and they were called “reading stones”, made out of rock crystal or quartz.

[@flyingeagle3898]

interesting but glasses would still be an anacronysm here as the story takes place over 500 years before Euclid and most of the rest of the stories of "ancient greece"

[@Lilyiplier]

@@flyingeagle3898 True. I think it was just mainly to reference the singer for Polities. 🤔

[@alex-13-7-9]

Ody: "600 men under my command" Mathew: *evil laugher knowing that they are all going to die*

[@CheesenMac123]

8:34 fun fact, Penelope’s voice actually joins in on the second time Zeus and assemble goes “Penelope”. If I recall correctly, that’s actually supposed to be Zeus using Penelope’s voice to manipulate Odysseus. Jay is honestly a musical genius. There are a lot of tricky hidden things and musical motifs in these songs. I would suggest listening for them or possibly going to Jay’s channel because he talks about a lot of them there. Just be careful of spoilers since you haven’t seen all the other sagas currently out.

[@CheesenMac123]

9:37 sorry I have a lot of notes about these musical. I wanted to say it’s actually kept ambiguous at first if Odysseus killed the infant. You do learn in a later saga that he did so the person who told you that is correct, but I won’t reveal when it’s said.

[@nope6610]

Is that what happened in Thunder Bringer too?

[@MadelynRingger]

calling him a musical genius is how I've always described him, but I'm thinking that is an understatement

[@AlrikJohan]

"Give me that baby and i'll yeet it of a tower!" "What" -Perimedes and Elpenor in a deleted song.

[@King_of_Ithaca1]

Only Perimedes Elpenor's only line was what

[@felixhenson9926]

I'm in my comfort zone, i'm in my comfort zone 💖

[@StephenSwampDog]

I don’t love anyone that’s my power!

[@Dawn_the_dragon]

Cause if I’ve got nothing to lose, than I’ve got nothing to fear

[@cousinsquadplus1504]

@@Dawn_the_dragonAnd there’s no way l’ll get bruised

[@emppu1012]

It differs depending on who's doing the telling, but in one version Aphrodite made Helen fall in love with Paris so he could take her to Troy willingly. Since Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world in exchange for him helping her win a beauty contest. But there's versions where he just straight-up kidnaps her. Also, fun fact, Odysseus did try to stay out of the war. But Agamemnon is an absolute bastard and threatened his family to make him come.

[@jasonsmith6219]

Don't get me wrong, Agamemnon is the textbook definition of an absolute bastard and threatening his kid is definitely 9th place on the 50 terrible things Agamemnon did that week, but it would be wrong for Ody not to go to war since he was the whole reason everyone had to go in the first place(He made all the princes of Greece sign a pact to defend Helen's marriage.)

[@niapurdue230]

He learned from his mistakes. At first he got a way to get something, and when a similar thing happens at his home, he just cuts out the middleman and slaughters the suitors.

[@rongsun1905]

Tbf, Odysseus didn't think that an idiot prince would just kidnap Helen. And war would have broken out anyways. Odysseus just delayed the war

[@songsayswhat]

@@jasonsmith6219 Yeah. The pact was pretty much Odysseus's plan. Classic exampel of outsmarting himself. Then again, who could predict the gods getting involved and finagling things so Paris & Helen run off together?

[@leslifrancoly5127]

I personally prefer the version that it was Palamedes who threatened Telemachus, outsmarting Odysseus out of his madman act to dodge the draft. Odysseus ended up killing the guy in the middle of the war for that reason alone, either by drowning him with Diomedes or framing him for a crime that got him stoned to death.

[@boowind4432]

Odysseus *did* need to go. Back when all the kings of the land were vying for Helen’s hand in marriage, her father realized that there would probably be war no matter who she chose so he proposed a treaty, that no matter who Helen chose the other suitors wouldn’t fight it, and would swear loyalty to the man she married and be there to aid their kingdom if it got in trouble. So when Helen was taken from her husband by Paris, the other kings were honor bound to help retrieve her from Troy. Odysseus did NOT want to go because he and his wife just had a child, he tried to avoid going but was forced to anyways. He says he fights for Penelope and Telemachus because he is fighting to end the war and get back to them.

