Humor and in Archaic Greek Culture

what are the key scenes in laughter in the Iliad

1. divine qurrels (zeus, hera, hephastus) — the gods’ unquenchable laughter

2. human quarrels: achilles and agamemnon

why does athena laugh at ares (book 21, Iliad)

reflects triumph and divine irony

why do greeks laugh at thersites (book 2, Iliad)

they mock him for insolence and breaking social hierarchy

what are the general traits of homeric laughter

• wide range of contexts

• often tied to power, shame, or victory

• compare with modern ethical views on mockery

why does laughter appear in book 8 in the story of aphrodite and ares (odyssey)

all gods laugh at hephaestus'' rick; apollo and hermes share a bawdy joke

why do penelope’s suitors laugh at odysseus and irus in book 18 (odyssey)?

suitors laugh after the fight between odyssesus (as beggar) and irus mocking at their low status and irus’ pain and downfall

why do the suitors laugh at odysseus as he proposes to string his bow in book 21 (odyssey)

they laugh when odysseus (still disguised) strings his bow—laughter becomes ominous just before their deaths

what are features of laughter in the odyssey

• mixed divine and human laughter

• reflects recognition, irony, and ethical tension

what is iambic poetry and who were the two key poets discussed

genre marked by personal attack, humor, and invective

• arhilochus, hipponax, semonides (poets)

who is Iambe in the homeric hymn to demeter

female figure whose jokes restore demeter’s laughter; links women’s ritual humor

what is the role of laughter in demeter’s myths

relieves divine sorrow and retores fertility

what forms of humor occur in demeter’s cults?

• sexual humor and ritual jokes (baubo lifting her skirt)

• performed during eleusinian and thesmophoria festivals

• emphasizes fertility, renewal, and communal joy