@article{Casertano_2020, title={The ridiculous in Plato}, url={https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/archai/article/view/34571}, DOI={10.14195/1984-249X_30_29}, abstractNote={<p>What is it that produces laughter? Or a smile, since, in fact, the verb γελάω has both meanings? Because for someone to laughs or to smile, it requires to be in the company of others, and involved in a certain situation which somehow sparks in us that kind of reaction. This note will provide a sketch for a research on the various situations in which characters laugh or smile in the Platonic dialogues. There is a ridiculous situation that emerges in a discussion, when the interlocutors speak by themselves without taking into account what the other says (e.g. <em>Euthydemus</em>, <em>Gorgias</em>); another ridiculous situation emerges involuntarily from an intervention or remark from one of the interlocutors (e.g. <em>Phaedrus</em>, <em>Phaedo</em>); another more subjective one emerges from certain behaviors in particular situations (e.g. <em>Republic</em>, <em>Symposium</em>). Moreover, there are interesting indications about the very nature of the ridiculous and the proper way to use it in comedy or in the interactions between people (e.g. <em>Philebus</em>, <em>Laws</em>).</p>}, number={30}, journal={Revista Archai}, author={Casertano, Giovanni}, year={2020}, month={Oct.}, pages={e03029} }