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<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Greek prosody</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. 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.sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="width:auto"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title"><a href="/wiki/Greek_and_Latin_metre" title="Greek and Latin metre">Greek and Latin metre</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content plainlist"> <ul><li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Greek prosody</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latin_prosody" title="Latin prosody">Latin prosody</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter" title="Dactylic hexameter">Dactylic hexameter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elegiac_couplet" title="Elegiac couplet">Elegiac couplet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alcmanian_verse" title="Alcmanian verse">Alcmanian verse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Archilochian" title="Archilochian">Archilochian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latin_rhythmic_hexameter" title="Latin rhythmic hexameter">Latin rhythmic hexameter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iambic_trimeter" title="Iambic trimeter">Iambic trimeter</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saturnian_(poetry)" title="Saturnian (poetry)">Saturnian (poetry)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metres_of_Roman_comedy" title="Metres of Roman comedy">Metres of Roman comedy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trochaic_septenarius" title="Trochaic septenarius">Trochaic septenarius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hendecasyllable" title="Hendecasyllable">Hendecasyllable</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Choliamb" title="Choliamb">Choliamb</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aeolic_verse" title="Aeolic verse">Aeolic verse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Choriamb" title="Choriamb">Choriamb</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glyconic" title="Glyconic">Glyconic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Asclepiad_(poetry)" title="Asclepiad (poetry)">Asclepiad (poetry)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sapphic_stanza" title="Sapphic stanza">Sapphic stanza</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alcaic_stanza" title="Alcaic stanza">Alcaic stanza</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ionic_metre" class="mw-redirect" title="Ionic metre">Ionic metre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anacreontics" title="Anacreontics">Anacreontics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Galliambic_verse" title="Galliambic verse">Galliambic verse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sotadean_metre" title="Sotadean metre">Sotadean metre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dochmiac" title="Dochmiac">Dochmiac</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lekythion" title="Lekythion">Lekythion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anaclasis_(poetry)" title="Anaclasis (poetry)">Anaclasis (poetry)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metrical_foot" title="Metrical foot">Metrical foot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metron_(poetry)" title="Metron (poetry)">Metron (poetry)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brevis_in_longo" title="Brevis in longo">Brevis in longo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anceps" title="Anceps">Anceps</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biceps_(prosody)" title="Biceps (prosody)">Biceps (prosody)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Resolution_(meter)" title="Resolution (meter)">Resolution (meter)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brevis_brevians" title="Brevis brevians">Brevis brevians</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Porson%27s_Law" title="Porson's Law">Porson's Law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arsis_and_thesis" title="Arsis and thesis">Arsis and thesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catalexis" title="Catalexis">Catalexis</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Greek_and_Latin_metre" title="Template:Greek and Latin metre"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Greek_and_Latin_metre" title="Template talk:Greek and Latin metre"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Greek_and_Latin_metre" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Greek and Latin metre"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Prosody</b> (from <a href="/wiki/Middle_French" title="Middle French">Middle French</a> <i lang="frm"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prosodie#Middle_French" class="extiw" title="wikt:prosodie">prosodie</a></i>, from <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> <i lang="la"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prosodia#Latin" class="extiw" title="wikt:prosodia">prosōdia</a></i>, from <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Ancient Greek</a> <span lang="grc"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%80%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%83%E1%BF%B3%CE%B4%CE%AF%CE%B1#Ancient_Greek" class="extiw" title="wikt:προσῳδία">προσῳδίᾱ</a></span> (<span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>prosōidíā</i></span>), "song sung to music; pronunciation of syllable") is the theory and practice of versification.