in medias res

[ in me-di-ahs res; English in mee-dee-uhs reez, in mey-dee-ahs reys ]

adverb

, Latin.

1. in the middle of things.

in medias res

/ ɪn ˈmiːdɪˌæs ˈreɪs /

(no translation)

1. in or into the middle of events or a narrative

in medias res

1. In the middle of the action. Epics often begin in medias res. For example, the Odyssey, which tells the story of the wanderings of the hero Odysseus , begins almost at the end of his wanderings, just before his arrival home. In medias res is a Latin phrase used by the poet Horace ; it means “in the middle of things.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of in medias res¹

literally: into the midst of things, taken from a passage in Horace's Ars Poetica