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Ab
Ab ovo
From the very beginning.
Stasinos, in the epic poem
called the Little Iliad, does not rush
in medias res, but begins with the eggs
of Leda, from one of which Helen was born. If Leda had not laid this
egg, Helen would never have been born. If Helen had not been born,
Paris could not have eloped with her. If Paris had not eloped with
Helen, there would have been no Trojan War,
etc.
Ab ovo usque ad mala.
From the first dish to the last.
A Roman coena (dinner) consisted
of three parts. The first course was the appetiser, and consisted
chiefly of eggs, with stimulants; the second was the “dinner
proper;” and the third the dessert, at which
mala
(i.e., all sorts of apples, pears,
quinces, pomegranates, and so on) formed the most conspicuous part.
—Hor. Sat. I. iii. 5.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Ab from Infoplease:
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