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Prosody">Prosody</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Prosody"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Greek poetry is based on <a href="/wiki/Mora_(linguistics)#Ancient_Greek" title="Mora (linguistics)">syllable length</a>, not on <a href="/wiki/Stress_(linguistics)" title="Stress (linguistics)">syllable stress</a>, as in English. The two syllable lengths in Greek poetry are <b>long</b> and <b>short</b>. It is probable that in the natural spoken language there were also syllables of intermediate length, as in the first syllable of words such as τέκνα /<i>tékna</i>/ 'children', where a short vowel is followed by a plosive + liquid combination; but for poetic purposes such syllables were treated as either long or short.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Thus in the opening speech of the play <i><a href="/wiki/Oedipus_Rex" title="Oedipus Rex">Oedipus Tyrannus</a></i>, <a href="/wiki/Sophocles" title="Sophocles">Sophocles</a> treats the first syllable of τέκνα /<i>tékna</i>/ as long in line 1, but as short in line 6. </p><p>Different kinds of poetry use different patterns of long and short syllables, known as meters (UK: metres). For example, the epic poems of <a href="/wiki/Homer" title="Homer">Homer</a> were composed using the pattern | – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – – | (the so-called <a href="/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter" title="Dactylic hexameter">dactylic hexameter</a>, where – represents a long syllable, and u a short one.) </p><p>It would appear that most Ancient Greek poetry, including the poems of Homer, was composed to be sung to music, and it is generally assumed by those who have reconstructed the surviving fragments of Greek music, such as the <a href="/wiki/Seikilos_epitaph" title="Seikilos epitaph">Seikilos epitaph</a>, that a short syllable was sung to a short note, while the long syllables were sung to longer notes, or to a group of two or three short notes.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The word-accents in Greek poetry did not affect the meter, but contributed to the melody, in that (judging from the Seikilos inscription and other fragments) syllables with an acute accent tended to be sung on a higher pitch, and those with a circumflex were sung on two notes, the first higher than the second. (See <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek_accent" title="Ancient Greek accent">Ancient Greek accent</a> for musical examples.) </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Determining_Quantity">Determining Quantity</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Determining Quantity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>There are rules that determine the length of any given syllable. A syllable is said to be "long by nature" if it contains a long vowel or a <a href="/wiki/Diphthong" title="Diphthong">diphthong</a>: </p> <ul><li>η and ω are always long.</li> <li>α, ι, and υ can be either long or short.</li> <li>αι, αυ, ει, ευ, οι, ου, ηυ, υι, ᾳ, ῃ and ῳ are either diphthongs or in some cases represent long vowels written as a digraph.</li></ul> <p>A syllable is "long by position" if the vowel precedes the consonants ζ /zd/, ξ /ks/ or ψ /ps/ or two other consonants. However, a plosive followed by a liquid or a nasal will not necessarily lengthen a syllable.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ul><li>π, β, φ, τ, δ, θ, κ, γ and χ are <a href="/wiki/Plosives" class="mw-redirect" title="Plosives">plosives</a>.</li> <li>λ and ρ are <a href="/wiki/Liquid_consonant" title="Liquid consonant">liquids</a>.</li> <li>μ and ν are <a href="/wiki/Nasal_consonant" title="Nasal consonant">nasals</a>.</li></ul> <p>The final syllable of a line, even if short by nature, is, if the relevant hypothesis is accepted, generally considered long ("<a href="/wiki/Brevis_in_longo" title="Brevis in longo">brevis in longo</a>"), as in the opening line of <a href="/wiki/Euripides" title="Euripides">Euripides</a>' play <i><a href="/wiki/The_Bacchae" title="The Bacchae">The Bacchae</a></i>: </p> <ul><li><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἥκω Διὸς παῖς τήνδε Θηβαίων χθόνα</span></span> <br /><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>hḗkō Diòs paîs tḗnde Thēbaíōn khthóna</i></span><br />| – – u – | – – u – | – – u – |<br />"I, the son of Zeus, have come to this land of the Thebans"</li></ul> <p>An exception to the brevis in longo rule is occasionally found in lyric poetry when lines sometimes form a continuous system without a pause between one line and the next, for example Aristophanes, <i>Birds</i> 333.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>When a single consonant comes between two vowels, such as in the word <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">χθόνα</span></span> (<span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>khthóna</i></span>), the consonant is deemed to start the second syllable: <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">χθό-να</span></span>. A syllable ending in a vowel, like χθό-, is called an "open syllable". Note that ζ <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/zd/</span>, ξ <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ks/</span> and ψ <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ps/</span> count as two consonants, and a word like <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄξιος</span></span> (<span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>áxios</i></span>) is divided into syllables as <i>ak-si-os</i>, with the first syllable closed. A short syllable is a syllable which is open and which has a short vowel, such as <i>khtho-</i> or <i>di-</i>. </p><p>If a word ends in a short vowel + consonant, such as <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄξιος</span></span> (<span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>áxios</i></span>), the