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Part of
Humour in the Beginning: Religion, humour and laughter in formative stages of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism
Edited by Roald Dijkstra and Paul van der Velde
[Topics in Humor Research 10] 2022
► pp. 48–62

Opponent or advocate?

Exploring Clement of Alexandria’s attitude(s) towards laughter

| University of Kent

This chapter explores one of the earliest Christian commentators on laughter, Clement of Alexandria. It argues that his views on laughter were more nuanced than the fervent opposition with which he is often characterised and that, at times, he advocates for laughter. With particular reference to ‘On laughter’ in his Paedagogus, this chapter will demonstrate how Clement was influenced by Greek philosophy, Scripture, and the Hellenistic society within which he lived when forming his ambiguous views on laughter. Indeed, by exploring laughter in various forms, e.g. drunken laughter, erotic laughter, comic laughter, and pedagogical laughter, it will become clear that Clement’s beliefs about laughter vary depending on the context, the intention, and the consequences of the laughter.

Keywords: laughter, Clement of Alexandria, pedagogy, the body, patristics, Christianity, Greek philosophy
Article outline
  • Influences
  • Causing laughter
  • Laughing animals
  • Intoxication, lust, and laughter
  • Pedagogical laughter
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
Published online: 27 October 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/thr.10.06gra
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