ENGLISH

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

By Stephen Halliwell

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2008
ISBN
0521889006, 9780521889001
LCC
BF575.L3 H35 2008
Open Library ID
OL16841750M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
3 MB (3071207 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
632\632
Topic
History
Time added
2010-02-18 13:16:04
Исторические дисциплины;Всемирная история;История

Description

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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