they fulfilled the function of breaking the ice when everybody else was too scared to oppose the king. the court jester was the king approved resident truth teller but in turn he had to also be humiliated at all times to not make him a threat to the king's authority and dignity, hence the ridiculous clown outfit and people could be openly mean to clowns and laugh at them. the clown when good (till eulenspiegle for example) is a tragic hero archetype who sacrifices his human dignity to tell the truth. the clown when evil (the joker comes to mind) is a destructive anti-hero archetype who tears down other's big ego and pushes them off of their high horse, he's an equalizing force for better when the target are other big ego evil people, for worse when the target are actually honorable poeple held in high esteem. on the spiritual plane there are "dmt jesters" who do the same thing but in your mind when tripping. they bring about the ego death by tearing you a new one with finger pointing, grimasses and laughter. every culture in their myths has the "trixter" archetype which is a clown spirit but sometimes disguised as animal, e.g. fox, raven, or imp like creature, e.g. house-elf, gnomes, etc.
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