In medias res
In medias res is the literary and artistic narrative technique of relating a story from the midpoint, rather than the beginning. In an
in medias res narrative, the story opens with dramatic action rather than exposition setting up the characters and situation.
In medias res often, though not always, entails subsequent use of flashback and nonlinear narrative for exposition of earlier events in order to fill in the backstory. For example, in Homer's
Odyssey, we first learn about Odysseus' journey when he is held captive on Calypso's island. We then find out, in Books IX through XII, that the greater part of Odysseus' journey precedes that moment in the narrative. On the other hand, Homer's
Iliad has relatively few flashbacks, although it opens in the thick of the Trojan War.