Agon 2193564 216966138 2008-06-04T00:43:20Z VVVBot 4099039 robot Adding: [[pl:Agon (teatr)]] {{wiktionarypar|agon}} {{otheruses}} '''Agon''' ([[Classical Greek]] ''{{Polytonic|ἀγών}}'') is an ancient Greek word with several meanings: *In one sense, it meant a contest, competition, orchallenge that was held in connection with [[religious festival]]s.<ref>Trapido (1949)</ref><ref>[http://www.temple.edu/classics/dramaterms.html Greek Drama Terms<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> *In its broader sense of a struggle or contest, ''agon'' referred to a contest in athletics, [[chariot#Greece | chariot]] or horse racing, music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. *Agon was also a [[Greek mythology|mythological]] personification of the contests listed above.<ref name="DGRBM">{{Citation | last = Schmitz | first = Leonhard | author-link = | contribution = Agon | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 74 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | place = Boston | year = 1867 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0083.html }}</ref> This god was represented in a statue at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] with ''halteres'' ({{polytonic|ἁλτῆρες}}) in his hands. This sta­tue was a work of [[Dionysius]], and dedicated by a Smicythus of [[Rhegium]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' v. 26. § 3</ref> *In [[Ancient Greek theatre|Ancient Greek drama]], particularly old comedy (fifth century B.C.), the '''agon''' refers to the formal convention according to which the struggle between the [[Fictional character|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 is a formal debate which takes place between the chief characters in a Greek play, protagonist and antagonist, usually with the [[Greek chorus|chorus]] acting as judge. The character who speaks second always wins the agon, since the last word is always hers or his. *'''Agon''' is also one of the four elements of [[play (activity)|play]] identified by [[Roger Caillois]] in his book ''[[Man, Play and Games]]''. ==References== {{reflist}} ===Other sources=== *Joel Trapido (1949) ''[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-1989(194910)1%3A1%3C18%3ATLOTTI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E The Language of the Theatre: I. The Greeks and Romans]'' Educational Theatre Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Oct., 1949), pp. 18-26 doi:10.2307/3204106 [[Category:Ancient Greek theatre]] [[Category:Play]] [[Category:Greek mythology]] [[Category:Personifications]] [[Category:Greek gods]] {{theat-stub}} {{ancient-Greece-stub}} [[de:Agon (Wettstreit)]] [[es:Agon]] [[fr:Agōn]] [[it:Agōn]] [[he:אגונים]] [[nl:Agon]] [[pl:Agon (teatr)]] [[pt:Agon]] [[ru:Агон]] [[sv:Agon]]