Hexalogy is a multi-part artistic work consisting of six parts. Hexalogy means a musical, cinematic, literary or dramatic play, the term sometimes also being used in other areas, and thus applied to other six-part series. It is essential for a work of this kind that the individual parts, although in substance, belong together, but generally appear independent. This means that the action of the respective parts is self-contained and thus also works alone. In addition, cliffhangers, who would interrupt the action abruptly, are rare. Usually, the term is referred to the literature – mostly prose works – or the film.
The term is derived from the Greek noun hexalogía. This word consists of the prefix hexa for six and logos for word. If one follows this translation, the hexalogy is a six-word. In the meant sense, a content consisting of six parts is meant.
Likewise, all other multipartes are described in the literature. The correct term always consists of the Greek prefix for the respective number word and the unit logie – derived from the noun logos. According to this, the second part is called a dilogy, the three-part as a trilogy, and the four-part as a tetralogy, and the five-part as a pentalogy, etc. (see Mehrteiler)
For the first time there were such divisions in Greek antiquity. For example, in the 5th century BC, The Great Dionysia took place to honor the god Dionysus. To this feast a poetry contest was organized, which was annually performed by three tragedy poets. Each poet, who was allowed to participate in this annual spectacle, presented three content-related works, which were called a trilogy. Later these were extended by a relaxing satyr play and thus to the tetralogy, whereby these terms were sustainably coined.
Nowadays these terms are, of course, no longer reserved for drama and it is quite common to describe all the products of art, which consist of several parts and relate to one another in terms of content. In everyday life, however, we are mainly confronted with the second, the trilogy or the tetralogy, where the pentalogy, hexalogy, heptalogy or even Ikosalogie are quite unknown. The literary scholar John H. Timmerman even described the concept of hexalogy as a kind of “linguistic crime” (The World of Fantasy, 1983, p. 103).
Hexalogie examples
Min kamp by Karl Ove Knausgård (Literature)
Min kamp. Første bok (2009)
Min kamp. Andre bok (2009)
Min kamp. Tredje bok (2009)
Min kamp. Fjerde bok (2010)
Min kamp. Femte bok (2010)
Min kamp. Sjette bok (2010)
From the bourgeois heroism (1908-1923) by Carl Sternheim (literature)
The pants
The Snob
1913
The Fossil
The cassette
Citizen Schippel
