Let's make the Odyssey, the RIGHT way

Indexed: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]There have been a lot of opinions lately floating around about the upcoming Christopher Nolan's Odyssey movie. And fair enough, there are people defending it. There are people criticizing it. I'm here to do something a little bit different because there is another adaption of Homer's Odyssey. Not that Homer, which though a little niche, has also taken people's hearts by storm, and that is Epic the Musical, a nine-part concept album series created by Jorge Rivera Harans. Most people who know Epic the Musical know it so intensely and in such detail that it almost feels too intimidating to look into or get into.

[00:00:34]But in the last few weeks, I have been sliding down the slippery slope of falling in love with and becoming a little bit obsessed with Epic the Musical. Now, if you don't even know what I'm talking about, that's okay.

[00:00:43]Homer's Odyssey is about to become a lot more familiar to a lot of people, whether it be through Christopher Nolan's Odyssey movie or Epic the Musical because Jerry Brookheimr of Pirates of the Caribbean and Top Gun fame is working with the creator of Epic the Musical to see if they can make it into an animated film of some sort. Huge news for people in the fandom. In this video, I am going to volunteer as the uh character designer for the upcoming animated movie Epic the Musical. So whether you're familiar with Epic the Musical or not, you could also see this as me fixing whatever Christopher Nolan's doing with Odyssey.

[00:01:19]And maybe more importantly, if Hi and Jerry think I uh might be up for the job. Now, you might think that the first character I should design is Odysius, of course, cuz it's the Odyssey. It's it's him. But I am instead going to start with the design of his >> 600 men, >> mainly as a design exercise because this was also the first major point of controversy in the discussion about Nolan's adaption of the Odyssey. The critique being that his armor looks far too Hollywood and really just completely spits on the idea of historicity in armor representation. However, the counterpoint is that the Odyssey is fiction and Nolan can adapt fiction in his own way however he wants. I want to find elements about reasonably period accurate armor sets that I think would be cool in design, but not let the rule of cool take me so far away from what might have been historically feasible that it just looks like Batman. I'm looking at you, Agamemnon. Now, the Odyssey is a tale set in the Bronze Age, but is told after the Bronze Age, composed in the early Iron Age, which is also historically around the time Hippolites were starting to appear. And consequently, Homer described his heroes with weapons and tactics more familiar to those Hippolytes than the 1200 B.CE era. So, this gives me wiggle room where I can get a little bit of that Hollywood vibe, but I also want to stick a bit closer to the Bronze Age in the spirit of telling a Bronze Age story. And one of the first things I find most helpful to do is to draw them side by side, starting with more of an accurate representation of a Bronze Age helmet, but without embellishment. This isn't a captain's helmet. This is just a general soldiers helmet. I prefer the look of the Bronze Age captain's helmets, but without those horns and weird tufts. And aesthetically much cooler than the weird padded beanie things that they apparently wore. And next to that, I draw the helmet that many people associate with ancient Greece. This hippolyte helmet, or more specifically, the Corinthian helmet, fancier versions of which bear those mohawky tufts either down the middle or sideways. Now, I'm going tuftless here cuz I'm not drawing a captain. I'm drawing 600 men. And frankly, in the Odyssey trailer, all those tufts look really stupid and impractical waggling around on the battlefield. And frankly, I quite like the shape of that more bronze age helmet, just without it being so pointy.

[00:03:36]So, I actually stick a little bit more to that with the exception that I'm lengthening out around the chin area just a little bit to sort of hug around the shape of a large beard to give that very MANLY 600 MEN LOOK. The other thing I'm keeping in mind, too, is that I'm designing this with Epic the Musical in mind. So, this is a chorus of male singers, and I want to see their mouths move in unison with that little gap window, and I want to see the lights of their eyes shining through in the dark shadows of their face. As for the details of their armor, I took the gist of Bronze Age armor that seemed fairly common when it wasn't that weird big clunky tube suit where there seemed to be the sort of leather divided skirt, greavves, sometimes arm guards, and otherwise a breastplate that seemed to have sort of two shoulder pads that were fairly flat looking and a middle chest guard area that was fairly flat and upright wrapped around with a belt of some kind. Sometimes this gives us little hints of things that we recognize in Hollywood, like the leather skirt in many gladiatorial films, but still, I think, a somewhat unique armor design in of itself that's much more tied to Greek history.

