Major importance of expression "Homeric laughter" - violent, loud and uncontrollable laughter. In the literary works the phrase was used Honoré de by Balzac ("Bureaucracy") and Alexandre Dumas ("Twenty years later"). In the Russian literature the expression meets at Leo Tolstoy ("Adolescence"), and at Fyodor Dostoyevsky one of heroes causes a Homeric laughter ("Toddlers") in a meeting.
Expression appeared thanks to works by the Ancient Greek poet Homer, "Illiad" and "Odyssey". The antique author resorted to expression twice, telling about laughter of gods laughing at a comic scene and for the third time, describing as Penelope's admirers laughed, being under the influence of the goddess Athena.
Phrase in different languages
The similar phraseological unit is present at English. Presumably expression was borrowed from German where, in turn, came from French where it meets in "Baroness Oberkirkh's notes". The work belongs to 1780.
Initial point of expression
Homer has a phraseological unit from which there was the known expression, is used in narrower value. It is meant only as the laughter of gods or a laughter caused in people by divine force. Expression can suggest to "Homeric laughter" an idea that Homer as the author, often wrote about ridiculous, and it no more than delusion concerning it as poet satirical or ironic. For Homer it was not peculiar to use humour as literary reception at all. For the author of the Ancient Greek epos the description of scenes of fun is also not really peculiar.
Aristotle writes about Homer as the poet of serious style.
Though any nonsense abounds in "Illiad", Homeric madness brings not so much fun, how many suffering and a grief. The tragedy pursues on heels of heroes of Greece and Troy, and Homeric "comedy" remains difficult for understanding. The gloomy epos by Homer is that exceptional and valorous case in the European literature when the plunged enemy does not cause laughter. Exceptional cases of the description of comical episodes act on the general tragic background and only emphasize dramatic nature and bitterness of the narrated events. In those exceptional cases, when it comes to laughter, it is unhealthy and unhappy laughter. The contemptuous sarcastic laughter caused by a physical defect is especially peculiar for Homer. In one of festive scenes in "Illiad" the laughter of other gods is caused by Hephaestus famous for the lameness and playing a role of the cupbearer on the general feast.
In legends and myths of Ancient Greece god smith often appears as a comic figure, the clown. But Hephaestus of Homer not grotesque is also not a laughing-stock.
Other case which caused laughter of gods – an awkward situation into which there were Aphrodite and Ares, having remained alone, but exposed by Hephaestus. Couple frightened and overcome by sense of guilt which got to the trap which is dexterously placed by the skillful master and Aphrodite's husband force other Olympic gods to laugh loudly loudly. But Homer notes that to him it is not ridiculous. When Homer mentions laughter of admirers of Penelope, he uses the expression which became known again. It is a scene in which Odysseus disguised under the beggar battles against the heavy man, some kind of local "errand boy" Ir. This entertainment sent by the goddess Athena causes explosion of uncontrollable laughter in crowd of grooms. In this laughter there is also a cruelty because prostrate Ir long beats the earth with heels. It is the most ominous laughter from all, described by Homer. Expression "Homeric laughter" contains a contradiction in the initial value, Homer was far from humour. Only over time it gained the modern sense.