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agon

  (ăg'ŏn, -ōn, ä-gōn') pronunciation
n., pl. a·gon·es (ə-gō'nēz).
  1. A conflict, especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a work of literature.
  2. The part of an ancient Greek drama, especially a comedy, in which two characters engage in verbal dispute.
  3. A test of will; a conflict: “Freud's originality stemmed from his aggression and ambition in his agon with biology” (Harold Bloom).
  4. A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded.

[Greek agōn. See agony.]


 
 

agon [a‐gohn] (plural agones [ă‐goh‐niz]), the contest or dispute between two characters which forms a major part of the action in the Greek Old Comedy of Aristophanes, e.g. the debate between Aeschylus and Euripides in his play The Frogs (405 BCE). The term is sometimes extended to formal debates in Greek tragedies.

Adjective: agonistic.

 

agōn (‘contest’). 1. In Greece and later at Rome, a public festival at which competitors contended for a prize, usually in chariot- and horse-races and athletics but occasionally in musical or dramatic competitions.

2. The ‘debate’ in Attic Old Comedy; see COMEDY, GREEK 3 (iii).

 


the dramatic conflict between the chief characters in a literary work
 
Wikipedia: agon


In Ancient Greek drama, particularly old comedy (fifthth century B.C.), the AGON refers to the formal convention according to which the struggle between the characters should be scripted in order to supply the basis of the action. The meaning of the term has escaped the circumscriptions of its classical origins to signify, more generally, the conflict on which a literary work turns.

Agon (Classical Greek ἀγών) is the ancient Greek word meaning contest or challenge. It is a formal debate which takes place between two characters, usually with the chorus acting as the judge. The character who speaks second always wins the agon, since the last word is always its.


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Agon" Read more

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