> > My personal view is that I am not interested in simulating traditional
> > things with new technologies.
>
Why the Odyssey?
1. By the time of the Trojan War, a widespread and reactionary
matriarchy was giving way to the more progressive, hospitable,
patriarchal Acheans. This corresponded to a change from late
Neolithic to Bronze Age technology and had been going on for
several centuries. For us, many of the issues are the same (human
sacrifice, animal sacrifice, and--as Monika has pointed out--
projects that 'eat people'); but our vector points in the opposite
direction--from late industrial and conservative patriarchy to
information-based, revolutionary matriarchies. Probably native
cultures in the New World will show us the way more clearly than
our own pathetic flashlights (Mac or Microsoft or Unix).
2. Odysseus lived on and visited what today would be called "small
island states." A year or two ago, the United Nations University in
Tokyo hosted an online seminar concerning the effect of global
warming on small island states. Current trends could be bad for
your tan. A few years of "more of the same" and some entire island
groups (and their beaches) could be completely underwater. They are
already more vulnerable to storms. Because much of China is just a
few feet above sea-level, it is subject to some of the same post-
Bruntland environmental considerations. This theme is also strongly
linked to the search for multi-cultural myths of wandering and of
island living, and gives rise to a third reason for doing the
Odyssey.
For small island states, a good place to start is
http://www.ids.ac.uk/eldis/data/high/41/h21048.html
3. The Odyssey portrays a pluralistic, decentralized, and therefore
non-federalist, non-colonial world. For our part, we have just
emerged from a bi-polar Cold War between two colonial empires-- one
now in collapse and the other trying to establish its hegemony (via
culture as entertainment) over the entire planet. An alternative
picture is essential. We are getting a lot of individual
visionaries but what we need is ...
4. a collective mythographical process that enables us to rearrange
our thinking so that it is more human, more appropriate to reality,
and more in line with manifold but linkable and possibly coherent
aspirations for people who may not feel safe with the US Marines
patrolling their block. Not everyone will have the stomach for this
work. But Odysseus is on his way back from a genocidal mission in
Troy on which he embarked reluctantly. You may want to think about
that. The Twentieth Century has been a Century of Genocides--the
most breathtaking in history. And everybody's favorite began in
Vienna (you could say).
5. I am going to be working on the Odyssey because I have been working
on it for the last 30 years (maybe longer), and don't mean to stop
because Jonny thinks that Shockwave is passe or because Cat might
see it as a bad career move. For me, the technology is one small
piece of the puzzle. Oudeis is another. I am grateful for the work
we have already done together; if we can do more, I am glad of
that. Already this work will stop long after I am dead and my name
has been forgotten.
-- Jim Terral South Slocan, BC http://www.netidea.com/~jterral/ telnet://moo.hawaii.edu:9999