On 20/08/2022 13:23, Julian Bradfield wrote:
I have no axe to grind in this intra-Hellenic debate, but may I ask the
two protagonists whether they view the current American practice of both
Come, come: you mean "the protagonist and deuteragonist" !
Sir, I can only adduce the OED in my humble defence —
Plural use in sense 1
<https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/153105?redirectedFrom=protagonist#eid27932954>
with reference to characters in a single work has frequently been
criticized on the grounds that the word referred only to a single
actor in the ancient Greek drama (compare deuteragonist n.
<https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/51374#eid6846546> and tritagonist n.
<https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/206439#eid17609956>), but it is
nonetheless frequently found (compare e.g. quot. 1950 at sense 1
<https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/153105?redirectedFrom=protagonist#eid27932997>).
