Agon

[Thesis and anti-thesis being one of the older patterns we have. Note that the article mentions this term arising in comedy, not drama.]

“In Ancient Greek drama, particularly old comedy (fifth century B.C.), Agon refers to the formal convention according to which the struggle between the characters should be scripted in order to supply the basis of the action. Agon is a formal debate which takes place between the chief characters in a Greek play, protagonist and antagonist, usually with the chorus acting as judge. The character who speaks second always wins the agon, since the last word is always hers or his.”

via Wikipedia