[@jasonsmith6219]

Also, it was Odysseus who came up with the treaty in the first place. He gave it to Helen's father in return for him recommending Odysseus to Penelope's father. So yeah, he was technically fighting for Penelope.

[@jay8569]

And Penelope and Helen were cousins. I could imagine Penelope would like to know Helen safe and at home as Queen of Sparta.

[@julvixxaciastka633]

this!!

[@Bobtheamazinggod]

EPIC has claimed another. Join us, Mathew.

[@mr.moviemafia]

This is technically his 5th video on it, he’s just going out of order

[@jkljosh7392]

Finally, now I just danny motta needs to and my life is complete

[@somedudewatchintv5297]

Get in the water Mathew

[@LittleRed-of2ms]

@@somedudewatchintv5297😂

[@Iggy7-7]

@@somedudewatchintv5297wet hades is waiting

[@eduardapierin1334]

12:59 bro, the guy doesn't even make it out alive of the first 3 songs of the travel, the least we can do for him is giving him glasses so he can properly see the world he's about to leave

[@graceslagle9240]

FOUL

[@HeadDetectiveLassie]

Shame. 🤣

[@byexix7276]

15:54 "you think someone that positive is gonna live in the odyssee" I think the better question is you think anybody is gonna live the odyssee

[@ranyadavina4585]

Well, I mean the Odyssey is called that because of its sole survivor

[@realVoltairex]

6:10 Odysseus had to go to honor his vow to protect Menelaus and Helen’s marriage but by the time he was summoned, he and Penelope had baby Telemachus. He tried to get out of it by faking madness until Agamemnon threatened to kill baby Telemachus and he dropped the act real quick. So yeah, he is fighting for Penelope because his motivation from the start was to end the war and get back home to his family asap.

[@Pal-605]

odysseus acc tried to fake insanity just so he wouldnt have to go but they placed his infant son in danger and odysseus saved him which proved he wasnt insane. they were all forced to go bc they all swore like a blood oath that they'd fight to protect helens marriage so when she was kidnapped all the kings who swore the oath had to go to war(the oath was acc odysseus' idea and it ended up backfiring on him and being the reason he was dragged to war)

[@samanthaarana2960]

The Lotus Eaters were actually just people in the original lol but I love that all the animatics have them as these mystical creatures. They truly aren't malicious, they're just super high essentially haha. It's not mind control like making you do things you don't want to do. It's like a drug, and that's why the Lotus Eaters are so calm and lazy and carefree. Lotus makes you so relaxed and so carefree and it makes you never want to leave or do anything other than eat more of the Lotus to forget your worries. That's why they're like "oh yeah there's that cave with sheep in it". They're so indifferent that they don't realize it's not a good idea for them to go there.

[@Sevencatsinatrenchcoat]

Yeah, pretty sure in Epic they were people originally, but people though they sounded like the winions so, eventually the story became that those winions got lost and and ended up becoming lotus eaters

[@TurgoLBX2510]

So I’ve said this before in other reactions to the Open Arms animatic, but I always think that Odysseus recoils from the butterfly because it’s a symbol of Thanatos, The God of Death, so maybe he’s like “Oh, shit, this won’t end well.”

[@icemagiciangh]

I think it’s just an exaggeration of how untrusting and jumpy he has become after ten years of war 😂 but that’s an interesting interpretation

[@P3RS0UL]

Lmao BUTTERFYLY OF DOOMMMMMMM?!!!!!!

[@tsutomumybeloved7411]

@@P3RS0ULfun fact: butterflies are associated with death/destruction because they are attracted to corpses :D

[@thesoapysofastudios]

​@@tsutomumybeloved7411 at least ill have some pretty butterflies flying around me when I die

[@annak_music]

@@tsutomumybeloved7411…Oh!

[@karentorresalfaro3371]

30:16 no grass demons, those are "the winnions" representing the lotus eaters, the reason why they look the same in both animatics even when the artist are not the same is because those creatures are now the company mascot. They are adorable.

[@Sph1nxfox_therian]

26:04 for this interpretation of the cyclops they showed aspects of Poseidon as Polyphemus is his son. They put a crab head and horse legs because Poseidon created the horses out of sea foam.

[@F_doesnotwanttobehere7]

We all say in unison “thankyou Felicity” also pop off with the eyeliner!