final syllable will be treated as long by position if the next word starts with a consonant; but if the next word starts with a vowel, the consonant will be taken as part of the next syllable and the final syllable of the word will be considered short, for example <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄξιός ἐστι</span></span> (<span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>áxiós esti</i></span>), syllabified as <i>ak-si-o-ses-ti</i>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Exceptions">Exceptions</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Exceptions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>γμ, γν, δμ and δν will always make a long syllable even when preceded by a short vowel, e.g. <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Κάδμος</span></span> (<i><u>kád</u>mos</i>) 'Cadmus'.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>In epic and elegiac poetry, a long vowel or diphthong at the end of a word preceding a vowel is usually shortened, e.g. <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄνδρα <u>μοι</u> ἔννεπε</span></span><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (<span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>ándra <u>moi</u> énnepe</i></span>) 'tell me of the man', which is scanned | – u u | – u u |. This is called "Epic <a href="/wiki/Correption" title="Correption">Correption</a>." Correption is also sometimes found within a word, e.g. <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὑιός</span></span> u –, <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τουτουί</span></span> – u –.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Metrical_feet">Metrical feet</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Metrical feet"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The ancient prosodists divided lines of verse into '<a href="/wiki/Foot_(prosody)" class="mw-redirect" title="Foot (prosody)">feet</a>', each foot consisting usually of 3 or 4 syllables (but sometimes 2 or 5). These can be seen as roughly equivalent to <a href="/wiki/Bar_(music)" title="Bar (music)">bars</a> in a line of music. The different varieties of feet were given different names, as follows: </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Disyllables">Disyllables</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Disyllables"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Systems_of_scansion#Classical_scansion_--_macron_and_breve" class="mw-redirect" title="Systems of scansion">Macron and breve</a> notation: – = long syllable; ᴗ = short syllable. </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: left"> <tbody><tr> <th>pattern </th> <th>name </th></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td><a href="/wiki/Pyrrhic" title="Pyrrhic">pyrrhus, dibrach</a> </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ –</td> <td><a href="/wiki/Iamb_(foot)" class="mw-redirect" title="Iamb (foot)">iamb</a> /<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ˈaɪæm</span>/<sup id="cite_ref-COED_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-COED-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (or iambus) </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ</td> <td><a href="/wiki/Trochee" title="Trochee">trochee</a>/ /<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ˈtrəʊkiː</span>/,<sup id="cite_ref-COED_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-COED-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Choree" class="mw-redirect" title="Choree">choree</a> (or choreus) </td></tr> <tr> <td>– –</td> <td><a href="/wiki/Spondee" title="Spondee">spondee</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Trisyllables">Trisyllables</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Trisyllables"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: left"> <tbody><tr> <th>pattern </th> <th>name </th></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td>tribrach </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td>dactyl </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ – ᴗ</td> <td>amphibrach </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ –</td> <td>anapaest (anapest) </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ – –</td> <td>bacchius </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ –</td> <td>cretic </td></tr> <tr> <td>– – ᴗ</td> <td>antibacchius </td></tr> <tr> <td>– – –</td> <td>molossus </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Tetrasyllables">Tetrasyllables</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Tetrasyllables"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: left"> <tbody><tr> <th>pattern </th> <th>name </th></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td>proceleusmatic, tetrabrach </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td>first paeon </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ – ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td>second paeon </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ</td> <td>third paeon </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ ᴗ –</td> <td>fourth paeon </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td>– – ᴗ ᴗ</td> <td>major ionic </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ ᴗ – –</td> <td>minor ionic </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ – ᴗ</td> <td>ditrochee </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ – ᴗ –</td> <td>diiamb </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ ᴗ –</td> <td>choriamb </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ – – ᴗ</td> <td>antispast </td></tr> <tr> <td>ᴗ – – –</td> <td>first epitrite /ˈɛpɪˌtraɪt/ </td></tr> <tr> <td>– ᴗ – –</td> <td>second epitrite </td></tr> <tr> <td>– – ᴗ –</td> <td>third epitrite </td></tr> <tr> <td>– – – ᴗ</td> <td>fourth epitrte </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <td>– – – –</td> <td>dispondee </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Non-lyric_meters">Non-lyric meters</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Non-lyric meters"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Non-lyric meters are those used for narrative, funeral elegies, the dialogue of tragedies, pastoral poetry, and didactic poetry. A characteristic of these metres is that every line is the same length throughout the poem (except for the elegiac couplet, in which the whole couplet is repeated throughout the poem). