In medias res

First use of the phrase

The Roman poet Horace first used the terms ab ovo and in medias res in his Ars Poetica around 13 BC. Lines 147–149 describe the ideal epic poet. The phrase refers to beginning a story in the middle of events, as opposed to starting from the mythological origin, such as the Trojan War's beginning with Leda's egg.

Literary history

The technique likely originated in oral tradition and is a convention of epic poetry, exemplified by Homer's Iliad and Odyssey from the 7th century BC, as well as the Mahābhārata. Virgil continued this in the Aeneid. Later works include the story 'The Three Apples' from One Thousand and One Nights, Dante's Divine Comedy, the Nibelungenlied, Cantar de Mio Cid, The Lusiads, Jerusalem Delivered, Paradise Lost, and many Modernist works.

Modern novelists such as William Faulkner and Toni Morrison used it with flashbacks. Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart' is written in medias res. Some biographers, like David McCullough in Truman, begin with a turning point.

Cinematic history

Film noir often begins in medias res, as in Crossfire (1947), which opens with a murder and tells the story through flashbacks, and Dead Reckoning (1947), where the protagonist is on the run and recounts his story to a priest. The technique appears across genres: dramas like Through a Glass Darkly, 8½, Raging Bull, and City of God; crime thrillers such as No Way Out, Grievous Bodily Harm, The Usual Suspects, and Kill Bill Volume 2; horror films like Firestarter; action films including many James Bond entries; and comedies such as Dr. Strangelove. Some argue Star Wars uses it, as A New Hope is the fourth episode.

Satirical superhero films like Deadpool and Birds of Prey employ it. Animated films such as Grave of the Fireflies, The Emperor's New Groove, Hoodwinked!, Happily N'Ever After, Megamind, and The Mitchells vs. the Machines open with a brief scene that foreshadows later events and is revisited. Many war films, including The Thin Red Line, begin with protagonists already in combat.