in medias res(Latin) into the middle of the story.[1] In his Ars Poetica, the Roman poet Horace thus describes the ideal epic poet:[2]
Ars Poetica
Nec gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo: Semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res, Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit ....
Nor does he begin the Trojan war from the double egg: Always he hurries on to the outcome; and into the middle of things, Just as if they were well known, he carries off the listener ....
