I wonder if Aristophanes would have thought if he knew that Greek students in Universities study his works and very rarely break a smile - he probably did not want his comedies treated as sanctified works of Greek literature. I, for one, laugh myself silly when reading them - but I'm also not being forced to translate them from the original Greek.
Or how about Plato's writing involving Socrates? They are quite humorous as well - not as gut-wrenching as Aristophanes, but still very funny amid the logic.
I like when listeners laugh and smile when I play piano - I feel they are getting it (of course depending on the piece). There are many Beethoven sonatas that I play in which the listeners will occasionally say "oh that was beautiful" - when I much would have preferred "that was hilarious!" Of course, they prove me wrong time to time - but they usually need prodded beforehand into looking out for the humor. It helps if you are a musician already with some of Beethoven's humor.
But far too often, the humor and joy is entirely lost when listening or studying 'classical' art - whether it's Greek literature, or Beethoven's music.