Editing 2837: Odyssey
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by a LOTUS BUTTON - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | + | The comic is about how technology and marketing slowly addicts us and develops irrational behaviors that we don’t notice, such as ordering a sequel before reading the first, or clicking a refresh button to check delivery rather than accepting the delivery, or editing a wiki page before reading and comprehending the whole thing, and that this human problem has been discussed in our oldest texts. The specific behaviors depicted can be common. | |
− | Cueball | + | In this comic Cueball receives a present from Ponytail: a translation of the ''Iliad'', by {{w|Emily Wilson (classicist)|Emily Wilson}}. The ''{{w|Iliad}}'' is an {{w|Ancient Greek}} epic poem authored by Homer about the Trojan War. Wilson published her translation of the ''Iliad'' in September 2023, several weeks before the release of this comic. |
− | + | Cueball then orders the ''{{w|Odyssey}}'', Wilson's earlier translation of another well known epic poem of ancient Greece. In the story, a Trojan War hero named Odysseus journeys home. Wilson published this translation in 2017, to great acclaim. | |
− | + | One of the events in the ''Odyssey'' is that his return voyage was blown off course before they could reach their home, and instead arrived at the island of the Lotus-Eaters, an ancient analogy for getting involved in drugs or cults or trafficking and escaping and recovering. It would be another 10 years before Odysseus would make it home. In the comic, the same fate befalls the book delivery; 2033 is 10 years after Cueball ordered the book. | |
− | + | * Package delays are not uncommon, but anticipated 10-year delays due to weather conditions and blissed out islanders are a bit more rare. The implication is that the package carrier was at sea after departing the warehouse and found themself swept onto the island and ate of the lotus flower, causing them to not want to leave for years. | |
− | + | The '''title text''' refers to a moment in the ''Odyssey'' when Odysseus escapes from the Cyclops while identifying himself as "Nobody". After Odysseus has drugged him with drink and blinded him, the Cyclops cries out that "Nobody" had attacked him. Since "Nobody" was attacking the cyclops, his neighbors have no reason to help and return to their homes, allowing Odysseus and his remaining crew to escape. Similarly, if "Nobody" is home, then obviously no packages should be delivered. | |
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+ | * This scenario presupposes that in 2033 the package carrier (or automated delivery robot) approached the front door, asked if anyone was home, heard that "nobody" is home from someone other than Cueball, and decided not to deliver the package, much to Cueball's chagrin. | ||
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+ | Odysseus’s journey to the Lotus-Eaters, and the delayed delivery of the package, or both an analogy for Cueball’s choice to use his computer rather than actually reading the book he is excited about reading. The reference to the “Nobody” story may relate to how both the people experiencing them, and the people who profit off the behavior, deny responsibility and identification of themselves. This is common with addictions. One could possibly see the comic as a request for us to discuss real issues of our time rather than engaging in our addictive behaviors, and a humorous mourning of how that can be so hard. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
+ | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | :[Ponytail, Cueball and Hairy are standing in a room, each wearing a party hat. Ponytail is to the left of Cueball and Hairy. Cueball is | + | :[Ponytail, Cueball and Hairy are standing in a room, each wearing a party hat. Ponytail is to the left of Cueball and Hairy. Cueball is holding something, presumably a present.] |
:Ponytail: Happy birthday! | :Ponytail: Happy birthday! | ||
:Cueball: Oh cool, Emily Wilson's ''Iliad'' translation! | :Cueball: Oh cool, Emily Wilson's ''Iliad'' translation! | ||
:[Cueball is now alone, sitting at a laptop. He has taken his party hat off and put it onto a book on his desk.] | :[Cueball is now alone, sitting at a laptop. He has taken his party hat off and put it onto a book on his desk.] | ||
− | :Cueball: I never read her ''Odyssey''. I should | + | :Cueball: I never read her ''Odyssey''. I should read that, too. |
:[Arising from computer screen:] | :[Arising from computer screen:] | ||
::''The Odyssey'' (2017) | ::''The Odyssey'' (2017) | ||
::Emily Wilson | ::Emily Wilson | ||
::Arrives Friday | ::Arrives Friday | ||
− | :::Order | + | :::<div style="border-radius:15%;background-color:#DDD;width:fit-content;padding:2px;border:1px solid black;">Order</div> |
:[Cueball clicks order] | :[Cueball clicks order] | ||
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::<u>Package Tracking</u> | ::<u>Package Tracking</u> | ||
::Order Status: | ::Order Status: | ||
− | ::: | + | :::<div style="background-color:#DDD;width:fit-content;padding:2px;border:1px solid black;">Departed<br />warehouse</div> |
− | ::: | ||
::Expected: Friday by 8pm | ::Expected: Friday by 8pm | ||
:[Cueball clicks refresh] | :[Cueball clicks refresh] | ||
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:[The computer now says the book has been swept by winds to the island of lotus eaters and ''might'' arrive around 2033.] | :[The computer now says the book has been swept by winds to the island of lotus eaters and ''might'' arrive around 2033.] | ||
::<u>Package Tracking</u> | ::<u>Package Tracking</u> | ||
− | :::Swept by winds | + | :::<div style="background-color:#DDD;width:fit-content;padding:2px;border:1px solid black;">Swept by winds<br />to the island of<br />the lotus eaters</div> |
− | |||
− | |||
::Expected: ?? 2033 ?? | ::Expected: ?? 2033 ?? | ||
:[Cueball clicks refresh] | :[Cueball clicks refresh] | ||
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[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]] | [[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]] | ||
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
− | |||
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]] | [[Category: Comics featuring Hairy]] | ||
[[Category: Fiction]] | [[Category: Fiction]] | ||
[[Category: Comics featuring real people]] | [[Category: Comics featuring real people]] |