The protasis is the “if” clause of a conditional sentence and the opening part of a play where characters are introduced. It cannot stand alone and is followed by the apodosis, the main clause. Different relationships between the two are possible, and the use of the word in drama dates back to the Late Classical period. Hamlet’s opening scene is an example of a prosthesis setting up the action for the rest of the play.
In linguistics, the protasis is the “if” clause of an “if-then” sentence. As far as drama is concerned, it is the opening part of a play, usually the first act, in which the main characters are introduced. Both meanings have the sense of something that comes before something else. The “if” clause generally comes first in the sentence and characters are introduced before the main action in a game occurs.
A complete conditional sentence contains two clauses: a protasis and an apodosis. The protasis is a subordinate clause, meaning it cannot stand on its own as a complete sentence. An apodosis, or “then” clause, is the main clause. For example, in the sentence “If it thunders, then the kitten could hide under the bed,” “if it thunders” is protasis, and “then the kitten could hide under the bed” is apodosis. The word “then” can be omitted from the conditional sentence: “If it thunders, the kitten may be hiding under the bed.”
Different relationships between protasis and apodosis are possible. In the sentence above, the protasis causes apodosis, like thunder causes the kitten to hide. Other types of conditional sentences contain hypothetical situations contrary to fact. For example, the sentence “If there were bananas in space, then monkeys could live in them” contains two clauses that are not true. Syntactically, the sentence implies that if the first clause were true, then the second would be true as well.
The use of this word in drama dates back to the Late Classical period. In traditional Greek and Roman theatre, the play is usually introduced by a chorus or a single actor who provides the appropriate background to the story. For most modern theaters, background information is provided by the dialogue at the beginning of the play. Both types of opening can be described as a prosthesis.
Hamlet, for example, begins with a scene where two guards see the ghost of Hamlet’s father. During the first act, the ghost tells the story of how Hamlet’s uncle killed him. This way, the prosthetic sets up the action for the rest of the game.
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