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| Stephen Halliwell, Greek Laughter (2008) |
broke into gloating laughter . . .
All leapt from their seats with whoops of laughter . . . " (41–42, 48)
Why do we laugh? Because we are relieved, or find something incongruous? Philosophers have often puzzled over an explanation for this oddly human behavior. Plato was discomfited by the Gods' laughter at lame Hephaestus in The Iliad. Hobbes thought laughter a sign of superior feeling, the apprehension of "sudden glory."
The suitors' laughter, here instigated by Antinous, confirms yet again their callousness, their willful delight in witnessing cruelty (sadly akin to contemporary youtube videos of fights between homeless people). Odysseus, of course, has the last laugh.