In medias res, also medias in res, is a phrase from the Latin and can be translated into the words in the middle of things. The word sequence comes from the so-called Piusenbrief, also Ars poetica, from Horaz, a great Roman poet. In the literary sciences, a narrative technique is described, in which the narrator comes directly to the core of the action.
Ars Poetica is a font written in hexameters. It played a decisive influence on the poetry of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Classicism. In this brief treatise, Horaz did not create an independent poetry, but he pointed to characteristics which, in his view, were essential for the aesthetics of a poetical work. In verse 148 we find the following:
Semper ad eventum festinat and medias res.
Translation: He always [Homer] quickly comes to the point and to the central things.
Horaz praises the speedy entry that Homer, a poet of the West, chooses for his works. The point is that the narrator does not choose a detailed description of the reader’s opinion and tells him the prehistory, but throws him directly into the actual action. The narrator thus proceeds quickly to the problem of the action, if the medias res is given preference.
In medias res as narrative
The word sequence describes a kind of narrative that is based on the fact that the reader is not too long with the introduction and atmospheric descriptions to the mood, but to throw him directly into the action. The prehistory is told during the advancing action.
There is a kind of simultaneity between the perception of the protagonist, the antagonist, the deuteragonist and the epic implementation. This means that the reader experiences directly what the characters of the narrative experience. The counterpart is an entry from ovo.
Abovo is also a turn that comes from Latin. This can be translated from the egg. Abovo means that a narrative is told of the origin and the reader presents the prehistory as well as an unanimous description. This sequence of words also goes back to Ars poetica.
Short overview: The most important overview
In media res is a phrase of Latin origin. It goes back to the poet Horace and can be translated into the middle of things. In a transcendent sense, the phrase means that a thing is being addressed quickly.
Horace, in his Ars poetica, compared the terms in media res and abovo. The first-named sequence of words describes a narrative that comes directly to the point, the second-named narrative, that is characterized by consistent descriptions.