This book aims to provide a new way of reading Greek and Roman Antiquity, focusing on the largely ignored phenomenon of the Comic. The reception of antique art normally restricts itself to minimal, almost hidden, references to the existence of humorous or comic works.
Since Marcel Duchamp and the art of the Dadaists, at the very latest, the Comic has had a secure place in the fine arts of the 20th century. This leads to the issue being investigated here: whether the roots of this art are not to be found at a much earlier date. The books wishes to go beyond the genre of caricature and to show examples of more subtle (artistic) humour and also the Subversive/Comic.