[@icemagiciangh]

‘Open Arms’ led directly into ‘Warrior of the Mind’. It explains things called Quick Thoughts. Athena pulls Odysseus into his own mind to tell him off, to show how they met, and how Polites has been a lifetime friend… and the first one to die after ten years.

[@jlablue3401]

22:15 Odysseus was leaning on the Greek law of hospitality (Xenia) here. He introduced himself as a traveler, and when confronted about a "trade" by the cyclops, offers wine in exchange for food and safe travel, meaning Polyphemus is obligated to not harm his guests, much like they're obligated to not harm him. Unfortunately, Polyphemus disregards the law of hospitality and tries to kill them anyway. Hope that clears it up!

[@_gsyt_7392]

So glad you're doing it in order! Also, when you listen to the Circe saga make sure to listen again to "wouldn't you like" since you listened to the wrong version

[@Mary_Studios]

I really hope he sees that cause I want him to know the full version.

[@halfknight2310]

27:45 no. actually. cause the thing was that the cyclopse had to bend down and swing at them to grab them or strike them. with the club, his reach meant he could stand over and wildly and widely swing. giving him the reach to keep himself high up

[@oscollective]

I think Polites having glasses is mostly bc the fandom designs the characters around their voice actors, and Polites's voice actor has glasses.

[@Everlasting_Peace1]

Also goes with the term "wearing rose-tinted glasses", seeing everything in a positive light.

[@ksmithlove7]

Hi, Mathew, mythology nerd here who's read the Iliad and the Odyssey! At one point they get into your question about why Odysseus went to war. Helen was a demigod, technically, and was really, really pretty, plus she was from a very important kingdom (don't remember the name but her brothers were Castor and Polydeuces if you know of them) and so all the kings/princes wanted to marry her. In order to avoid all out war over Helen, her dad said, "Helen gets to pick, and all of you have to agree that you'll defend the marriage / protect Helen". Helen picked Menelaus, so now all the Greek kings are obliged to protect Helen and defend her marriage to Menelaus. Other thing that explains the war: at one point Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite were fighting over who was the prettiest (why they were doing that is a whole other story with ties to Achilles's mom and dad) and Zeus just pointed to a random guy and went, "have him judge". The guy was Paris, prince of Troy. All three goddesses promised him stuff if he picked them (Athena promised him brains and fighting prowess, Hera promised him power) and Aphrodite said, "I'll give you the prettiest woman in Achea[Greece] if you pick me" and Paris goes "hot woman? I pick you!" So then Paris goes to Greece specifically to get Helen under Aphrodite's instructions. Depending on the story, sometimes Aphrodite puts Helen under a love spell, sometimes she's just kidnapped but in either case, she's rooting for the Greeks to save her by the time the Iliad happens (the love spell wears off) since remember, she picked Menelaus to marry, she likes him. In any case, when Helen gets stolen, Menelaus calls on the old pact and sends a guy to come get Odysseus. Ody doesn't want to go, so he starts acting insane-plowing and sowing salt [making his land barren] but the messenger just yeets Telemachus in front of the plow to check and Odysseus turns the plow since he doesn't want to kill his son and thus isn't insane. So that's why he's there. He really doesn't want to be there, but he made an agreement and has to live by it. Hope this helped! ❤

[@Mena-And-Thy]

Thank you so much ❤ I was wondering about this too 😅

[@kenmasbrother1239]

From what i remember, Athena, Aphrodite and Hera were fighting because Zeus was given an apple by Eris in a party that hosted everyone except her and the apple has the lines "to the fairest" Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@ksmithlove7]

@@kenmasbrother1239 You are correct, the wedding was of Peleus and Thetis, Achilles' parents. I just didn't include that part since my comment was super long already. 😁

[@brendanmystery]

not a demigod, just had a god as a one of her parents. Besides Dionysus, most gods had to have two immortals as a parent. Another exception was Heracles but he was born a mortal and only became an immortal after the 12 labors and getting married to Hebe (youth). One of the only, Greek heroes to achieve apotheosis.

[@funkeebeets]

YOURE KILLING THE EYELINER YET AGAIN

[@MathewMcKenna]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@funkeebeets]

@MathewMcKenna ALSO THE SHIRTS FIRE

[@Jean-l9l]

IT'S LITTERALLY SO GOOODD​@MathewMcKenna

[@Lucky_Lyra]

YES HE IS.

