The Collaborative International Dictionary
Catastasis \Ca*tas"ta*sis\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to set; kata` down + ? to place.]
(Rhet.) That part of a speech, usually the exordium, in which the orator sets forth the subject matter to be discussed.
(Med.) The state, or condition of anything; constitution; habit of body.
Wiktionary
n. In classical drama, the third and penultimate section, in which action is heightened for the catastrophe.
Wikipedia
In classical tragedies, the catastasis (pl. catastases) is the third part of an ancient drama, in which the intrigue or action that was initiated in the epitasis, is supported and heightened, until ready to be unravelled in the catastrophe. It also refers to the climax of a drama.
In rhetoric, the catastasis is that part of a speech, usually the exordium, in which the orator sets forth the subject matter to be discussed.
The term is not a classical one; it was invented by Scaliger in his Poetics (published posthumously in 1561). It "is more or less equivalent to the summa epitasis of Donatus and Latomus and to what Willichius sometimes called the extrema epitasis," and was first used in 1616 in England.
Usage examples of "catastasis".
It doubles itself in the middle of his life, reflects itself in another, repeats itself, protasis, epitasis, catastasis, catastrophe.
And Pitchwife's wild effort heightened the mood to a catastasis, finally giving rise to a humor that was less desperate and more solacing-warm, purified, and indomitable.
And Pitchwife’s wild effort heightened the mood to a catastasis, finally giving rise to a humor that was less desperate and more solacing-warm, purified, and indomitable.