I feel I ought to know this already...

[steepholm]

All right, here's a question that's suddenly popped into my head. What is the very first example of a play, film, or TV drama that portrays events in non-chronological sequence - e.g. by using a flashback? And, when it was written, did everyone say 'Wow!'? Or hit the writer over the head with a copy of Aristotle's Poetics?

How far back can we take this? Any offers?

Comments

[gair.livejournal.com]

But not a play, I suddenly realize. Hmm.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was partly thinking about Homer that got me wondering. In narrative poetry and prose there seem to be some quite complex flash-forwards, flash-backs, nestings, and the like, at a very early date. But physical representation is another matter: we don't see Oedipus kill Laertes, we just hear him talking about it, etc.

I've a suspicion that there could be some Elizabethan dumb-show scenes that fit the bill, but haven't come up with any clear examples yet.