[@Jean-l9l]

@@Lucky_Lyra nice profile pic

[@KingsBard]

One of Zeus' sacred animals is an Eagle, hence the bird. Butterflies are a symbol of death in Greek Mythology

[@StephenSwampDog]

Oh crap I forgot that butterfly fact!!!

[@PoseidonsWinionDaughter26483]

0:19 I never thought I would see the day

[@the0neBoio]

dam, same

[@bookswithike3256]

The Lotus Eaters aren't malicious, they're just stupid. Also the whole point of people saying "react to it in order" was you miss the context by skipping around. That also applies to skipping the songs you've already heard. You didn't even remember that he killed the baby in Just a Man, which is basically the key decision that the entire story revolves around. You don't have to leave the reactions in the video, but you should at least listen to the songs you've already heard just to refamiliarise yourself with what happens.

[@kenmasbrother1239]

True.

[@StephenSwampDog]

Exactly, out of order the musical won’t have the proper impact

[@demikus]

13:08 glasses as we know them were invented sometime in the 13th century, but the Greeks did have eyewear made from Crystals. The glasses on Polities character though are just a reference to their voice actor, a lot of the animators have taken to using the voice actors likenesses when animating the humans for the songs.

[@devilrox45]

My favorite thing is Polities talking to the lil creatures and basically going from calling them friends to calling them crack heads.

[@bleachbleachBLEACHER]

To be clear, the Lotus Eaters weren't being actively malicious, they're just forever high on the mind controlling Lotuses and quite literally don't know better.

[@olimacdonald2839]

The lil lotus eaters in open arms are called Winions, they're an EPIC thing and feature a few times as just lil spirits who generally just chill on various islands

[@LightFrogs]

Mathew laughing at "600 men" KILLED ME HAHAHA

[@dorothygale9648]

I think you're confusing Odysseus with Achilles, who wasn't part of the oath to protect Helen and didn’t have to fight in Troy but went anyway.

[@pamspray5254]

Achilles did everything he could not to fight. As did Odysseus. Part of the tragedy of the Trogan war is that so few people had a stake in the war and even fewer wanted to be there. Achilles avoided war because he knew if he engaged, he was fated to die. Odysseus literally pretended to have gone mad to avoid being dragged from home. Unfortunately, those trying to drag him to war saw through his ruse and forced him to abide by the oath sworn to uphold the marriage of Helen. How'd they see through his ruse? Well, one story goes that they put his newborn in a plowfield he was intentionally plowing wrong to prove he was mad. If he stopped and avoided killing his son, he wasn't actually crazy. So he ended up dragged into a war he wanted no part of and knew would take years away from his life in Ithica. TL;DR, most of the people at Troy didn't want to be there.

[@brendanmystery]

@@pamspray5254 once again Odysseus writing checks with his mouth he doesn't want cashed. He proposed that oath to Helen's father (since without it anyone Helen chose would have resulted in a war from the others), as a means to be introduced to Penelope. Another example of Odysseus thinking really smart in the short term but not so much in the long term.

[@pamspray5254]

@@brendanmystery Very. It worked to secure peace in the short-term, but guaranteed conflict for everyone involved in the long-term should something happen. And- what do you know? Something happened. He took a wager at peace and it screwed him over. He tried to wiggle out of the conflict, but clever Odysseus did not anticipate just how cold-hearted his supposed war-mongering allies could be.

[@patraeve]

FELICITY DONT let matthew skip the songs he’s only heard parts of on the channel (wouldn’t you like, get in the water, dangerous)

[@feistsorcerer2251]

It's worth rewatching the songs you've already seen. Nobody in the fandom is going to mind, and you'll have full context for them so it will inevitably be a different reaction. Please at least listen to the actual full release of "Wouldn't you Like" when you go back through.

[@idkthidwmfl_lizok]

FINALLY. HE'S WATCHING IT IN THE RIGHT ORDER. I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD WITNESS THIS DAY... (though I do wish he was listening to the new versions-)

[@zephyrbreezus1354]

We have won

[@nyxalex8049]

Why did he skip Just a man-

[@jordantrundley791]

@@nyxalex8049 I said at the start of the video he's skip the videos he's all ready react to but the are on he channel if you want to watch he reaction to them

[@jordantrundley791]

@@nyxalex8049 he

[@nyxalex8049]

@@jordantrundley791 yeah i realized thanks tho

[@Janewolfwalker]

I love when songs use sounds of earlier songs especialy in Epic, cause the sentence "This life is amazing" Is used chillingly, amazing and depressing in later songs.

