I said that Odysseus' crew deserves more recognition, and I'm staying true to my word. There aren't many named Cephallenian participants in the poem, but there are a few, so I wanted to come up with designs for them.
I've done as much research as I could, but I can't guarantee historical accuracy for their designs. I allowed myself some creative freedom to make each of them unique in their own way and just to make it comfortable for these guys to move around and exist.
About each one individually (+headcanons):
"Look, if I'd known 'Nobody' was going to become a recurring bit, I would've picked a funnier name." - Odysseus.
I've had several designs for Odysseus before, and I can't say I was particularly happy with them. A lot of them were inspired by third-party drawings that I saw before reading the poem. While I was reading the Odyssey, I was very focused on how I imagined Odysseus' look, and this image came to my mind. Unlike my other designs, he is more equipped with armor and wears a chiton with sleeves covering his shoulders, decorated with wave patterns. The red primary color implies danger, while blue reflects his love for the sea. He is the only one who wears a golden mitra on his forehead and bandaged himantes (because he uses his arms a lot). His attire is slightly worn out after the Odyssey, but he'll patch it up eventually.
"It wasn't me who killed the cow, it was she who fell on my sword!" - Eurylochus.
Eurylochus was Odysseus' second-in-command. His design was probably the most difficult for me of all. I wanted to make him as much the opposite of Odysseus as possible and at the same time emphasize his cowardly nature. Unlike Odysseus, who wears worn out clothes befitting a king after years of hardship, Eurylochus looks well-groomed since he prefers not to engage in trouble or fights. The abundance of red in his design symbolizes the danger he represents to Odysseus, while the sturdy muscle cuirass symbolizes his physical strength. The scars on Eurylochus' face and neck were unlikely to have been received during the war.
"If I were given a drachma for every time Odysseus has a stupidly brilliant idea, I would have two drachmas - which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice." - Polites.
In my design, Polites can't see well, so he uses a ball lens given to him by Odysseus to look at things up close. He always wears it around his neck and never loses it. The leather belts on his shoulders are a remnant from when he used to be an archer, but after his eyesight worsened, Odysseus made him a therapōn. Polites wears a green chiton - a nod to how often he used to hide in trees and bushes back when he was hunting on the Cephallenian islands.
"What do you mean I'm not allowed to go to the Trojan War? All my friends are going to the Trojan War!" - Elpenor.
Elpenor was the youngest crew member on Odysseus' twelfth ship, who Odysseus described as "not overly brave in battle and not very bright among the others." Nevertheless, I imagine that Elpenor remained a ray of light among the soldiers of the Cephallenian Islands, much like his bright bronze hair. The armor, made of layered linen, was inherited from his grandfather and served him faithfully during the Trojan war. Elpenor also wears an eye patch - he doesn't actually need it, but he thinks it makes him look cool!
"Don't worry, βασιλεύς. My wife and I have done this a thousand times!" - probably Perimedes, when he was tying Odysseus to the mast.
Although Perimedes is mentioned by name only once, I imagine him, according to his name, to be the calmest and most caring of Odysseus' crew. He is the always-relaxed friend who will always help and never judge. That's why I picture him calm, with hair down and a bandana on his forehead. His hands are worn down from ropes because he is the best at tying knots (which is why Odysseus asked Perimedes to tie him to the mast so he could hear the Sirens without throwing himself overboard). Perimedes collects souvenirs in the form of animal teeth, beautiful stones and pearls to give to his wife. He wears a very simple dark brown chiton, while his wrists are bandaged with an abundance of wrappings so that his grip is tighter and he does not accidentally injure his hands even more.
Please keep in mind that those designs have nothing to do with EPIC: The Musical. I'm a fan of Homer's poem, not EPIC.
