Ironia 'comica' e riso: qualche esempio da Euripide

The A. takes afresh into consideration a number of Euripidean examples of a still sharply discussed phenomenon, the so called ‘comic’ in tragedy, in order to argue that tragedy and comedy, though distinct as for their placement in dramatic festivals, and for matters, characters, language they regularly used, were not so incompatible, irreconcilable, foreign to each other, but they developed nearby, in the same cultural context, revealing reciprocal interferences and borrowings. During this process, tragic may sometimes become pathetic, an extreme search for realism turn into ‘comic’, a means like irony, so far used to increase tragic strain, aim at the mere entertainment of the audience.