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Dactylic">Dactylic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Dactylic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Hexameter">Hexameter</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Hexameter"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The earliest Greek poetry, namely the poems ascribed to <a href="/wiki/Homer" title="Homer">Homer</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hesiod" title="Hesiod">Hesiod</a>, is written in <a href="/wiki/Dactylic_hexameter" title="Dactylic hexameter">dactylic hexameters</a>, of which the basic scheme is as follows: </p> <dl><dd>| – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – – |</dd></dl> <p>In this meter any of the pairs of short syllables (u u) can be replaced by a long syllable (–), although this is rare in the fifth foot. </p><p>The opening lines of Homer's epic poem the <a href="/wiki/Iliad" title="Iliad">Iliad</a> are scanned as follows: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεὰ, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>mênin áeide, theà, Pēlēïádeō Akhilêos</i></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>ouloménēn, hḕ murí’ Akhaioîs álge’ éthēke,</i></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>pollàs d’ iphthímous psukhàs Áïdi proḯapsen</i></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>hērṓōn, autoùs dè helṓria teûkhe kúnessin</i></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>oiōnoîsí te pâsi, Diòs d’ eteleíeto boulḗ,</i></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>ex hoû dḕ tà prôta diastḗtēn erísante</i></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>Atreḯdēs te ánax andrôn kaì dîos Akhilleús.</i></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u u | – u u | – – | – u u | – u u | – – |</dd> <dd>| – u u | – – | – u u | – – | – u u | – – |</dd> <dd>| – – | – – | – – | – u u | – u u | – – |</dd> <dd>| – – | – – | – u u | – u u | – u u | – – |</dd> <dd>| – – | – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – – |</dd> <dd>| – – | – – | – u u | – – | – u u | – – |</dd> <dd>| – u u | – u u | – – | – – | – u u | – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"Sing, <a href="/wiki/Muse" class="mw-redirect" title="Muse">goddess</a>, of the anger of Peleus' son <a href="/wiki/Achilles" title="Achilles">Achilles</a>,</dd> <dd>that destructive anger, which made countless sorrows for the <a href="/wiki/Achaeans_(Homer)" title="Achaeans (Homer)">Achaeans</a>,</dd> <dd>and sent many mighty souls to <a href="/wiki/Hades" title="Hades">Hades</a></dd> <dd>of heroes, and made them prey for dogs</dd> <dd>and birds of all kinds, and the plan of <a href="/wiki/Zeus" title="Zeus">Zeus</a> was fulfilled;</dd> <dd>(sing) from when that first time the two differed, quarrelling –</dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Agamemnon" title="Agamemnon">Atreus' son</a>, lord of men, and godlike Achilles."</dd></dl> <p>In order to accommodate the words to the meter, Homer often varies them. Thus in the above extract, the final two vowels of <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Πηληϊάδεω</span></span> are merged into one by <a href="/wiki/Synizesis" title="Synizesis">synizesis</a>, the first vowel of <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὀλομένην</span></span> "destructive" is lengthened to make <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὐλομένην</span></span>, the name "Achilles" is sometimes pronounced with a double and sometimes with a single "l" <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἀχιλλεύς, Ἀχιλῆος</span></span>, and so on. He also uses the past tense of verbs sometimes with the augment <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἐ-</span></span>, e.g. <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔθηκε</span></span>, and sometimes without it, e.g. <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τεῦχε</span></span>. </p><p>The line is divided into six feet, known as dactyls (– u u) and spondees (– –). In this opening passage of the Iliad, dactyls and spondees are equally common, although overall in Greek hexameters, the dactylic foot is slightly more common (in the ratio 60-40), while in Latin hexameters the spondee is more common (in the same ratio).<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The fifth foot in Greek hexameters is nearly always a dactyl; in Homer only 1 line in 18 has a spondaic fifth foot.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Because the final syllable in a line is long by position, the last foot is always a spondee. </p><p>Often there is a slight pause in the line, known as a <a href="/wiki/Caesura" title="Caesura">caesura</a>, in the middle of the third foot, as in lines 1, 5, and 6 above. However, for variety the position of the caesura can change, for example to the middle of the 2nd foot, as in lines 2 and 4, or the middle of the 4th foot, as in lines 3 and 7. There is never a word-break exactly in the middle of the line, although pastoral poetry (such as that of <a href="/wiki/Theocritus" title="Theocritus">Theocritus</a>) often makes a word-break between the 4th and 5th foot, known as a "bucolic caesura".