[@traumatizedcritic8679]

5:59 It is made clear that he didn’t want to go to war and leave his family. In fact in the legends, Odysseus tried faking madness but the people who came to pick him up were catching on to his act and threatened to kill their son who was still an infant. He only went because if he didn’t his family would be threatened.

[@paytonkraft7564]

I mean, we packed enough food for a ten-year war and didn't lose a single man out of six-hundred. Near as I can tell, pulling that off means it's more than understandable for them to run out. Also, your reaction is amazing, but this is ancient Greece. These are the guys who are like if you attack someone, you have to get rid of EVERYONE related to them. It's literally like "if they can lift a sword, get rid of 'em."

[@riduanaqil1452]

12:00 there was supposed to be another song called Song of Ismaris where they got driven out of an island before they can really get much supply and this is them in the middle of the ocean after weeks or months of travelling. You can check out some of the cut songs on youtube

[@Mary_Studios]

I didn't know there was a song about that but I fggured that Jorge cut the part where they go to Ismaris from the odysseys because it didn't fit.

[@KimFareseed]

Here I though there just wasn't a lot of supplies left from the defenders in Troy after the sige

[@kharolyneholler2518]

Oh yay we doing correctly

[@Yuuuuuuuki-0123]

Well he Didn't voluntarily left, he did not want to participate at the war at all even to the point on acting like he's lost his mind but then his son got threatened breaking the crazy person act and then joined the war

[@JustSomeGuyIG]

Alright, since you seem a but confused about that whole ordeal and you don't seem to have the full story, here's the abridged version: Helen of Argos was, according to myths, the most beautiful woman in the whole world, so when her dad announced that she'd be looking for a husband, literally every greek king, their sons, their daughters and their dogs lined up to marry Helen. This made her father nervous, because if he chose only one, he would be sure war breaks out. Odysseus, the wisest of the greeks, then comes along and talks to Helen's father, asking why he didn't choose yet. After that is said and done, Odysseus offers a solution. If only Helen's father helped Odysseus get another woman he had eyes on, Penelope, Odysseus would help him come up with a solution. Helen's father agreed, and arranged some things for Penelope and Odysseus to meet. In return, Odysseus made a contract that every Greek King had to sign, that essentially said "if anyone tries to interfere with the rightful marriage, all of you will have to defend the marriage". Smart idea, no one wants to fight against all of Greece. ... Then Aprodite kidnapped Helen, and the contract kicked in, all of them HAD to get Helen back, whether they wanted to or not, including Odysseus, who tried to avoid the fight because of Telemachus, but welp, Agamemnon literally threatened his family, so he caved and kept to the contract.

[@theshamonk668]

I just want to clear something up regarding the lore behind the trojan war. While Odysseus didn’t technically have to go, he would lose the support of most of his allies by not going. Also I’m pretty sure Odysseus talking about fighting for Penelope is because he mainly wants to win the war so he can go back to her, not because he joined the war because of her

[@cass4464]

Ancient Greece did not, in fact, have glasses. The characters have some features of their singers, and several animators decided to keep the glasses for Polites. Also it’s not like they didn’t plan on taking food on the journey. The war lasted 10 years. Safe to assume the countryside by the city of Troy had already been pillaged and had no crops to last them the entire journey home

[@elflooffer5196]

13:42 To be fair ancient Greeks' judgement of what it moral or not isn't the same as today's standard on multiple subjects (not just pillaging), pillaging being a pretty common practice in their specific situation (war)

[@ericsanford536]

Ancient greeks had not invented glasses, but the animators model the characters off the voice actors and Polites' has glasses.

[@SketchyDoodles]

did we skip Just a Man because he's heard it before?

[@Giveuponyourdreamsanddie2]

Yes unfortunately

[@the0neBoio]

I think it's weird that now that he listens in order he skips. Like isn't the whole point of people telling him to listen to it in order to have the context for every song? So skipping removes some context.