[00:04:40]Now, I was pretty damn happy with this outcome. So much so that I decided to make a digital representation of it because hey, at the end of the day, if I'm designing this to be portrayed in an animation, I want to make all of the final designs feel like they come from that underrated era of sort of dark animation. The period of time where we've got movies like Atlantis and El Dorado, the Hunchback of Notredam, Prince of Egypt, Treasure Planet, animations that didn't feel like they were made for little kids and also didn't feel like they were designed for kids. So, after my colors and shadows and simple highlights have been added, I have one of my 600 soldiers here adorned in bronze armor with enough of a hint of red to uh hint at the gore that may follow in this story, but not so much that they seem like the bad guys.

[00:05:26]Now, I can figure out what Adysius looks like and specifically how does he change in the course of the story? Because the Odyssey is this real far-reaching chronicle that takes place, I think, over 12 years.

[00:05:37]>> It's been 10 years.

[00:05:39]>> It's a really epic story. I mean, it's called the epic. You sort of begin towards the end and then he goes back and retells it from the beginning, but I'm going to design it with the chronology in mind. So, starting off with the young commander and ending up with the grizzled Odysius, who returns home to Ithaca. Now, once again, of course, I start off by building my mood board. And there are loads of different portrayals of Odicius both in film and television and in historical art, quite a few sculptures, but as far as cinema goes, we have Shaun Bean who depicted Odicius in the movie Troy from 2004. And then of course Matt Damon >> in Christopher Nolan's upcoming depiction and more recently in fanfiction of Epic the musical which is so fun to see how it's really captured the minds and hearts of animators and artists because there are just some really cool interpretations and depictions of the characters in Epic and even the scenes in animated forms once you start going down this rabbit hole.

[00:06:32]There is so much to enjoy and I highly encourage it. Suffice to say, here are just a few of the wild plethora of depictions of Adysius.

[00:06:41]And you'll notice in my mood board, they really vary in representations from the old and grizzly bearded war scard hero and some which are far leaner and more immature looking almost too young to be the captain of an army. But when in doubt, refer to well the actual text of the Odyssey. He's described as a man with a thick set stocky build. He's a short king, specifically admired for his thighs, but otherwise is known for having fair skin, golden or red, brown curly hair, which when it comes to color, I'll probably interpret as something like a straw blonde. But I start off my designs with the cleaner, younger looking Adysius. And I want to sort of pick a trait that I can anchor to through the variations of his character cuz he's going to be aging and being weathered through the story. And I've decided that a pointed chin, specifically a beard, though a shorter beard when he's younger, that in all of its instances is tapered to a point, making him look lean, but also a little bit cunning. I mean, the reason Adysius ends up being sort of favored by Athena and is the hero archetype in the story is because he's so clever in the way he sort of continues to get past so many difficulties on his determined quest to eventually get home. And that doesn't mean he always does the right thing. So, I don't necessarily want him to look like a good boy either. Now, when it comes to his armor, I also didn't want it to just be the same as his 600 men.