<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Elegiac_couplet">Elegiac couplet</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Elegiac couplet"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The dactylic hexameter is also used for short epigrams, such as <a href="/wiki/Simonides_of_Ceos" title="Simonides of Ceos">Simonides</a>' epigram commemorating the Spartans who died in the battle of <a href="/wiki/Thermopylae" title="Thermopylae">Thermopylae</a> of 480 BC. In this case it is joined with a <a href="/wiki/Dactylic_pentameter" title="Dactylic pentameter">pentameter</a>, consisting of two sections of two and a half feet each. The second half of a pentameter always has | – u u | – u u | – |, without variation. </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὦ ξεῖν’, ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε</span></span> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.</span></span></dd></dl></dd></dl> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>ô xeîn’, angéllein Lakedaimoníois hóti têide</i></span> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek transliteration" lang="grc-Latn"><i>keímetha toîs keínōn rhḗmasi peithómenoi.</i></span></dd></dl></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – – | – – | – u u | – u u | – u u | – – | <dl><dd>| – u u | – – | – || – u u | – u u | – |</dd></dl></dd></dl> <dl><dd>"O stranger, take news to the Spartans that in this place <dl><dd>we lie, obedient to their words."</dd></dl></dd></dl> <p>The dactylic hexameter-pentameter couplet was also used for <a href="/wiki/Elegy" title="Elegy">elegies</a> (hence the name "<a href="/wiki/Elegiac_couplet" title="Elegiac couplet">elegiac couplet</a>") and later, in writers such as <a href="/wiki/Callimachus" title="Callimachus">Callimachus</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Hellenistic_period" title="Hellenistic period">Hellenistic period</a>, for poems about love. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Iambic">Iambic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Iambic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Tragic_trimeter">Tragic trimeter</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Tragic trimeter"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Another very common meter, which is used in the dialogues of Greek plays, is the <a href="/wiki/Iambic_trimeter" title="Iambic trimeter">iambic trimeter</a>. The basic scheme for this is as follows (where "x" represents an <i>anceps</i> syllable, that is one which may be either long or short): </p> <dl><dd>| x – u – | x – u – | x – u – |</dd></dl> <p>The group | x – u – | is known as a "<a href="/wiki/Metron_(poetry)" title="Metron (poetry)">metron</a>", consisting of two feet.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the first and second metron, one of the two long syllables may be replaced by two short ones, making the following possible variations: </p> <dl><dd>| – uu u – |</dd> <dd>| u uu u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u uu |</dd> <dd>| u – u uu |</dd></dl> <p>Occasionally also, especially to accommodate a proper name, as in lines 2 and 3 of the example below, the <i>anceps</i> syllable may be replaced by two shorts: </p> <dl><dd>| uu – u – |</dd></dl> <p>Unlike most other kinds of Greek poetry, it appears that the iambic trimeter was used for dialogue unaccompanied by music.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The opening lines of <a href="/wiki/Euripides" title="Euripides">Euripides</a>' play the <i><a href="/wiki/The_Bacchae" title="The Bacchae">Bacchae</a></i> are scanned as follows (the resolved elements are underlined): </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἥκω Διὸς παῖς τήνδε Θηβαίων χθόνα</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc"><u>Διό</u>νυσος, ὃν τίκτει ποθ’ ἡ Κάδμου κόρη</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc"><u>Σεμέ</u>λη λοχευθεῖσ’ ἀστραπηφόρῳ πυρί·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μορφὴν δ’ ἀμείψας ἐκ θεοῦ βροτησίαν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πάρειμι Δίρκης νάματ’ Ἰσμηνοῦ θ’ ὕδωρ.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὁρῶ δὲ μητρὸς μνῆμα τῆς κεραυνίας</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τόδ’ ἐγγὺς οἴκων καὶ δόμων ἐρείπια</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τυ<u>φόμε</u>να δίου <u>πυρὸς</u> ἔτι ζῶσαν φλόγα,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἀ<u>θάνα</u>τον Ἥρας μητέρ’ εἰς ἐμὴν ὕβριν.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">αἰνῶ δὲ Κάδμον, <u>ἄβα</u>τον ὃς πέδον τόδε</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τίθησι, <u>θυγα</u>τρὸς σηκόν· ἀμπέλου δέ νιν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πέριξ ἐγὼ ’κάλυψα <u>βοτρυ</u>ώδει χλόῃ.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – – u – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| uu – u – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| uu – u – | – – u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u – | – – u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u – | – – u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – uu u – | – uu u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – uu u – | – – u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | u uu u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u uu | – – u – | u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u – | u – u uu | – – u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"I, son of <a href="/wiki/Zeus" title="Zeus">Zeus</a>, have come to this land of the <a href="/wiki/Thebes,_Greece" title="Thebes, Greece">Thebans</a>,</dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Dionysus" title="Dionysus">Dionysus</a>, whom once that daughter of <a href="/wiki/Cadmus" title="Cadmus">Cadmus</a> bore,</dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Semele" title="Semele">Semele</a>, brought to birth by lightning-born fire;</dd> <dd>and having changed from a god to mortal shape</dd> <dd>I am here by the streams of <a href="/wiki/Dirce" title="Dirce">Dirce</a> and Ismenus' water.