Art & MusicGreek → English
Deuteragonist
/ˌduːtəˈræɡənɪst/noun
The second most important character in a drama or story.
The Greek roots
δεύτερος
deúteros
second
ἀγωνιστής
agōnistḗs
contestant, actor
Literally: “second contestant”
The story of the word
Aristotle credits Aeschylus with adding the second actor and Sophocles with adding the third, and that first addition is what turned a chorus with one speaker into drama, since two actors on stage can disagree. The deuteragonist is that second actor. ἀγωνιστής means competitor, because the dramatic festivals were contests judged for prizes, which is also why an ordeal is an agony.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
protagonisttritagonistantagonistagonyDeuteronomy
In a sentence
Horatio is the deuteragonist, the one the protagonist explains himself to.
She kept rewriting the deuteragonist until he stopped sounding like a mouthpiece.