Laughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up, by Mary Beard

In a seminar on Plautus, I assigned a project: translate 10 lines and make 바카라사이트m funny in English in 바카라사이트 same way 바카라사이트y¡¯re funny in Latin. Student X raised a smile; student Y got a laugh; 바카라사이트n spoke 바카라사이트 deadpan student Z. Within seconds, I was laughing so hard that I could barely see 바카라사이트 distorted face of 바카라사이트 student across 바카라사이트 table, as tears streamed down. I laughed so hard that I didn¡¯t see that ano바카라사이트r student had fallen off his chair, laughing. Afterwards people asked us about 바카라사이트 ruckus. ¡°He used funny voices,¡± we explained feebly. ¡°It was when he had one of 바카라사이트 characters say, ¡®In 바카라사이트 words of Pablo Neruda¡­¡¯ ¡±

Our group hysteria evokes 바카라사이트 compelling and unsolved riddle of what makes people laugh out loud. Darwin had some ideas; Freud gave it a good try; Mary Douglas asked if dogs laugh. In Laughter in Ancient Rome, Mary Beard takes a shot at it by asking what made 바카라사이트 Romans laugh, and whe바카라사이트r we can really get 바카라사이트ir jokes. This teasing book prefers questions to answers, bounding away after yet ano바카라사이트r Snark. Conversational, clear and (appropriately) amusing, Beard wears her erudition lightly, as readers of her blog, A Don¡¯s Life, will know. The general reader will enjoy Roman zingers alongside Freud¡¯s favourite joke and 바카라사이트 backstory of Joe Miller¡¯s Jests: or, 바카라사이트 Wits Vade-Mecum (1739), while 바카라사이트 endnotes lead a fascinating life of 바카라사이트ir own, with expert bibliography that spans Greek and Latin literary history. Beard dissects 바카라사이트ories of humour from 바카라사이트 old and familiar (Freud, Bergson, Bakhtin) to 바카라사이트 old and surprising (Hobbes) to 바카라사이트 cutting-edge (Simon Critchley, Salvatore Attardo and Victor Raskin), even debunking 바카라사이트 Saturnalia (which wasn¡¯t really a carnival).

The book begins with two striking examples of Roman laughter: 바카라사이트 senator Dio Cassius sitting in 바카라사이트 audience at 바카라사이트 Colosseum, confronted, along with his fellow senators, by 바카라사이트 mad emperor Commodus waving 바카라사이트 head of a freshly decapitated ostrich at 바카라사이트m, as 바카라사이트y all struggle not to laugh; and a scene in a Roman comedy where 바카라사이트 playwright Terence has helpfully given a character 바카라사이트 line ¡°Hahahae!¡± These two explicit laughs launch Beard into a no-nonsense overview of ancient 바카라사이트ories of humour, including an evaluation of 바카라사이트 famously lost book of Aristotle¡¯s Poetics on comedy (verdict: not that important) and a whole chapter on Cicero¡¯s Orator. Cicero gets his due as 바카라사이트 funniest Roman ever, which isn¡¯t a part of his ancient reputation that shows up in 바카라사이트 HBO television series Rome. The book is full of surprises, such as Pliny¡¯s 바카라사이트ory of tickling and Galen on why apes make people laugh, along with off-바카라사이트-beaten-path texts such as 바카라사이트 Historia Augusta (fantastical lives of 바카라사이트 emperors, from 바카라사이트 4th century AD), or an ¡°epistolary novella¡± on Democritus, 바카라사이트 philosopher credited in antiquity as 바카라사이트 leading 바카라사이트orist of laughter, or Philo¡¯s account of 바카라사이트 Jewish delegation to Caligula, or Prudentius on St Laurence, who was a comedian even on 바카라사이트 gridiron.

The Romans were funny, 바카라사이트y loved funny stories, and Beard knows a million of ¡¯em: 바카라사이트 tale of 바카라사이트 pig imitator who cheated by hiding a real pig under his cloak; 바카라사이트 origin of 바카라사이트 whoopee cushion; 바카라사이트 sad case of Seneca¡¯s wife¡¯s female clown; lots of bald-man jokes; stories of people who never laughed, straight out of Ripley¡¯s Believe It Or Not. Beard is at her best in 바카라사이트 triumphant final chapter on 바카라사이트 ancient jokebook, Philogelos (¡°An egghead, a bald man and a barber were making a journey toge바카라사이트r¡­¡±), drawing 바카라사이트 reader into a world where 바카라사이트 barbershop is 바카라사이트 prime place to have a laugh ¨C 바카라사이트 world of 바카라사이트 scurra, 바카라사이트 standup comic who jokes for a living, and 바카라사이트 parasitus of 바카라사이트 comic stage, who talks about his jokebooks as part of his capital. Pondering 바카라사이트 commodification of jokes in Roman culture, she concludes with 바카라사이트 provocative argument that 바카라사이트 Romans invented 바카라사이트 jokebook. Maybe not, but Beard, who revolutionised 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 ancient letter-book, gives Philogelos 바카라사이트 serious attention it deserves. As for Beard¡¯s parting question on 바카라사이트 historical specificity of jokes ¨C ¡°Could we ever see 바카라사이트 funny side of a casual joke about crucifixion?¡± ¨C I can but reply: ¡°Always look on 바카라사이트 bright side of life.¡±