[@RayGainbows]

@@the0neBoio I really think hes just being mean at this point. Like theres no way he could be this oblivious.

[@the0neBoio]

@@RayGainbows yes, also I love your @ thingy name (forgot what that is called, "user tag"? not sure)

[@mug_man6033]

I was waiting for someone to mention it 😭

[@somedudewatchintv5297]

11:57 they said as you were speaking their supplies were depleted during the war.

[@dudaalmeida4040]

Jorge in livestream when this song plays always mentions "Pancake tutorial" when Polites' death comes up..... yeeah XD haha poor baby, was too pure for greek times

[@teddyghowe2616]

4:12 So there are 2 soldiers in the greek army named Ajax, Ajax the greater and Ajax the lesser. At “little ajax” he means Ajax the lesser. The one you wouldve heard of is Ajax the greater, he was big and buff and a great hero who was good friends w Achilles. Where as Ajax the lesser was smaller and weaker, and in the trojan war is a really bad guy and breaks basic laws of morality and war.

[@sarahssecret7003]

12:10 Just here to point out that they are in the middle of the sea at that point. If there was land anywhere near them (that a bird just came from) it'd also be very far away since they can't see it from the boat.

[@Linwhiteheart]

The wing on that eye is slaying more than odysseus in the Trojan war

[@embersayshi]

The reason the characters look the way they do is because of the voice actors.The animators took inspiration from the voice actors for there characters they voice

[@Z_purple_Z]

9:00 That's an eagle and eagles are associated with Zeus.

[@JuniperYoder]

F****** finally, you're listening in order!!!! Now the story will make some sense!!

[@alex-13-7-9]

"Saranaid me ✨Greek boy✨" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@deaththegirl3371]

12:48 The forever unanswered question of how Polites has glasses that every Epic fan shall contemplate at some point

[@breilamccauley8621]

"beautiful runs, my lord." he really is one of us

[@kunilsen2519]

27:40 It's like a fly swatter. Your reach becomes longer and faster

[@HybridEqualist]

I'd recommend OSP's video on the Trojan War for context on how the war started because she answers basically all your questions about it. Some fun facts: the people who live in Greece call their country "Hellas" because the trojar war to reclaim Hellen was supposedly the first time the nation was unified in a single goal. (It's only called Greece by everyone else because of the Romans) "Little Ajax" is also known as "Lesser Ajax" because there was a second guy also named Ajax (AKA "Great Ajax") Telemachus means "far from battle" and Odysseus only knew him for a few weeks/months before being conscripted to war, so he was 9-10 years old when the Trojan horse happened and then Odysseus took another decade to come home. The bird in the first song is an Eagle, which was a symbol of Zeus and was often a messenger from the god in question

[@brendanmystery]

Hence why the movement of Greece and its various colonies and the culture they share is also called Panhellenism.

[@Lilghost1412]

Finally in Order!!!

[@Froople808]

Actually Odysseus signed a treaty when he was younger to always protect Helen, so by the styx oath he HAD to go to war to retrieve her

[@wildcardjoey4776]

Everyone but Achilles was bound by oath to go to war if Helen was kidnapped and breaking an oath meant being smited by Zeus.

[@themoonlit-wolf3773]

Odysseus was one of the many soldiers who did not have a choice but to fight in this war. It was absolutely against his will.

[@aniflowers1998]

To be fair, depending on the version of the Toyan war one goes by, the idea of ones husband going litterally to war to save his kidnapped wive might be one of the most romantic things in greek mythologie. Or like, ever.

[@nierinwolfy8513]

THANK YOU FELICITY!!!! Finally we'll go order

[@asurabrekker]

29:39 They all went to Troy because of a honer packt. the only one who did not need to be there was Achilles and we know how this ended.

[@amandabird1315]

Thanks for starting at the beginning. I was perfectly fine with you just listening to it at all, but I know how us Epic fans can get. Sorry if we may have come on a bit too strong about starting at the beginning, we just love this musical so much and want you to have the best experience. Hope you enjoy the musical!!

