The Dactylic Hexameter
The rhythm of the Greek hexameter depends on the time occupied in pronouncing successive syllables, and is quite independent of word accent. It resembles, therefore, modern music rather than English poetry. There is, indeed, a regular recurrence of metrically stressed syllables § 8), but rhymed syllables are rare and perhaps accidental.
A short syllable contains a short vowel; this may be followed by a single consonant, either in the same word or in the next.
A syllable may be long either by nature or by position: 1. By nature, if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong. E. g. “ἠχή, τευχεύσῃ”. 2. By position, if its vowel, although naturally short, is followed by two (or three) consonants or a double consonant (ζ, ξ, ψ). φ, χ, and θ do not have the value of double consonants. E. g. in A 10, “νοῦσον ἀνὰ στρατὸν ὦρσε κακήν, ὀλέκοντο δὲ λα_οί”, the final syllable of “ἀνά” and the penult of “ὀλέκοντο” are long by “position.” It does not matter whether the two consonants are both in the same word with the short vowel or not. One may end the word, and the other begin the next; or they may both begin the next word.
Although a mute and a following liquid generally have the value of two consonants ( § 3.2), and in combination with a preceding short vowel regularly make a long syllable, it occasionally happens that such a syllable is short if the liquid is λ or ρ. E. g. the ultima of “πτερόεντα” is not lengthened in the often repeated line, A 201, etc., “καί μιν φωνήσα_ς ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα_”. Cf. 3.414, “σχετλίη”, of which the first syllable is short.
Each verse contains six feet, corresponding to bars in music; and each foot, except the last, consists of one long syllable followed by two short ones, or of two long syllables. Two short syllables are equivalent in value to one long.
A foot is thus indicated, graphically: “-uu” or “--”; or in musical notation, if a long syllable be represented by a quarter note, one quarter and two eighths, or two quarters.
The sixth foot always consists of two syllables; and these may be both long, or one long (the first) and one short.
The first syllable of each foot is emphasized in oral reading.1 This stress of the voice is called ictus (Latin for ‘blow,’ ‘beat’ in time); it can be indicated with an accent mark. The syllable that receives the ictus is called the thesis (Greek “θέσις”, a ‘setting down,’ as of the foot in marching); the rest of the foot —either one long syllable or two short syllables—the arsis (Greek “ἄρσις”, a ‘lifting,’ as of the foot in marching).
Roman writers referring these terms to the falling and rising inflection of the voice used them in exactly the reverse way. Some modern books continue the Roman use.
The foot that consists of a long and two short syllables is called a dactyl. Two long syllables in one foot compose a spondee. One long and one short syllable, found only in the sixth foot § 7), make a trochee. The whole verse (“ἔπος”) is called dactylic hexameter; sometimes, from its subject, heroic hexameter.
In the first five feet the poet used dactyls or spondees at his pleasure, but dactyls seem to have been preferred in certain places, e. g. in the third foot, and in the fourth foot before the bucolic diaeresis § 19). The fifth foot, in particular, is generally a dactyl; yet here too a spondee is not uncommon; such lines are called spondaic lines, and are said to occur, in Homer, in the proportion of one to eighteen. They are much less frequent in Vergil. Lines containing no dactyls are very rare.
Pauses.—If a word ends within a foot (i. e. if the foot is cut in two), the interruption is called caesura (Latin for ‘cutting’). If the end of a word coincides with the division between two feet (i. e. with the bar of musical notation), the coincidence is called diaeresis (Greek “διαίρεσις”, ‘division’). It is at these points, after a caesura or a diaeresis, that the voice may pause in reciting a verse. But unless a caesura or diaeresis coincides with a natural pause in sense, it is generally neglected; where such a coincidence does occur, however, the principal caesura or principal diaeresis is said to be found. Every verse contains at least one pause—almost always a principal caesura.
Following is a metrical scheme indicating the commonest position of the principal caesura and diaeresis: “-w -w -|u|u -w | -w -x
” The sign “Λ” denotes a rest equivalent to one short syllable.
A caesura can not occur before enclitics or other words that can not begin a sentence (“γάρ, δέ, ἄρα”, etc.), or after proclitics.
If a caesura occurs after the thesis of a foot, it is called masculine; if in the arsis, that is, between two short syllables, it is called feminine.
The third foot generally contains the principal caesura. The feminine caesura is more frequent than the masculine in this foot, the proportion between the two being approximately 4 to 3 (based on La Roche's figures). For examples of the feminine caesura see B 400-410; of the masculine, A 1 and 8.
A not uncommon pause is the masculine caesura of the fourth foot. E. g. A 3 (after “ψυχα?ς”) and A 7 (after “ἀνδρῶν”).
