pentalogy
A pentalogy (from Greek πεντα- penta-, "five" and -λογία -logia, "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is explicitly divided into five parts. Although modern use of the word implies both that the parts are reasonably self-contained and that the structure was intended by the author, historically, neither was necessarily true: in fact, a pentalogia could be assembled by a later editor, just as Plotinus's Enneads were arranged in nines by Porphyry in order to create an overarching structure of six which would express the idea of perfection.
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Overview
- Literary examples
- Cinematic examples
- See also
- References
A pentalogy (from Greek πεντα- penta-, "five" and -λογία -logia, "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is explicitly divided into five parts. Although modern use of the word implies both that the parts are reasonably self-contained and that the structure was intended by the author, historically, neither was necessarily true: in fact, a pentalogia could be assembled by a later editor, just as Plotinus's Enneads were arranged in nines by Porphyry in order to create an overarching structure of six which would express the idea of perfection.
==Overview== In Western literature, the oldest quinary structure with great influence is the Torah or Pentateuch; in the Far East, it is the Five Classics. The most famous pentalogy in medieval literature is Nizami Ganjavi's Panj Ganj, or Khamsa ("Five Treasures"), a collection of five epics which was composed in the latter half of the 12th century. They were Makhzan al-Asrar, Khusraw o Shirin, Layli o Majnun, Eskandar-nameh, and Haft Paykar. The idea was widely imitated, the number five being seen as having mystical significance; for example, the 16th-century poet Faizi, the poet laureate of Akbar's court, attempted a work on the same scale, but completed only three of the intended five parts. Other famous examples include Amir Khusro: Khamsa-e-Nizami (13th century), a pentalogy of classical romances, and Ali-Shir Nava'i: Khamsa (16th century).