Trivia Time

What ancient Greek dramatist introduced a "first actor" in a play, later called the protagonist?

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protagonist

American  

[proh-tag-uh-nist] / proʊˈtæg ə nɪst /

noun

• protagonists
  plural

1. the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary work.

2. a proponent for or advocate of a political cause, social program, etc.

3. the leader or principal person in a movement, cause, etc.

4. the first actor in ancient Greek drama, who played not only the main role, but also other roles when the main character was offstage.

5. Physiology. agonist.

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protagonist British  

/ prəʊˈtæɡənɪst /

noun

1. the principal character in a play, story, etc

2. a supporter, esp when important or respected, of a cause, political party, etc

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protagonist Cultural  

1. The principal character in a literary work. Hamlet, for example, is the protagonist of the play by William Shakespeare that bears his name.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• protagonism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• protagonists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of protagonist

First recorded in 1665–75; from 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 origin at proto-, antagonist

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Explanation

A protagonist is the central character in a story: the protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is — guess who? — Huckleberry Finn. A novel, movie, or play might have many main characters, but it can really only have one protagonist — or maybe two in the case of, say, Romeo and Juliet. That's because protos means "first" in Greek, and agonistes means "competitor" or "actor." It can also mean a leading figure in a real-life situation: "Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were the protagonists of the U.S. Civil War." Don't use it to mean "a supporter of an idea or cause"; the word you're looking for in that situation is proponent.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

protagonist protagonists

By treating his Starfleet commander as if he were a Shakespearean protagonist, Stewart transformed a franchise at a crossroads into a fresh, thoughtful look at human possibility.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026

And he quotes a remark by Jimmy Stewart, who played the film’s protagonist, that “the best Frank Capra story is the story of his own life.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

Yet the entrepreneur who meticulously supervised the creations of her dolls’ narratives comes through in this book as a thoroughly American protagonist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

We want to be a protagonist in the Champions League.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Downtrodden Americans gravitated strongly toward the Horatio Alger protagonist, the lowly bred Everyman who rises from anonymity and hopelessness.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

"We're going to remove all the pews so we can fit as many wheelchairs as possible. We want people with disabilities to be the protagonists," director Jorge Silanes told AFP.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

She serves merely as a cautionary tale, when it’s already too late for our protagonists.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

Rockstar has hinted that the Bonnie and Clyde-type protagonists Jason and Lucia do not have to become a full-on romantic couple.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

The show redirects focus to Cathy Ames, the wife of one of the novel’s protagonists and one of the most beguiling characters in American literature.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Ironically, the greatest triumph for both protagonists was the time they were forced to cooperate during the goblin insurgence.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

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Related Words

• central character
• central figure
• hero
• heroine
• lead character
• leading character
• leading figure
• main character
• main figure
• principal
• principal character
• principal figure

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