</dd> <dd>And I see the tomb of my mother who was struck by lightning,</dd> <dd>here near the palace, and the ruins of her house</dd> <dd>smoking with the still living flame of the divine fire,</dd> <dd>the undying insult of <a href="/wiki/Hera" title="Hera">Hera</a> towards my mother.</dd> <dd>And I praise Cadmus, who made this ground holy,</dd> <dd>a sanctuary for his daughter; and I have covered it</dd> <dd>all round with the grape-bearing greenness of the vine."</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Comic_trimeter">Comic trimeter</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Comic trimeter"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The iambic trimeter is also the basic meter used in the dialogue parts of Greek comedies, such as the plays of <a href="/wiki/Aristophanes" title="Aristophanes">Aristophanes</a> and <a href="/wiki/Menander" title="Menander">Menander</a>. In comedy there tend to be more resolutions into short syllables than in tragedy, and <a href="/wiki/Porson%27s_Law" title="Porson's Law">Porson's Law</a> is not observed. Sometimes even a short element can be replaced by two short syllables, making for example: </p> <dl><dd>| – – uu – |</dd></dl> <p>However, the last foot of the line is always an iamb: | .... u – |. </p><p>As an example of the comic version of the iambic trimeter, here are the opening lines of <a href="/wiki/Aristophanes" title="Aristophanes">Aristophanes</a>' play <i><a href="/wiki/Lysistrata" title="Lysistrata">Lysistrata</a></i>. A short element is resolved in lines 2, 4, 6, and 7; <a href="/wiki/Porson%27s_Law" title="Porson's Law">Porson's Law</a> is broken in lines 1, 7 and 8: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις ἐς Βακχεῖον αὐτὰς <u>ἐκά</u>λεσεν,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἢ 'ς Πανὸς ἢ 'πὶ Κω<u>λιά</u>δ᾽ ἢ 'ς <u>Γενε</u>τυλλίδος,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὐδ᾽ ἂν διελθεῖν ἦν ἂν <u>ὑπὸ</u> τῶν τυμπάνων.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">νῦν δ᾽ οὐ<u>δεμί</u>α πάρεστιν ἐνταυθοῖ γυνή:</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πλὴν ἥ γ᾽ ἐμὴ κωμῆτις ἥδ᾽ ἐξέρχεται.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">χαῖρ᾽ ὦ <u>Καλο</u>νίκη. - καὶ σύ γ᾽ ὦ Λυσιστράτη.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τί συν<u>τετά</u>ραξαι; μὴ σκυθρώπαζ᾽ ὦ τέκνον.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὐ γὰρ πρέπει σοι τοξοποιεῖν τὰς ὀφρῦς.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – – u – | – – u – | – uu u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | u – uu – | uu – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u uu | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – uu – | u – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – uu – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – uu – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – | – – u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"But if someone had invited those women to a <a href="/wiki/Dionysus" title="Dionysus">Bacchic</a> rite</dd> <dd>or to <a href="/wiki/Pan_(god)" title="Pan (god)">Pan</a>'s or to Colias<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or Genetyllis's,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd> <dd>you wouldn't be able to pass through the streets for tambourines!</dd> <dd>As it is, not a single woman has turned up!</dd> <dd>Except at least here's my neighbour coming out.</dd> <dd>Hello, Calonice!" – "You too, Lysistrata!</dd> <dd>Why are you so upset? Don't scowl, my dear.</dd> <dd>It doesn't become you to make your eyebrows into a bow!"</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Iambic_tetrameter">Iambic tetrameter</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Iambic tetrameter"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Other meters are also used for the dialogues of comedies, especially when there is a change of pace or mood. One such meter is the iambic tetrameter. This metre is generally <a href="/wiki/Catalectic" class="mw-redirect" title="Catalectic">catalectic</a>, that is, the last syllable is removed; since the final syllable of a line always counts as long, in catalexis the formerly short penultimate is changed to a long when it becomes final, as in this extract from Aristophanes play the <i>Clouds</i> (1399ff): </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὡς ἡδὺ καινοῖς πράγμασιν καὶ δεξιοῖς ὁμιλεῖν,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">καὶ τῶν καθεστώτων νόμων ὑπερφρονεῖν δύνασθαι.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἐγὼ γὰρ <u>ὅτε</u> μὲν ἱππικῇ τὸν νοῦν μόνῃ προσεῖχον,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὐδ’ ἂν τρί’ εἰπεῖν ῥήμαθ’ οἷός τ’ ἦν πρὶν ἐξαμαρτεῖν·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">νυνὶ δ’ ἐπειδή μ’ οὑτοσὶ τούτων ἔπαυσεν αὐτός,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">γνώμαις δὲ λεπταῖς καὶ λόγοις ξύνειμι καὶ μερίμναις,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οἶμαι διδάξειν ὡς δίκαιον τὸν πα<u>τέρα</u> κολάζειν.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – – u – | – – u – || – – u – | u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – || u – u – | u – – |</dd> <dd>| u – u uu | u – u – || – – u – | u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – | – – u – | u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – || – – u – | u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – || u – u – | u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u – | – – u – | – – u uu | u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"How nice it is to converse about new and clever things,</dd> <dd>and to be able to treat established customs with contempt!