[00:07:59]And this is where I'm allowing myself to be a little more fantastical. This is still historical. It was hippolytes that had that sort of breastplate armor that was modeled after torso anatomy. While aesthetic is later than the Bronze Age, I'm choosing to use it as a kind of precursor both as a nod to where the culture goes, but also to the idea that when Homer's Odyssey was written, this was the sort of armor that was becoming more known. So, not all of the 600 men have it, but their captain does. As well as an epic cape, because while typically capes are frowned upon, >> knock it, >> they're also cool. And it is important to follow the rule of cool until you get to Batman. That's when you wind it back a little bit. So, I'm pretty happy with my younger version of Adysius, sort of hinting at what would eventually be a more receding hairline, but otherwise strong build, typical heroic sort of stature. And I just sort of further intensify that as I play with the aged version of him, having his hairline pulled back and more receding, but also much longer both in his hair and his beard and much more unckempt. This is a man who by the time he returns to Ithaca has just been thrashed about on the seas by the god of the seas himself. So, his hair is darker because it's wet. His face would be sun-kissed and weathered.

[00:09:09]He would have borne grief that would have deepened every line on his face over all that time, becoming something of a tragic hero. But if you had to pick a single trait to describe Odysius, it would have to be persistence. It would have to be the fact that he is relentless in his quest to return home.

[00:09:26]So, I wanted to also make sure I was designing a character that felt like that determination is like written on his face.

[00:09:35]Now, for my digital recreation of the Adysius design, I start off with the younger version of Adysius as if leading the charge to try and depict what he might have looked like leading a charge in the Battle of Troy. I really enjoy this part of the process of sketching out the blocking of the character pose and figuring out where the anatomy sort of connects specifically in these up arm raised poses. So, it's kind of fun to map out the anatomy of the shoulder and how it connects to the chest and sort of really pulls that part of the chest up of the side that's reaching up. And as you can see, the other side, of course, is just much lower and flatter for the arm held out low. But even though that's fun for me, none of it's going to be visible because as I move on to drawing the armor, well, the armor doesn't move or flex as the body moves. It literally just holds and shows the single sculpted pose. So, all that fun was really for me to figure out what it looks like underneath and make sure the armor is sitting on top of the anatomy reasonably, but otherwise, the anatomy of the armor is flat and unyielding. But whether you're drawing anatomy and it's flexing or stretching in wild poses or in static representations like this armor, it's good to know how it all goes together and how to depict it. Which is why we've made Epic Anatomy. Side note, I literally did not even think Epic Anatomy, Epic the Musical, everything Epic is good. So, if you like Epic the Musical, you probably like Epic Anatomy, which turns learning anatomy into just a lot of fun. Because at the end of the day, having fun is how you learn stuff.

[00:10:56]There are eight sections of epic anatomy that are entirely graphic novel following the story of mad scientist who must learn how the human body functions.

[00:11:03]By the end of the journey, he can create any epic monstrosity he wants to and so can you. So please go check out the Kickstarter. It's only running for a couple more weeks and it is a huge huge boost to this studio which really honestly could not make it through without your direct support either from the Kickstarter or Patreon because things are tough at the moment and your support is really just giving us that chance to recalibrate and build a foundation we can be stable from. Links are in the description and a huge thank you to everyone who has backed us on Kickstarter or supports us on Patreon.

[00:11:49]And with my colors slapped in and some rough lighting and shading put together, I have a depiction of young Odysius I'm pretty happy with. I'm most excited to depict grizzled, determined, unstoppable old Odysius. There's a darkness that comes out in his character as well, but also feels justified through all of the trauma and horrible things he's had to endure, literally coming up against and defying the gods themselves. And yet, he still continues in his steadfast journey home. There is just something so badass about this. So, I wanted to depict older badass Odysius. Someone whose armor has long fallen off and whose hair and beard have grown out and which is blowing in the winds of the storm he is facing unperturbed by the god that seeks to oppose him. Poseidon specifically has some serious grudge against Adysius, but Adysius does not let that stop him.

[00:12:42]I'm also starting to think about how all this stuff might go together because his hair is blowing in the same direction as his cape in his younger self simply because I can't picture either one of them being the correct Odysius. And as I started to think about portraying the images together, I started to build this picture of like a poster of all the characters in the Odyssey, which I'm getting really excited about. So, let's work towards that as a goal. We're going to need more than this video, but we'll get to that later. For now, let me present to you my designs for Odysius.

