", ▁and ▁made ▁no ▁reference ▁to ▁light ▁and ▁cheer ful ▁events , ▁or ▁to ▁the ▁trou bling ▁beg inn ings ▁and ▁happy ▁end ings ▁associated ▁with ▁classical ▁Greek ▁comedy . ▁ ▁After ▁the ▁Latin ▁transl ations ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 2 th ▁century , ▁the ▁term ▁" com edy " ▁gained ▁a ▁more ▁general ▁meaning ▁in ▁medieval ▁literature . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁late ▁ 2 0 th ▁century , ▁many ▁sch ol ars ▁preferred ▁to ▁use ▁the ▁term ▁laugh ter ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁whole ▁gam ut ▁of ▁the ▁com ic , ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁avoid ▁the ▁use ▁of ▁ambigu ous ▁and ▁problem atically ▁defined ▁gen res ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁gro tes que , ▁ir ony , ▁and ▁sat ire . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁Western ▁history ▁of ▁comedy ▁ ▁D ion ys iac ▁orig ins , ▁Arist oph anes ▁and ▁Arist ot le ▁▁ ▁Starting ▁from ▁ 4 2 5 ▁B CE , ▁Arist oph anes , ▁a ▁com ic ▁play w right ▁and ▁sat ir ical ▁author ▁of ▁the ▁An cient ▁Greek ▁Theater , ▁wrote ▁ 4 0 ▁com ed ies , ▁ 1 1 ▁of ▁which ▁surv ive . ▁ ▁Arist oph anes ▁developed ▁his ▁type ▁of ▁comedy ▁from ▁the ▁earlier ▁sat yr ▁plays , ▁which ▁were ▁often ▁highly ▁obsc ene . ▁The ▁only ▁surv iving ▁examples ▁of ▁the ▁sat yr ▁plays ▁are ▁by ▁Eur ip ides , ▁which ▁are ▁much ▁later ▁examples ▁and ▁not ▁representative ▁of ▁the ▁genre . ▁In ▁ancient ▁Greece , ▁comedy ▁origin ated ▁in ▁b aw dy