Such verses (indicated in § 17) often have a pause after the thesis of the second foot also. E. g. A 106, “μάντι κακῶν, οὔ πώ ποτέ μοι τὸ κρήγυον εἶπας”, or -u u- | - - uu - | - -uu -u.
Diaeresis is not so important as caesura in constituting a pause. The principal diaeresis, when it occurs, is commonly found between the fourth and fifth feet. This is known as the bucolic diaeresis, because it was a favorite with the bucolic poets, of whom the most famous was Theocritus (third century B. C.). How significant it is in Homer may be seen from the fact that the narrative sometimes comes to a complete stop at this point, and a new subject is introduced, as in A 348 and 430.
Less common than the bucolic diaeresis is the one that sometimes occurs between the first and second feet. E. g. A 32, “ἀλλ᾽ ἴθι μή μ᾽ ἐρέθιζε σαώτερος ὥς κε νέηαι.”, or - uu | - uu-u u-uu - u u-u.
A caesura that was almost always avoided by the Greek epic poets is the feminine caesura of the fourth foot. But compare B 479, “Ἄρεϊ δὲ ζώνην, στέρνον δὲ Ποσειδάωνι”, -uu - -- | -- u u---u.
To accustom the ear to the rhythm of the Greek dactylic hexameter it is advisable to read the lines aloud from the very beginning of the study of Homer. The natural flow of the hexameter, in perfect time, soon becomes a matter of instinct and requires little conscious foresight.
Lines 1 and 2 of Book I (A) are scanned: “μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,
” “-u u-u u- --uu- uu-u
-uu- - -u u-- -u u-u
” (For “-εω” pronounced as one syllable see § 43.) Lines 43-47 of A thus: “ὣς ἔφατ᾽ εὐχόμενος, τοῦ δ᾽ ἔκλυε Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων,
βῆ δὲ κατ᾽ Οὐλύμποιο καρήνων χωόμενος κῆρ,
τόξ᾽ ὤμοισιν ἔχων ἀμφηρεφέα τε φαρέτρην:
ἔκλαγξαν δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων χωομένοιο,
αὐτοῦ κινηθέντος: ὃ δ᾽ ἤϊε νυκτὶ ἐοικώς.
” “- uu -uu- - -uu -u u--
- u u ---u u-- -uu- -
- --u u- --uu- u u--
--- u u-u u -- -uu-u
-- ---u u -uu -u u--
” The caesura of line 46 is slight; observe the bucolic diaeresis. For long -α_ of fifth foot see § 33, and for short “-οι” of third foot see § 25.1.
Important to observe: (a) Elisions are indicated by the apostrophe § 40) and need give no further concern. (b) When, at the beginning of a word, a breathing is written over the first of two consecutive vowels (as in “ὀ ι στοί”), the vowels are of course pronounced as separate syllables.
Hiatus (Latin for ‘gaping’) occurs when a word ending in a vowel immediately precedes another which begins with a vowel. It may be avoided, of course, by elision, as “ἔφατ᾽”（“ο”) “εὐχόμενος”. It is chiefly found under the following conditions: 1. If the first of the two words ends in a long vowel or a diphthong which is regarded and used as a short syllable. This shortening of a final long vowel or diphthong in the arsis, before an initial vowel of the following word, is very common. E. g. A 14, “ἑκηβόλου ῎Απόλλοωνος” A 15, “χρυσέῳ ἀνὰ …” (“-εῳ” is pronounced as one syllable; cf. § 43). 3.164, “οὔτί μοι αἴτίη ἐσσί: θεοί νύ μοι αἴτιοί εἰσιν” a. Final “-αι” and “-οι”, though short in determining word accent, are metrically long except under the condition just noted. 2. If the first word ends in “-ι” (dative singular of third declension) or “-υ”. E. g. B 6, “Ἀγαμεμνονι οὖλον. Ω” 387, “σύ ἐσσι”. But many such instances (e. g. A 393) must be referred to § 25.3. 3. If the first word is followed by a natural pause ( § 16, § 19, 20). E. g. (a) Feminine caesura of third foot: A 27, “ἢ νῦν δηθυ?νοντα ι ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα”. (b) Masculine caesura of third foot: A 114, “κουριδίης ἀλόχου, ι ἐπεὶ οὔ ἑθέν ἐστι χερείων”. (c) Bucolic diaeresis: B 3, “ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε μερμήριζε κατὰ φρένα ι ὡς Ἀχιλῆα”. (d) Diaeresis after first foot: I 247, “ἀλλ᾽ ἄνα ι εἰ μέμονάς γε κτλ.” After the formula αὐτὰρ ὅ at the beginning of a line hiatus is several times found (as in A 333), although there is actually no pause in sense. 4. If the first word ends with the thesis of a foot, even when no natural pause occurs at that point. E. g. A 30,
Hiatus is not regarded when elision has already taken place. E. g. A 2, “μυ_ρἴ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγἐ ἔθηκεν”.
