Sunday, May 8, 2011
In Medias Res
The "In Medias Res" style in Homer's The Odyssey and in The Iliad, is a style very common for Homeric style epics. In Medias Res, is where a story begins in the middle or during the conclusion and the beginning of the story is told in flashbacks. This causes some confusion in the case of The Odyssey, when, the actual book starts closer to the time Odysseus will return and then goes a little back in time to meet up with Odysseus. When Odysseus is asked about his journey thus far by Alcinous in book 8 he starts with the Cyclops, from there he talks about Calypso, then Circe and the story once again catches up with the present. I personally don't like this style of writing, because I feel like there is too much going back and forth, and I already know the story of The Odyssey so is feel like a bunch of waiting. However, when it was originally told by storytelling, so it would make more sense for the story to be told in flashbacks instead of from beginning to end. It's the transition from spoken word, to written story.
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I agree with you in terms of my dislike of the "in medias res" structure to the story, but writing a story like this does have its advantages. In the Odyssey in particular, this adds depth to the character development of Odysseus. This is true because by not revealing the story of most of his journey until the middle of the book, it allows Odysseus to tell it himself. This way, we can see personally Odysseus' take on events as they are being described. One situation where we see Odysseus insert a description of his emotions is when he tells "From there we sailed on, glad to escape our death yet sick at heart for the dear companions we had lost" (234). Though Odysseus' input is not always this obvious, sometimes the words he chooses provide further insight on his perspective than those of a narrator could.
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