A narrative work beginningin medias res (Classical Latin:[ɪnˈmɛdɪ.aːsˈreːs],lit. "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning (cf.ab ovo,ab initio).[1] Often,exposition is initially bypassed, instead filled in gradually through dialogue,flashbacks, or description of past events. For example,Hamlet begins after the death of Hamlet's father, which is later discovered to have been a murder. Characters make reference toKing Hamlet's death without the plot's first establishment of this fact. Since the play is about Hamlet and the revenge more so than the motivation,Shakespeare usesin medias res to bypass superfluous exposition.
Works that employin medias res often later use flashback andnonlinear narrative for exposition to fill in thebackstory. InHomer'sOdyssey, the reader first learns aboutOdysseus's journey when he is held captive onOgygia,Calypso's island. The reader then finds out, in Books IX through XII, that the greater part of Odysseus's journey precedes that moment in the narrative. In Homer'sIliad there are fewer flashbacks, although it opens in the thick of theTrojan War.
The Roman lyric poet and satiristHorace (65–8 BC) first used the termsab ovo ("from the egg") andin mediās rēs ("into the middle of things") in hisArs Poetica ("Poetic Arts", c. 13 BC), wherein lines 147–149 describe the idealepic poet:[2]
Nor does he begin theTrojan Warfrom the egg,but always he hurries to the action, and snatches the listenerinto the middle of things ...
The word "egg" reference is to themythological origin of theTrojan War in the birth ofHelen andClytemnestra from the double egg laid byLeda following her seduction byZeus in the guise of aswan. Compare theIliad, which begins nine years after the start of the Trojan War, rather than at its beginning.
With likely origins inoral tradition, the narrative technique of beginning a storyin medias res is a stylistic convention ofepic poetry, the exemplars in Western literature being theIliad and theOdyssey (both 7th century BC), byHomer.[3] Likewise, theMahābhārata (c. 8th century BC – c. 4th century AD) opensin medias res.
Theclassical-era poetVirgil (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70–19 BC) continued this literary narrative technique in theAeneid.[3] Later works startingin medias res include the story "The Three Apples" from theOne Thousand and One Nights (c. 9th century),[4] the ItalianDivine Comedy (1320) byDante Alighieri,[5][6] the GermanNibelungenlied (12th century),[citation needed] the SpanishCantar de Mio Cid (c. 14th century),[7] the PortugueseThe Lusiads (1572) byLuís de Camões,[8]Jerusalem Delivered (1581) byTorquato Tasso,[citation needed]Paradise Lost (1667) byJohn Milton,[9] and generally inModernist literature.
Modern novelists usingin medias res with flashbacks includeWilliam Faulkner andToni Morrison.
Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" is writtenin medias res.[10]
Some biographers start with a turning point in the subject's life. For example,David McCullough'sTruman begins with his World War I experience.
It is typical forfilm noir to beginin medias res; for example, a private detective will enter the plot already in progress.[11]Crossfire (1947) opens with the murder of Joseph Samuels. As the police investigate the crime, the story behind the murder is told via flashbacks.[12]Dead Reckoning (1947) opens withHumphrey Bogart as Rip Murdock on the run and attempting to hide in a Catholic church. Inside, the backstory is told in flashback as Murdock explains his situation to a priest.[12]
The technique has been used across genres, including dramas such asThrough a Glass Darkly (1961),[13]8½ (1963),[13]Raging Bull (1980), andCity of God (2002);[14] crime thrillers such asNo Way Out (1987),Grievous Bodily Harm (1988),[15]The Usual Suspects (1995),[16] andKill Bill Volume 2 (2004);[17] horror films such asFirestarter (1984);[18] action films such as many in theJames Bond franchise;[16][19] and comedies such asDr. Strangelove (1964).[13] Some have argued thatStar Wars takes advantage of this technique because its first-released film,A New Hope, is the fourth episode of a nine-part epic.[20]
Superhero films with a satirical edge such asDeadpool (2016) andBirds of Prey (2020) have utilizedin medias res to frame their stories.[21]
Animated films such asGrave of the Fireflies (1988),The Emperor's New Groove (2000),Hoodwinked! (2005),Happily N'Ever After (2006),Megamind (2010), andThe Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) have opening scenesin medias res, with a brief but significant scene that foreshadows the events that occurred earlier. This scene is then seen again afterwards (although in a different way than how it was shown at the beginning).
Manywar films, such asThe Thin Red Line (1998), also beginin medias res, with the protagonists already actively in combat and no prior domestic scenes leading up to the film's events.[22]
necgemino bellum Troianum orditurab ovo; / semper ad eventum festinat etin medias res / [...] auditorem rapit
