2012-07-10
Explanation
The comic shows the Greek hero Achilles in a modern office environment, captioned "Achilles had trouble adjusting to office life." Achilles, depicted as a bearded warrior, is threatening a coworker with a tirade straight out of the Iliad: "My spear will cleave your head from your body! Your children will be my slaves! Your lands will be burned. And your wife will work the loom in my household, far away from her ancestral shores." His coworker calmly responds, "Okay, next time I won't tie up the printer for so long," to which Achilles replies, "See that you do not!"
The humor comes from the absurd juxtaposition of Homeric-scale rage with the mundane annoyances of office life. Achilles in the Iliad is famous for his wrath -- the entire poem opens with it -- and his threats of enslavement, burning, and death were standard fare in ancient Greek warfare. Placing these grandiose threats in the context of a minor printer dispute highlights how disproportionate such anger is to everyday irritations. The coworker's deadpan, unfazed response makes the contrast even funnier, suggesting this is just another day at the office with Achilles. The comic also works as a commentary on how some people bring outsized emotional reactions to trivial workplace conflicts.