A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- tetra-, "four" and -λογία -logia, "discourse"), also known as a quartet or quadrilogy, is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies followed by a satyr play, all by one author, to be played in one sitting at the Dionysia as part of a competition.[1]
Examples
Literature
- Tetrateuch is a sometime name for the first four books of the Bible.[2] The Tetrateuch plus Deuteronomy are collectively referred to as the Pentateuch.
- Tintitives by Antiphon of Rhamnus; the author was an orator, and Tintitives is a kind of textbook for students. Each book consists of four speeches: the prosecutor's opening speech, the first speech for the defense, the prosecutor's reply, and the defendant's conclusion. Three of his tetralogies are known to have survived.[3]
- The traditional arrangement of the works of Plato into nine tetralogies, including some doubtful works, and the letters as a single work.
- The Henriad, two tetralogies of history plays of William Shakespeare. The First Tetralogy in order of composition begins with the three Henry VI plays. The Second Tetralogy finishes with the history of Henry V.
Modern
- Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner[4]
- Alexandria Quartet (1957-1960) by Lawrence Durrell.
- The Buru Quartet (1980-1988) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
- The Sea of Fertility (1969-1971) by Yukio Mishima
- The Once and Future King (1938-1958) By T.H. White
- The Ware Tetralogy (1982-2000) by Rudy Rucker
- The Book of the New Sun (1980-1983) by Gene Wolfe
- The History of the Runestaff (1967-1969) by Michael Moorcock
- Rabbit Angstrom: A Tetralogy (1960-1990) by John Updike, comprising Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest
- Parade's End (1924-1928) by Ford Madox Ford
- Lonesome Dove series (1985-1997) by Larry McMurtry
- The Giver Quartet (1983-2012) by Lois Lowry
Films
- Alien (1979, 1986, 1992, 1997)
- Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015)
- The Avengers (2012, 2015, 2018, 2019)
- Batman (1989, 1992, 1995, 1997)
- The Crow (1994, 1996, 2000, 2005)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010, 2011, 2012, 2017)
- Hotel Transylvania (2012, 2015, 2018, 2021)
- The Hunger Games (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
- Indiana Jones (1981, 1984, 1989, 2008)
- Insidious (2010, 2013, 2015, 2018)
- Ip Man (2008, 2010, 2015, 2019)
- Jaws (1975, 1978, 1983, 1987)
- John Wick (2014, 2017, 2019, 2022)
- Mad Max (1979, 1981, 1985, 2015)
- The Matrix (1999, 2003, 2003, 2021)
- Men in Black (1997, 2002, 2012, 2019)
- MonsterVerse (2014, 2017, 2019, 2021)
- Predator (1987, 1991, 2010, 2018)
- Rebuild of Evangelion (2007, 2009, 2012, 2021)
- REC (2007, 2009, 2012, 2014)
- Shrek (2001, 2004, 2007, 2010)
- Spy Kids (2001, 2002, 2003, 2011)
- Thor (2011, 2013, 2017, 2022)
- Toy Story (1995, 1999, 2010, 2019)
- Superman (1978, 1980, 1983, 1987)
Other information
In the early modern period of literature, Shakespeare drafted a pair of tetralogies, the first consisting of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III, and the second, what we now call a prequel because it is set earlier, consisting of Richard II, the two Henry IV plays, and Henry V.[5]
As an alternative to "tetralogy", "quartet" is sometimes used, particularly for series of four books. The term "quadrilogy", using the Latin prefix quadri- instead of the Greek, and first recorded in 1865,[6] has also been used for marketing the Alien movies.
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