The following article is about how the concept of catharsis has developed in western philosophical tradition. Its goal is to understand how the cathartic element evolved from its original field, which was drama, to the field of sports in contemporary life. Thus, it is analyzed how Aristotle's principles about dramatic representation and its effects on audiences' outflow of tension have moved from drama to sports in the twentieth century. This move favors to understand the reason why there is intellectual prejudice against soccer, a game frequently seen as mass alienation and as the substitute of religion in the role of "people's opium". Basing upon German play writer Bertolt Brecht and also on a new perspective about audiences in modern times, an alternative but still Marxist view is sought; one able to see in sports a deconstruction of scenic "delusion".
Arts; Philosophy; Sports; Audience; Fan