[@Sarah-Has-Arrived]

I wish he had relistened to all the songs (at least off camera) to get the full impact, because this is still technically out of order, and so he’s not getting the full emotional impact. He’s forgetting how hard of a decision it was for Ody in “Just a Man” for example. But at least now he’s more caught up than he was before. 😅

[@StephenSwampDog]

Yeah it’s so hard to watch lol I think I prefer him being traumatized by out of context vids lmao 😂

[@Sarah-Has-Arrived]

@ Yeah… I think he may have unfortunately ruined his own experience of EPIC by listening to it the way he has been. I 10000% get having ADHD, but I think he needs to sit down with his friend who’s an EPIC fan off camera and just listen/watch through the entire musical IN ORDER. Jumping around like he has been has really not been doing him any favors. It has only made him pass judgment on characters because of things they haven’t done yet, disregarding their emotional story arc and what they went through before getting from point A to point B. I respect that he was trying to listen to his viewers by “going back and listening to EPIC in order,” but… he’s really NOT listening to it “in order” tbh. 😕

[@StephenSwampDog]

@@Sarah-Has-Arrived exactly

[@MegamindsMaleWife]

The islands arent incredibly far apart since theres so many in this part of the sea so the birds are a good method to definitely hit something instead of probably hitting nothing

[@TheSapphireEclipse]

FRIKEN' THANK YOU FELICITY. Also, matt, if someone threatens to punch you in the face, they probably *WANT* to do so.

[@PanzerIVAE]

The casus belli for the Trojan War isn't purely Helen being kidnapped/running away with Paris. Its the fact that Paris did it as a guest which broke xenia/guest right Doing that was an extreme taboo and pretty much an insult to the gods but specifically Zeus and Athena which is why the Greeks felt compelled to act.

[@arianna-qb9rd]

I take small issue with you saying Ody didn’t have to go fight in the war. He actually did. He and a bunch of other kings had made an oath that said they would protect Helen’s marriage so when she got stolen they all had to go to war to get her back. Ody tried to get out of it by faking insanity cuz he wanted to stay with his wife and infant son but Agamemnon I think was basically like “okay, if you are actually insane then you should have no problem killing your child.” But Ody obviously did and so was caught in his lie and forced to uphold his oath.

[@Yellow_The_Nerd]

I think he still should’ve done the ones he already watched. Because he definitely forgot some stuff

[@OnerandomnerdofApollo]

Basically suitors wanted to marry Helen. She eventually got married. All the suitors were sworn to protect her so they wouldn't destroy her city when they got turned down. Pretty sure Odysseus was about of that group of men so he was sworn to protect her if somone fd around with the marriage.

[@Cassie_76]

explanation for trojan war 5:18 the trojan war was started with a single choice by Pairs of the most beautiful goddess among Aphrodite, Athena and Hera at the wedding of i think Achilles' parents with a golden apple from Eris goddess of discord and Paris chose Aphrodite who promised Helen as his wife but she was already married and when suiters were going for her hand, after she was to be married to King Menelaus of Sparta Helens father had the other suitors swear a oath to protect and defend the marriage so that was a major part in the trojan war meaning the former suitors of Helen were oath bound to fight against Troy and Odysseus was also oath bound so he had to go

[@RiskoPlexus]

Thank you, Matthew, for giving me that image of 200 crockroaches crawling over me and stabbing me

[@therewillbenosecondchance6138]

6:05 YES HE DIIDDD HE MADE AN OATH AND EVEN TRIED TO FAKE BEING CRAY SO HE WOULDN'T GO IM CRYINGGGG😭😭😭

[@nudgificator]

4:10 - "Was Ajax not big tank boy?" Different Ajax. There were two; Ajax the Great was big tank boy but was already dead before the horse plan, Ajax the Lesser/Little Ajax was another leader.

[@sada-hoshi4331]

3 days before The Vengeance Saga. Finally Mathew is on time

[@moss.notpanic]

All the kings were forced to join because they had made an oath back when Helen chose among her suitors. Odysseus proposed to have the oath to protect Helen and abide by the choice no matter what so that they wouldn't kill each other out of jealousy and stuff after the choice.

[@awildmoonstar8225]

HE STILL DIDN'T LISTEN TO "KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE' AHHHHHHH AND THE UNCUT SONGS 😭

[@samanthaarana2960]

That one is in the next saga, isn't it?

[@bookswithike3256]

Keep Your Friends Close is five songs from now.

[@thesaltybeard1793]

25:53 technically if they had killed the cyclops the journey would basically be over.