</dd> <dd>For when I used to apply my mind only to horseracing</dd> <dd>I wouldn't have been able to say three words before making a mistake;</dd> <dd>but now since my dad here himself has stopped me from doing these things</dd> <dd>and I understand subtle opinions and arguments and thoughts,</dd> <dd>I think I shall teach how it is right to punish my father."</dd></dl> <p>In Roman comedies this meter is known as the <a href="/wiki/Prosody_(Latin)" class="mw-redirect" title="Prosody (Latin)">Iambic septenarius</a>. There is often a break (dieresis) between the two halves of the line, but as the above example shows, this is not always found. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Trochaic">Trochaic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Trochaic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Trochaic_septenarius" title="Trochaic septenarius">Trochaic septenarius</a></div> <p>Occasionally, as an alternative to iambic, Greek playwrights use trochaic feet, as in the trochaic tetrameter catalectic. According to Aristotle (<i>Poet.</i> 1449a21) this was the original meter used in satyr plays. In the extant plays, it is more often used in comedy, although occasionally also in tragedy (e.g. <a href="/wiki/Aeschylus" title="Aeschylus">Aeschylus</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/The_Oresteia" class="mw-redirect" title="The Oresteia">Agamemnon</a></i> 1649-73). The basic double foot or <i>metron</i> is | – u – x |. Here is an example from <a href="/wiki/Aristophanes" title="Aristophanes">Aristophanes</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/The_Clouds" title="The Clouds">Clouds</a></i> (607ff), where the leader of the chorus of Clouds addresses the audience: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἡνίχ’ ἡμεῖς δεῦρ’ ἀφορμᾶσθαι παρεσκευάσμεθα,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἡ σελήνη συντυχοῦσ’ ἡμῖν ἐπέστειλεν φράσαι,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πρῶτα μὲν χαίρειν Ἀθηναίοισι καὶ τοῖς ξυμμάχοις·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">εἶτα θυμαίνειν ἔφασκε· δεινὰ γὰρ πεπονθέναι</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὠφελοῦσ’ ὑμᾶς ἅπαντας, οὐ λόγοις ἀλλ’ ἐμφανῶς.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u – – | – u – – | – u – – | – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u – – | – u – – | – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u – – | – u – – | – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u – u || – u – u | – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u – u || – u – – | – u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"When we were preparing to set out here,</dd> <dd>the Moon met us and instructed us to say,</dd> <dd>first to greet the Athenians and their allies,</dd> <dd>then she said she was angry; for she has suffered grievously,</dd> <dd>despite helping you all, not with words but in reality."</dd></dl> <p>When used in tragedy, there is always a break (<i>dieresis</i>) in the middle of the line,<sup id="cite_ref-Denn681_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Denn681-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> but as can be seen above, this is not always the case in comedy. </p><p>This metre is also frequently used in Roman comedies, where it is known as the <a href="/wiki/Trochaic_septenarius" title="Trochaic septenarius">Trochaic septenarius</a>. </p><p>Some authors analyse this <a href="/wiki/Catalectic" class="mw-redirect" title="Catalectic">catalectic</a> form of the meter not as trochaic but as iambic, with initial not final catalexis.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In general, however, ancient writers seem to have recognised that trochaic meters had a different character from iambic. The name "trochaic" is derived from the Greek verb <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τρέχω</span></span> "I run" and it was considered a livelier and faster rhythm than the iambic.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Anapestic">Anapestic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Anapestic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The anapestic (or anapaestic) tetrameter <a href="/wiki/Catalectic" class="mw-redirect" title="Catalectic">catalectic</a> is used in comedy. It is described as a 'dignified' meter<sup id="cite_ref-Denn681_15-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Denn681-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and is used in <a href="/wiki/Aristophanes" title="Aristophanes">Aristophanes</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/The_Clouds" title="The Clouds">Clouds</a></i> (961-1009) for the speech of the character Just Argument describing how boys were expected to behave in the good old days. It begins as follows: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">λέξω τοίνυν τὴν ἀρχαίαν παιδείαν ὡς διέκειτο,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὅτ’ ἐγὼ τὰ δίκαια λέγων ἤνθουν καὶ σωφροσύνη ’νενόμιστο.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πρῶτον μὲν ἔδει παιδὸς φωνὴν γρύξαντος μηδὲν ἀκοῦσαι·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">εἶτα βαδίζειν ἐν ταῖσιν ὁδοῖς εὐτάκτως ἐς κιθαριστοῦ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τοὺς κωμήτας γυμνοὺς ἁθρόους, κεἰ κριμνώδη κατανείφοι.