1. The part of a classical drama in which the action develops and complications intensify, occurring between the protasis and catastrophe.
Usage: literary; drama criticism; classical rhetoric

Examples

• In Greek tragedy, the epitasis builds tension as the protagonist faces mounting obstacles.
• The epitasis of the play shows the hero's internal conflict growing more severe.
• During the epitasis, secondary characters introduce new complications that affect the main plot.
• Shakespeare's epitasis in Hamlet spans multiple scenes of deception and suspicion.
• The epitasis typically contains the turning point where the protagonist's fortune begins to change.