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Agon

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Definition: Modern screenplays consist of dialogues among individuals. Ancient tragedy began as a conversation between a single actor and a chorus. A second and third actor were added -- eventually.

The term agon means contest whether musical or gymnastic. The actors in a play are agon-ists (agonists) a term we usually see in the related terms protagonist and antagonist.

Return to Aristotle Tragedy Terminology
Index of terms used by Aristotle to describe and define ancient Greek tragedy.

Examples:
The first actor was the main actor whom we still refer to as protagonist. The deuteragonist was the second actor. The third actor was the tritagonist. The antagonist is the character against whom the protagonist struggles.

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