<P> Nor does he begin the Trojan War from the egg, </P> <P> but always he hurries to the action, and snatches the listener into the middle of things...</P> <P> 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 seduction by Zeus in the guise of a swan . </P> <P> Probably originated in oral tradition, the narrative technique of beginning a story in medias res is a stylistic convention of epic poetry, the exemplars in Western literature being the Iliad and the Odyssey (both 7th century BC), by Homer . Likewise, the technique features in the Indian Mahābhārata (c. 8th century BC--c. 4th century AD). </P>

Which literary work is the best example of in medias res