Agon (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in
chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', explaining the concept of agon(y) in
tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
by its fundamental characters, the
protagonist and antagonist.
Athletics
In one sense, agon meant a contest or a competition in athletics, for example, the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
(Ὀλυμπιακοὶ Ἀγῶνες). Agon was also a
mythological personification of the contests listed above.
This god was represented in a statue at
Olympia with ''
halteres
''Halteres'' (; singular ''halter'' or ''haltere'') (from grc, ἁλτῆρες, weights held in the hands to give an impetus in leaping) are a pair of small club-shaped organs on the body of two orders of flying insects that provide infor ...
'' (
dumbbells
The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs, with one in each hand.
History
The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as lifting w ...
) () in his hands. This statue was a work of
Dionysius, and dedicated by Micythus of
Rhegium
Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated pop ...
.
Religion
According to Pausanias, Agon was recognized in the Greek world as a deity, whose statue appeared at
Olympia, presumably in connection with the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
, which operated as both religious festival in honor of
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
and athletic competition. Agon is perhaps, more of a spirit than a god in Greek mythology, but was understood to be related to both Zelos (rivalry) and
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
(victory). More generally, Agon referred to any competitive event that was held in connection with
religious festival
A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar. The science of religious rites and festivals is known ...
s, including athletics, music, or dramatic performances.
Agon also appears as a concept in the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
and is defined in that context by
Strong's Concordance as, agón: a gathering, contest, struggle; as an (athletic) contest; hence, a struggle (in the soul).
Theater
In
Ancient Greek drama
Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...
, particularly
Old Comedy
Old Comedy (''archaia'') is the first period of the ancient Greek comedy, according to the canonical division by the Alexandrian grammarians.Mastromarco (1994) p.12 The most important Old Comic playwright is Aristophanes – whose works, with the ...
(fifth century B.C.), agon refers to a contest or debate between two characters - the prot''agonist'' and the ant''agonist'' - in the highly structured Classical
tragedies
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
and
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
s. The agon could also develop between an
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
and the
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
or between two actors with half of the chorus supporting each. Through the argument of opposing principles, the agon in these performances resembled the dialectic dialogues of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
. 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.
Dance
In 1948,
Lincoln Kirstein posed the idea of a ballet that would later become known as ''
Agon''. After ten years of work before ''Agons premiere, it became the final ballet in a series of collaborations between choreographer
George Balanchine and composer
Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine referred to this ballet as "the most perfect work" to come out of the collaboration between Stravinsky and himself.
Literature
Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking worl ...
in ''The Western Canon'' uses the term ''agon'' to refer to the attempt by a writer to resolve an intellectual conflict between his ideas and the ideas of an influential predecessor in which "the larger swallows the smaller", such as in chapter 18,
Joyce's agon with
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
.
In "Man, Play, and Games"
Roger Caillois uses the term Agon to define games of competitive nature.
Sociopolitical theory
In sociopolitical theory, agon can refer to the idea that the clash of opposing forces necessarily results in growth and progress. The concept, known as
agonism, has been proposed most explicitly by a number of scholars, including
William E. Connolly,
Bonnie Honig, and Claudio Colaguori,
[Colaguori 2012] but is also implicitly present in the work of scholars such as
Theodor Adorno
Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor.
List of people with the given name Theodor
* Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher
* Theodor Aman, Romanian painter
* Theodor Blue ...
, and
Michel Foucault (see also
agonistic democracy
Agonism (from Greek ἀγών ''agon'', "struggle") is a political and social theory that emphasizes the potentially positive aspects of certain forms of conflict. It accepts a permanent place for such conflict in the political sphere, but seeks t ...
).
Derivatives
Words derived from ''agon'' include
agony
Agony may refer to:
Concepts
*Pain, anguish, or struggle, especially precededing death
*Suffering of intense degree, relating to physical or mental suffering
*Passion (Christianity), also called the Agony of Christ
*Agony in the Garden, Christ' ...
,
agonism,
antagonism, and
protagonist.
Notes
See also
*''
Man, Play and Games'' (
Roger Caillois)
Further reading
* Árnason, Jóhann Páll. ''Agon, Logos, Polis: The Greek Achievement and Its Aftermath.'' Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001
* Barker, Elton T. ''Entering the Agon: Dissent and Authority in Homer, Historiography, and Tragedy.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009
* Lloyd, Michael A. ''The agon in Euripides.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992
* Pfitzner, Victor C. ''Paul and the Agon Motif: Traditional Athletic Imagery in the Pauline Literature.'' Leiden: Brill, 1967
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{{Greek mythology (deities), state=collapsed
Greek gods
Personifications in Greek mythology
Characters in Greek mythology
Ancient Greek theatre
Play (activity)
New Testament Greek words and phrases