protagonist
Use Protagonist in a sentence
ə1665–75; < Greek prōtagōnistḗs actor who plays the first part, literally, first combatant, equivalent to prôt(os) first + agōnistḗs one who contends for a prize, combatant, actor. See proto-, antagonist
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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| to exhibit some action or effect as if in answer |
| a muscle that acts in opposition to another |
protagonist (prəʊˈtæɡənɪst) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the principal character in a play, story, etc |
| 2. | a supporter, esp when important or respected, of a cause, political party, etc |
| [C17: from Greek prōtagōnistēs, from prōtos first + agōnistēs actor] | |
| pro'tagonism | |
| —n | |
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protagonist
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The principal character in a literary work. Hamlet, for example, is the protagonist of the play by William Shakespeare that bears his name.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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protagonist
in ancient Greek drama, the first or leading actor. The poet Thespis is credited with having invented tragedy when he introduced this first actor into Greek drama, which formerly consisted only of choric dancing and recitation. The protagonist stood opposite the chorus and engaged in an interchange of questions and answers. According to Aristotle in his Poetics, Aeschylus brought in a second actor, or deuteragonist, and presented the first dialogue between two characters. Aeschylus' younger rival, Sophocles, then added a third actor, the tritagonist, and was able to write more complex, more natural dialogue. That there were only three actors did not limit the number of characters to three because one actor would play more than one character
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