[00:13:12]Young on the field of battle and old as he faces the storm.

[00:13:24]And while Odysius is of course the main character, there would be no story if he wasn't trying to get home to his two people, his wife. Penelope and Tenelope, his wife, and Tmicus, his son.

[00:13:42]Sorry, I'm really getting into the musical. So, starting off with our mood board, of course, Penelopey has been depicted many times in history, sculpture, and painting, and in cinema.

[00:13:51]Most recently, of course, represented by Anne Hathaway. Again, I think she's a great pick for the character, but it's Anne Hathaway, and I can't not see Anne Hathaway.

[00:14:02]With that said, a lot of these depictions really capture the essence of Penelopey, I think, extremely well, who in Homer's original Odyssey was described as having fair skin and being slender, though rarely described in rigid detail, often portrayed wearing a veil when speaking in public or in front of her suitors to denote her modesty and status as a faithful wife. So basically Penelope is back home waiting for her husband who's taken a very long time to come home and her house is invaded by a whole bunch of rambunctious boys who want to hook up with her and she's like no I'm a I'm a good lady but they're naughty boys and they get naughtier but Penelope is good she stays good in fact all of her depictions are of this sort of noble patient and wise woman who is able to stay off the advances of these suitors in her house holding them off for long enough until eventually her husband actually returns home, which is like 12 years later, >> 20 years.

[00:14:57]>> She's clever, but obviously very attractive to have so many suitors and for her husband to be really set on getting home to her. Homer frequently compares her beauty to goddesses like Artemis and Aphrodite. So, in my early sketches of trying to figure out what my Penelopey would look like, I'm sort of going for that regal, very together look, which I think is complemented by hair that is sort of pulled together and usually up and high, which feels noble.

[00:15:20]some sort of headdress or thing going across the top of her crown. Also feels like royal in vibe, which also is in a lot of the depictions of her in my mood board. I'm also incorporating a sort of Renaissance/ Victorian standard of beauty where a big forehead was deemed as beautiful on a woman. And also in having the front parts of the hair sort of split and spled out like that, I feel like it accentuates that sort of crown vibe while also appearing neat and curly in a sort of cool and Greek way. in the end opting for a mix between both hair held up and flowing elegantly down in a way that I think also could really nicely frame her neck and her face.

[00:15:56]Penelopey in her role is pretty much entirely revolving around taking care of others, taking care of the house until Odysius gets home, taking care of her son to try and teach him what he needs to know to be the man of the house and also having basically raised him on her own. There's a lot of pressure on this woman, but she's someone who just really holds herself in regal bearing throughout.

[00:16:16]Now, moving on to my digital portrayal of Penelopey. Again, I'm starting to think about how this might go together in a poster. So, I sketch out that sort of yearning, hands clasped together, perhaps pleading with the gods for the safe return of her husband, but also incorporating the direction of wind flowing in the same direction that it did with Adysius, cuz I want this all to feel cohesive as it comes together into a final piece. I keep her clothes really simple. She's got jewelry that feels royal, but isn't over the top. And of course, when it comes to colors, she's got very pale skin. I've gone with dark hair for contrast and white garments for her purity and chastity with a hint of purple for royalty. And then, of course, in this depiction, I've included the veil, not only to add a bit of mystery to her, but also continue to indicate that direction of the wind, which also tie her and Adysius together, not only visually in the picture, but thematically, like they're praying for the winds to bring them back together.

[00:17:10]Cuz at the end of the day, most of the Odyssey takes place in the sea.

[00:17:16]And this is my portrayal of Penelopey that I can picture standing on the shores yearning for the return of her husband.

