The Fight of the Comedian: Comedy as the Arena of Philosophical Thought in Society

Abstract

Aristophanes describes The Clouds as "the wisest" of his comedies. The choice of wisdom as an attribute of comedy seems strange because the common perception of comedy understands it to be concerned with the absurd and the ridiculous. Wisdom is associated more with philosophy. This paper argues that comedy is an arena for philosophical ideas in society. This paper traces the ancient Greek philosophical fight of Aristophanes and Socrates and its manifestation in the arena of comedy within the two comedies The Clouds and The Cynics' way of life. In this paper, there are also examples from the Egyptian comedian theatre like The Married, Imprison Your Daughters and It Is Truly a Very Respectful Family and the Egyptian comedian media like Al Hudood mock news website. The analysis of these examples supports the claim that comedy is the arena of philosophical thought in different societies and times (not only in ancient Greece). The larger aim of this paper is to examine the philosophical potential of comedy and its effect within the realm of ideas in society.