There were some downsides to entitling my series of books “The Idiot and the Odyssey.”

Not everyone caught the intended play on words combining “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” And way too many people thought I actually was/am an idiot.

That wasn’t all.

When I was flying to Australia to promote the first book in 2008 the man next to me saw the cover and exclaimed “That’s stupid! Why would anyone bring out a book that mixed Dostoevsky’s ‘The Idiot‘ with Homer’s ‘The Odyssey‘?”

The first book led to the creation of The Idiot brand.

Only a true Idiot would claim to be an idiot in two books.

An Idiotic title for a Raven Lunatic?

There was added confusion when another book published in 2008 had the title “The Odyssey and the Idiot.” A lot of Homer scholars and casual readers apparently bought the wrong book and haven’t yet realized their error. Fortunately “The Odyssey and the Idiot II” hasn’t come out yet.

But creating an Idiot brand over the years has also produced some amusing marketing twists.

When readers were searching for a YouTube video entitled “Who Is The Idiot?” earlier this year they often wound up on my website and some stayed long enough to buy a book.

And there is frequent interest, and occasional giggles, when people see The Idiot and other MedTrekkers wearing branded Ts, tank tops and baseball caps.

Does The Idiot garb look idiotic?

A branded “The Idiot and the Odyssey II” cap and “Follow The Idiot” tank top tour Turkey.

Idiot-ic fashionware for all seasons.

That said, I still enjoy touting the self-deprecating Idiot tag and am bemused by the reactions it provokes. It’s an easy title for people to remember and if you Google the word Idiot one of my recent blog items with Idiot in the title often appears.

Google “Idiot” and you’ll frequently find The Idiot high on the list.

As Miss Pine, my eighth grader teacher at Sequoia School in Redding, CA, used to say in the early 1960s: “He who laughs last laughs best” and “He who knows not and knows he knows not is a wise man.”

Photos: Joel Stratte-McClure and Liz Chapin

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."