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

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

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

"There was a lot of cool elements... the fact that Lara was a different protagonist, the first female protagonist of a game that I had ever played," he said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Gunn, who shares a producer credit with Chris DeFaria, operated from sincere adoration for the characters, in particular the tireless protagonist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

But the writers don’t paint Macon as a simple villain, or anyone else as a cut-and-dried protagonist.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

But Judith’s insecurities add complexity to a protagonist who commands our attention through every twist of this novel’s labyrinthine plot.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

All eyes are on an agent: a protagonist, a mover and shaker, a driving force.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

“In “Heated Rivalry,” the much-buzzed-about gay hockey romance, the protagonists escape to a “Quebec” cottage that is actually in Muskoka.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Bestselling author Jessica Knoll’s protagonists mostly follow a specific pattern: They are women who have learned Not.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The likes of Alexander Sorloth, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Oscar Bobb are also established top-level players, while Patrick Berg, Sander Berge and Antonio Nusa have been unexpected protagonists.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

Winocour wisely places all of her protagonists in different fields within the same industry, and at different points in their careers.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

She reads all the time—in the halls, in the cafeteria— mostly novels with angsty protagonists: The Virgin Suicides, Catcher in the Rye, The Bell Jar.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Related Words

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