Ametheus of Troy (An infodump on my EPICsona’s backstory, musical leitmotifs, and purpose in the story)

/Mostly taken from a bulletin, but ummmm I needed this to last forever/

Ametheus of Troy, aka my EPICsona!! Around 12 at the start of the musical, and 22-23 by the Ithaca Saga.

They/them, AFAB :]

SO.

This little idiot is around Telemachus’ age through the story of EPIC

How does that work? Wouldn’t they have been an infant when they first went to Troy?

YES! They were a baby. However, they are not originally from Ithaca or anywhere else in Greece. They are Trojan.

When the war ended and Odysseus was about to make his journey home, Ametheus managed to sneak onto the ship, thus becoming somewhat of a stowaway. By the time they were discovered, it was too late to turn back, so they essentially were adopted by the group, especially Odysseus and Polites

Odysseus grew to care for them because they are very Telemachus coded, and Polites. Well Polites is just nice to everyone

Ametheus eventually started helping out around the ship with the very menial and tedious tasks, not much involved with the fighting and scouting. (However, in the Circe Saga, they do join Eurylochus, and Circe didn’t mess with them because theyre AFAB)

And THAT is why they are overlooked by Zeus in the Thunder Saga. They refused to take part in the mutiny because Odysseus had become sort of a father figure to them, so they stayed behind and likely didn’t even leave the ship.

Eventually, they are washed up on Ogygia with Odysseus (which is how we get the Open Arms Reprise), and Calypso thinks they’re. Very annoying. Because they’re very protective of their adoptive dad and don’t want her creepy ass near him ❤️ They keep Odysseus busy by dragging him around the island, exploring all the little nooks and crannies and trying to find the beauty in a dire situation. (Hence, the Open Arms reprise!)

This does lead to some issues during the Vengeance Saga, as they have to join Odysseus during the last legs of his journey. They do participate in the fighting here, as they are in their 20s by this point, but the encounter with Poseidon does shake them up quite a bit.

They aren’t very present in the Ithaca Saga for... obvious reasons? But they do end up fighting a few suitors along the way.

Ametheus’ journessy ends in them finding a new home in Ithaca, and a new family as well! He gets along with Telemachus and Penelope, and despite insisting that they don’t have to deal with them any longer, he is taken in by the family because. Well they stuck out everything with Odysseus while being a kid for half of it come on

And that’s Ametheus’ story! They’re basically the antithesis to Odysseus, a message about staying positive and looking for the silver lining, even if you need a microscope to see it. A message about being kind and forgiving against all odds, even when those close to you have lost the way.

Their motif is a kalimba, and their music would consist of very soft, joyful tones. Their music would contain some melodic references to Polites, as he was a big influence to them during the 2nd half of the Troy Saga and before the Cyclops Saga. Their music would also consist of soft guitar tones, a reference to Odysseus’ merciful self during Act I. 

The reasoning for Ametheus’ story being such a positive one is partially because my main story is. Extremely tragic. But also because, again, I think it’s neat that they’re the antithesis to Odysseus’ character arc, though not in the way that Athena was. Athena started off as ruthless, but learned to have open arms through Telemachus, and realized her mistake too late once Odysseus returned. 

Rather than Athena and Odysseus’ inverse character development, Ametheus stays positive through the whole musical, essentially a physical version of Polites’ motifs throughout Act II specifically— one that doesn’t affect Odysseus as negatively, since usually we see the antagonists unintentionally reference Polites, causing Odysseus to spiral further. 

Rather than an antagonistic usage of the phrase, Ametheus’ reprise of Polites’ song is to encourage Odysseus, asking him to keep going because there’s still hope. Ametheus treats Penelope and Telemachus as the light at the end of the tunnel, the reason to keep running even if it seems impossibly far.

Umm... thanks for coming to my TEDtalk :] I think this little guy is neat, even if I did Mary-Sue them into the timeline a bit