Hiatus seems to occur in some places where it really did not exist in the original words of the poet. This is because he or his predecessors pronounced an initial letter, usually digamma (“ϝ”), which later disappeared (cf. § 61). E. g. A 7, “Ἀτρεΐδης τε ϝάναξ κτλ.”
Shortening of long syllables
In accordance with the principle of § 25.1, even a long vowel or a diphthong within a word is sometimes shortened in the arsis of a foot, before another vowel. E. g. B 415Not infrequently such a vowel or diphthong is written short in the text, if the meter requires it. So two spellings of the same word may be found. E. g. “νέας” (A 487), “νῆας” (A 12). “ὑός” (A 489), “υἱός” (A 9). “Ἄρεος” (T 47), “Ἄρηος” (B 110). “ὠκέα” (B 786) for “ὠκεῖα. ἕαται” (3.134), “ἥατ᾽”（“αι”) (B 137). “Πηλέος” (16.203), “Πηλῆος” (I 147). “ὀλοῇς” (X 65), “ὀλοιῇσι” (A 342). “κέατ᾽”（“ο”) (24.610), “κείατο” (11.162).
Even before a single consonant, a vowel originally long is sometimes shortened in the arsis. E. g. “Ἀπόλλων” 1.43, 1.14, 2.344, 2,348, 6.320, 1.15.
The vowel thus shortened (cf. § 30) may be written short, giving rise to two spellings of the same word (cf. § 29). E. g. “μέν, μήν” (and “μα?ν”). Similarly “ἀτάρ” and “αὐτάρ”. δέ used as a continuative ‘then’—including ““δέ” in apodosis”—is equivalent in force to a weakened “δή”. Whether the two words are really identical in origin, however, is disputed.
Lengthening of short syllables
A short final syllable is sometimes used for a long syllable in the thesis of a foot if a metrical pause follows. E. g. A 19, A 153. So too A 226, 244, 527, B 24, 71, 3.24, etc.Not rarely the ictus itself seems to lengthen a short final syllable, even when no pause follows. E. g. A 45, B 39, B 169. Compare A 342, B 233, etc.
Initial syllables of words that could not otherwise be introduced into the hexameter are sometimes lengthened by the ictus. E. g. A 265.
The vowel thus lengthened is often written long in the text. E. g. A 2, “οὐλομένην” (Attic “ὀλομένην”). A 155, “βωτιανείρῃ” (“βόσκω”, ‘feed,’ and “ἀνήρ”). A 252, “ἠγαθέῃ” (“α?̓γα-”, ‘very’). B 77, “ἠμαθόεντος” (“α?̓́μαθος”, ‘sand’). B 89, “εἰαρινοῖσιν” (“ἔαρ”, ‘spring’). B 448, “ἠερέθονται” (“α?̓είρω”, ‘raise’). B 460, “δουλιχοδείρων” (“δολιχός”, ‘long’). Compare “εἰν ἀγορῇ” (I 13) for “ἐν ἀγορῇ”.
The initial syllable of the first foot is sometimes lengthened apparently by the ictus alone. E. g. 3.357, “διά”. X 379, “ἐπεί”.
In many instances where a short syllable seems to be used for a long, closer examination shows that it is really long by position. The value of a consonant (especially digamma) often remains, even when the letter itself has disappeared from the text. E. g. A 416. So too 3.2, 230, etc. Whether the initial consonant of “ὡς”, ‘like,’ was “ϝ” or y is uncertain. At any rate, it had disappeared in the Homeric age; its value was retained, however, in formulas like the one quoted, which were inherited from older time.
A short final vowel may make a long syllable when the next word begins with a liquid λ, μ, ν, ρ—or digamma, or sigma. E. g. A 233.
These same consonants § 38) are sometimes found written double, within a word, lengthening a preceding short syllable on which the ictus rests. E. g. A 173, “ἐπέσσυται”. A 278, “ἔμμορε”. A 420, “ἀγάννιφον” for “ἀγά-σνιφον”. B 170, “ἐυσσέλμοιο”. B 452, “ἄλληκτον. Γ” 34, “ἔλλαβε”. T 35, “ἀπο”[“ϝϝ”]“ειπών”. A 7, “Ἀχιλλεύς”, but A 1, “Ἀχιλῆος”. A 145, “Ὀδυσσεύς”, but A 138, “Ὀδυσῆος”. The longer spellings of the last two words may be original.
