"Ab ovo" unum est e duobus generibus narrationis ab Horatio in carmine suo titulo Ars poëtica distinctis, qui in his versibus de Homero canit:
- Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
- nec gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo;
- semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res
- non secus ac notas auditorem rapit ... (Ars poëtica 146-149)
- Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri,
Vide etiam paginam fere homonymam: Ab ovo usque ad mala.
Horatius hic ad ovum Ledae alludit unde natae sunt geminae Helena et Clytaemnestra. Helena enim a Paride rapta causa fuerit belli Troiani. Poëta autem non a tali origine, sed "in medias res" narrationem Iliadis incipit.
Id genus narrativum Laurentius Sterne se adhibere pretendit in mythistoria The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759), ubi Tristram vitam suam e coitu parentium narrat. Sic iocose explicat:
- For which cause, right glad I am, that I have begun the history of myself in the way I have done; and that I am able to go on tracing every thing in it, as Horace says, ab Ovo. Horace, I know, does not recommend this fashion altogether: But that gentleman is speaking only of an epic poem or a tragedy; -- (I forget which) -- besides, if it was not so, I should beg Mr. Horace's pardon; -- for in writing what I have set about, I shall confine myself neither to his rules, nor to any man's rules that ever lived. (The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy vol. 1 cap. 4)
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