“Just a Man” by Jorge Rivera-Herrans is the second song in the Troy saga, directly after the first song, “The Horse and The Infant.” The song is about Odysseus from “The Odyssey,” and the most difficult decision he has to make thus far in his journey.
Rivera-Herrans wrote this song from the perspective of Odysseus, after he was given an ultimatum. After sacking Troy, Zeus confronts Odysseus and tells him he either must slaughter an infant, or let the infant grow up to slaughter him and his family when he can no longer defend them. In “Just a Man,” he confronts this choice, trying to figure out whose blood he wants on his hands, the child or his family.
The first verse starts with Odysseus talking himself through his options. Either he has to kill Astyanax, the son of Prince Hector, or doom his future. This shows how human he truly is, as he is not sure it is worth it if his “actions haunt my days, every man I’ve slain? Is the price I pay endless pain?”
As a musical, a large portion of the story is told through song, and this mention is actually very important to Odysseus’s character. This specific lyric actually is the turning point in Odysseus’s character development.
The second verse continues with Odysseus, pretty much asking himself, “What is the line I’m willing to cross?” The specific verse is, “But when does the comet become a meteor? When does a candle become a blaze? When does a man become a monster?” This verse becomes the chorus of the song, and the chorus for several other songs where Odysseus has to make a difficult choice. Like in “Thunder Bringer” where he is forced to sacrifice his men to Zeus for his own safety, even though it brings him pain.
The song “Just a Man” is the moment the story truly begins. While “The Horse and The Infant” is the first song in “Epic : The Musical,” “Just a Man” is truly the point at which the viewer is introduced to Homer’s and Rivera-Herrans’s world.
“Epic: The Musical” is a multi-year project that retells Homer’s “Odyssey” in musical format. It spans nine albums and over 40 songs, from when Odysseus sacks Troy to when he gets home to see Penolope.
Jorge Rivera-Herrans was born in Dorado, Puerto Rico, on February 6, 1998. He spent most of life studying for a life in medicine, but switched his studies at the University of Notre Dame to musical theater.
The Troy saga and other albums by Jorge Rivera-Herrans are on all platforms, including YouTube and Pandora.