A story told, staged, or written within the work itself, which mirrors or comments on the main story.
In the Odyssey
but Odysseus pressed his mouth with his hands, firmly, without slackening, and saved all the Achaeans.
Menelaus tells the young guest an episode of Troy, the wooden horse, which is not part of the main action of the Odyssey. The story within the story shows the absent father in action and gives the son an image of the man he is looking for.