[@elle8058]

its 2.50 am and i have 35 pages more to study for a test at 740 am but this is epic procrastination material

[@radicaledward84]

Mircsi's cyclop looks are inspired by cyclops being sons of Poseidon, god of horses (their legs) and of the sea (crab-resembling heads)

[@blank813]

Also they were at war for 10 years with all of greece fighting the Trojans. The reason they did the horse was because they were almost out of food and supplies. Plus sailing back was still around a 6 month journey so they would have needed food recardless as any food or water would have been dangerous to drink. Any wine would have become vingar as well

[@brendanmystery]

the classic Agamemnon fucks it up for everyone. If he wasn't so an egotist then he would have let that seer of Apollo's daughter go then that seer wouldn't have made an offering to Apollo to rain arrows of disease onto the Greek ships. Then to compound that if he hadn't dishonored Achilles and openly taken his "prize", Achilles would not have called out to his mother and asked that she make Zeus do something about it. Then the Trojans wouldn't have lasted as long as they did as it was Zeus' interference and the absence of Achilles that dragged the war out so long. Though this was already in the tenth year so who knows, plus the different gods favored each side.

[@flanny701]

the reason 600 lives were at stakes was because after polyphemus killed the men in his cave, he'd just get his brothers to help him deal with the rest on the ships

[@TwixterQueen3]

YES IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS JOURNEY

[@Tobi-vj9fn]

odysseus was literally forced to go to troy lol

[@TiMoThY211991]

Man, bro is callous about Polites and Ody's men!

[@leslifrancoly5127]

6:10 Nope. Odysseus absolutely did NOT want to go to war. There was an oath where the kings of Greece had to defend Helen and Menelaus's marriage, and it was HIS idea. Man did everything he could to fool the kings until his newborn son got threatened.

[@licilicky]

Odysseus and every other king in the Trojan War was actually forced to fight in the war because of something called the Oath of Tyndareus, which is a treaty that Odysseus himself actually created way back when nearly all the Spartan kings were rioting to get Helen's hand in marriage. To help Helen's father quell the riots and make sure nobody murdered anyone once Helen's spouse was chosen, Odysseus made everyone swear an Oath that they would protect and help Helen and her husband, no matter who's chosen. I believe this act of diplomacy is also supposedly what got him Penelope's attention (Penelepe is Helen's cousin). Odysseus wanted not to go to war so much (because his son had just been born) that he pretended to be insane by sowing his fields with salt instead of seeds. But Palamedes, brother of Menelaus, put baby Telemachus in front of Odysseus's plow to prove that he wasn't insane because apparently an insane man wouldn't stop a plow to save their son. So screw Palamedes, my boy Odysseus did no wrong.

[@hedvigbergmanwallin2233]

Odysseus did in fact need to go as he swore an oath to protect her no matter what suitor was chosen so they wouldn’t kill eachother immediately

[@anyathepanther7977]

"Is that Arhena???" 🤦‍♀️ that is a Man singing.... "It does'nt sound like ge care about his Son." He was just singing about him! Telemachus??? "Was he just smashing on that one person?" *smashes head against wall* Did you seriously NOT SEE the blood splatter on Odys Face left and right?!

[@adamgettings2557]

At the political summit everyone was clamoring over Helena. Odysseus convinced everyone to not pressure her father because he was a leader of a smaller nation. Odysseus made all of the kings swear they won't attack the father. It also said if one of the other nations attacked the king that the father chose, the others had to go to war with them. Odysseus never wanted Helena so he was impartial. He was interested in her cousin(?) Penelope. Problem is Paris was stupid enough to incur the wrath of Sparta and the other nations. Odysseus is forced to join and manages to survive the ten year war.

[@gamerzilla6113]

He definitely should check out Overly Sarcastic Productions and their Out of Context

[@demikus]

Since you have already watched Ruthlessness you know that the Cyclops is one of Poseidon's children, The artist behind the animatic you watched for Survive used that as inspiration and added some creepy aquatic creature energy into the design for this Cyclops.

[@lillilake7259]

Odyssey was the one that set in a mutually assured distruction plan with Helen's father that all of her suitors signed, that said that if anyone tried to mess with her marriage they all were contractually obligated to go fight to get her back.