[00:17:26]Now, Tmicus, the son of Odysius, who in well, most of his portrayals is a soft boy. In the Odyssey, he's a he's a soft boy. mainly because his whole character arc is having been raised in a fatherless vacuum and by his mother begins as the classic portrayal of the weak man which obviously we've evolved beyond certain of these ideas but back in these days it was pretty important to be a certain kind of man and Tmicus started off not as that and has to become that so that by the end of it he and his father can slaughter people together in a delightful return activity just some father-son time but it is his softness that at the end of the day makes him extremely endearing as a character. Like yes, he cries a lot and he's definitely a mama's boy, but at the end of the day, you definitely trust his intentions are pure and his heart is really a heart of gold. However, he is not up for the fight of sticking up for his mom against all these suitors he's surrounded by. Now, my early sketches definitely have that sort of happygolucky vibe. I think they start off a little too young cuz the end of the day, Tmacus is 20. So, I do need to go for a bit more of an older vibe. I think slightly longer hair and longer face has helped with that. And while he doesn't have facial hair, I want to carry over a little bit of that aesthetic direction of Adysius.

[00:18:44]Specifically, a really pointed chin and tapering that so he feels a little bit like his father's son, as well as having his thick eyebrows, but otherwise in his hair and his eyes, they will be his mother's.

[00:18:55]In my digital rendition, I wanted to have him in something of a fighting pose, but not a confident one. His arms are not meed out, but he definitely has them raised in defense or preparation for whatever fight has to come to him that he really wants to be ready for. He may not be ready for it yet, but he certainly has inherited some of his father's determination. In fact, he has a whole chunk of the Odyssey story as his own quest to find Odysius. And in the end, of course, he does fight alongside his father as a capable combatant. But this portrayal is somewhere on the earlier end of that spectrum. and imagining that after this fight he would end up a bit bloodied and bruised, wearing clothes that I imagine are more suited to a council chamber than a battlefield. Adorned with more jewelry than would be practical for a fight. And when it comes to color, I'm using more of the purple to portray him to sort of really lean into that royal pampered element. Whether that was historically accurate specifically at this time or not, I don't know. In fact, you know what? I can't I can't stand the idea of not having done something intentionally. Was purple a color royalty used in ancient Greece? Yes, Tyrion purple did exist as a royalty color in 700 B.CE. So there people I'm scared of telling me I'm historically inaccurate. It's fiction and factually compatible. And of course in my depiction there is that little bit of a hint of the wind blowing. So Tmicus can fit in my combination of all these elements in one poster design.

[00:20:27]Now, let's talk about this poster design I'm alluding to. You see, the Odyssey is a huge story, and we have just scratched the surface. Really, three characters.

[00:20:39]Adysius, Penelope, and Tammicus.

[00:20:42]Although, technically, that's 603 characters cuz I designed 600 men. As you can see, this video is coming to an end. But I want to build on from this.

[00:20:51]So, I want this design here to be the foundation of something I can add to because in the Odyssey, we have plenty of Greek gods and monsters. Both of those can be entirely separate videos and I am going to do them next. So, subscribe to see those. I am going to be doing the Greek gods as described in ancient history, but also as suited to the Odyssey and of course, Epic the Musical. and monsters. We have well the cyclops is the most notable one, but there's man-eating giants and there's sirens and Silla and Cersei. There's so much to this and I've tried to lay this out in a way that creates enough room for us to uh basically make a movie poster as a pitch for what Epic the Musical could be if I helped adapt it, but also just Homer's Odyssey as a cool animated film adaption. Like, how freaking EPIC EPIC WOULD THAT BE? It would be epic. Speaking of epic, check out Epic Academy while the Kickstarter is still running. As you can see, it's been very relevant for putting this together, and it will continue to be relevant through the next two episodes, which you'll see if you subscribe. Thank you for watching. Please like, leave a comment, and all that good stuff so uh more people can enjoy this video and the YouTube gods will favorite it.

[00:22:03]Otherwise, that is it for now. And until next time, I'll see you later.