hubris
Explanation
The Joke
The comic retells the story of the Titanic from the perspective of penguins living on the iceberg. A penguin captain proudly declares their iceberg to be "the greatest iceberg in the history of our species." When another penguin spots a giant boat in their path, the captain orders them to ram it, declaring they are invincible. A third penguin warns that this is hubris -- excessive pride that leads to downfall.
The caption beneath explains the joke: "Penguins have a much happier version of the Titanic story." From the iceberg's perspective, the encounter with the Titanic was a triumphant victory rather than a tragedy. The iceberg hit the great ship and the iceberg survived. The penguin who warns of hubris is wrong in this case -- the iceberg's arrogance is actually justified, since the iceberg did in fact destroy the "unsinkable" ship.
The Humor
The comedy works by flipping perspective on one of history's most famous disasters. The Titanic is a quintessential story of human hubris -- the ship was declared unsinkable, and nature proved otherwise. By telling the same story from the iceberg's side, the comic reveals that the hubris accusation depends entirely on which side you are on. For the humans, pride came before the fall; for the iceberg, pride came before total victory. The use of penguins as the iceberg's crew adds a layer of charm and absurdity, and the penguin who cries "hubris" is a funny nod to Greek tragedy conventions while being completely wrong about the outcome.
References
The comic references the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912, after it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The ship had been widely described as "unsinkable," making the disaster a classic example of hubris. The concept of hubris originates from ancient Greek tragedy, where characters whose excessive pride defied the gods were inevitably punished.