Why comedy? Quotations from the comedy of Aristophanes and their role in the work Paedagogus by Clement of Alexandria

<ns3:p>The purpose of this article is to show the links between the works of Clement of Alexandria and Greco-Roman culture. The author of the work Paedagogus refers many times to Greek comedies of various periods. He quotes Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata three times. In his work, Clement oscillates between the role of a humourist, who uses Aristophanes’ drama for comic purposes, and a satirist who criticises negative customs. He is also an ironist who accepts comedic ridicule in order to show the hidden meanings that come from the contrast between the literal pagan meaning of comic phenomena and their new meaning that serves Christian moral and theological purposes.</ns3:p>