The works of Plato

By recording both the Dorian (pagan) philosophy together with the Ionian, Plato’s works were protected from Rome (above). The barbarian does see the threat in the writings, because they do come across on the surface as entertainment, and because they contain their pagan beliefs. They do not catch the deeper meaning delivered by Socrates, often sarcastically at the unknowing cost of his discussion partner.
Yes, they were re-lived often by Plato’s students, and although they are intellectually humorous, they took them quite serious. They were becoming a smaller minority within Athens and could not talk openly about their philosophy. So being able to relive how Socrates was able to decimate his opponents without them even knowing it was especially entertaining for those Ionians living at the hand of their now-pagan Athens rulers. I laugh especially at Aristophanes’ “spherical body form” and the “highest form of love is the love of boys”. Yes, to us it is laughable, but for these barbarians, it was what they truly believed. These thoughts are just as absurd as Aristotle’s silly concept of the universe. This was not the view of Ionian thinkers, but rather something that he conjured up. He did not understand the great Ionian teachers and did not apply logic his work, therefore discounting himself as a pure source.