First Use of The Phrase
The Roman lyric poet and satirist Horace (65–8 BC) first used the terms ab ovo ("from the egg") and in medias res ("into the middle of things") in his Ars poetica ("Poetic Arts", ca. 13 BC), wherein lines 147–149 describe the ideal epic poet:
Nor does he begin the Trojan War from the egg, but always he hurries to the action, and snatches the listener into the middle of things. . . .The "egg" reference is to the mythological origin of the Trojan War in the birth of Helen and Clytemnestra from the double egg laid by Leda following her rape, as a metamorphosed swan, by Zeus.
Read more about this topic: In Medias Res
Famous quotes containing the word phrase:
“There is something ridiculous and even quite indecent in an individual claiming to be happy. Still more a people or a nation making such a claim. The pursuit of happiness ... is without any question the most fatuous which could possibly be undertaken. This lamentable phrase “the pursuit of happiness” is responsible for a good part of the ills and miseries of the modern world.”
—Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–1990)