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Greek Laughter: A Study of Cultural Psychology from Homer to Early Christianity

The first book to offer an integrated reading of ancient Greek attitudes to laughter. Taking material from various genres and contexts, the book analyses both the theory and the practice of laughter as a revealing expression of Greek values and mentalities. Greek society developed distinctive institutions for the celebration of laughter as a capacity which could bridge the gap between humans and gods; but it also feared laughter for its power to expose individuals and groups to shame and even violence. Caught between ideas of pleasure and pain, friendship and enmity, laughter became a theme of recurrent interest in various contexts. Employing a sophisticated model of cultural history, Stephen Halliwell traces elaborations of the theme in a series of important texts: ranging far beyond modern accounts of humour , he shows how perceptions of laughter helped to shape Greek conceptions of the body, the mind and the meaning of life.

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Series Title
None
Call Number
005.13/3-22 Jan p
Publisher
New York : Cambridge University Press.,
Collation
632 Pages
Language
English
ISBN/ISSN
0521889006, 97805218
Classification
005.13/3 22
Content Type
-
Media Type
-
Carrier Type
-
Edition
[1 ed.]
Subject(s)
-
Specific Detail Info
-
Statement of Responsibility
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