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – – – – | – – – – || – – – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – u u – | u u – – – || – – u u – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u u – | – – – – || – – – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – – | – – u u – || – – – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – – – | – – u u – || – – – – | u u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"Well, I'll tell you how education was in the old days</dd> <dd>when I flourished speaking right things and temperance was in fashion.</dd> <dd>First of all it was not allowed to hear the voice of any boy grumbling,</dd> <dd>secondly, they had to walk in the streets in an orderly way to the lyre-teacher's,</dd> <dd>boys from the same village naked in a group, even if it was snowing like coarse meal."</dd></dl> <p>Aristophanes also uses this metre for <a href="/wiki/Socrates" title="Socrates">Socrates</a>'s solemn invocation summoning the Clouds in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Clouds" title="The Clouds">Clouds</a></i> (263-274), and in the <i><a href="/wiki/The_Frogs" title="The Frogs">Frogs</a></i> (589-604) he uses it when the late poet <a href="/wiki/Aeschylus" title="Aeschylus">Aeschylus</a> is explaining his views about modern poetry. </p><p>Anapaestic verse is always found in dimeters or tetrameters, each dimeter consisting of four feet. The most common type of foot is the spondee (– –), followed by the anapaest (u u –), then the dactyl (– u u). The exact proportions of the different kinds of feet differ in different authors; for example, anapaests make up 26% of the feet of anapaestic verse in Sophocles, but 39% in Aristophanes; dactyls make up 20% of anapaestic verse in Sophocles but only 6% in Aristophanes. In comedy a very small number of feet are proceleusmatic (u u u u).<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Eupolidean">Eupolidean</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Eupolidean"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Other meters are also occasionally found in comedy, such as the Eupolidean. This is used in the second edition of Aristophanes' <i>Clouds</i> when the chorus leader steps forward in the persona of the poet himself and addresses the audience (518-562). The basic meter is | x x – x | – u u – | x x – x | – u – |, where the opening of each half is generally trochaic ( – u / – – ) but may occasionally be iambic ( u – / u u u ).<sup id="cite_ref-Denn681_15-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Denn681-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Aristophanes uses the meter only here in his extant plays, although it is found occasionally in the surviving fragments of other playwrights.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In this meter there is either a break (dieresis) in the middle of the line, or a caesura (word-break) after the first syllable of the second half. It is probable that it gets its name from the poet <a href="/wiki/Eupolis" title="Eupolis">Eupolis</a>, who may have used it. The speech in the <i>Clouds</i> starts as follows: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὦ θεώμενοι κατερῶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλευθέρως</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τἀληθῆ νὴ τὸν Διόνυσον τὸν ἐκθρέψαντά με.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὕτω νικήσαιμί τ’ ἐγὼ καὶ νομιζοίμην σοφός,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὡς ὑμᾶς ἡγούμενος εἶναι θεατὰς δεξιοὺς</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">καὶ ταύτην σοφώτατ’ ἔχειν τῶν ἐμῶν κωμῳδιῶν,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πρώτους ἠξίωσ’ ἀναγεῦσ’ ὑμᾶς, ἣ παρέσχε μοι</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔργον πλεῖστον· εἶτ’ ἀνεχώρουν ὑπ’ ἀνδρῶν φορτικῶν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἡττηθεὶς οὐκ ἄξιος ὤν· ταῦτ’ οὖν ὑμῖν μέμφομαι</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τοῖς σοφοῖς, ὧν οὕνεκ’ ἐγὼ ταῦτ’ ἐπραγματευόμην.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u – u – u u – || u – – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – – – u u – | – u – – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – – – u u – || – u – – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – – – u u – | – u – – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – u – u u – || – u – – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – u – u u – || – – – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – u – u u – | – u – – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – – – – u u – || – – – – – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – – u u – || – u – u – u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"O spectators, I will declare to you freely,</dd> <dd>the truth, by Dionysus who brought me up.</dd> <dd>May I so win and be thought intelligent</dd> <dd>as, thinking you to be clever play-watchers,</dd> <dd>and that this was the most intelligent of my comedies,</dd> <dd>I thought it right that you should be the first to taste this play which cost me</dd> <dd>the most work; on that occasion I had to retreat, defeated by vulgar men</dd> <dd>though I didn't deserve it; I blame you for that,</dd> <dd>intelligent though you are, on whose behalf I took so much trouble!"</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Lyric_meters">Lyric meters</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Lyric meters"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Lyric meters (literally, meters sung to a <a href="/wiki/Lyre" title="Lyre">lyre</a>) are usually less regular than non-lyric meters. The lines are made up of feet of different kinds, and can be of varying lengths. Some lyric meters were used for monody (solo songs), such as some of the poems of <a href="/wiki/Sappho" title="Sappho">Sappho</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alcaeus_of_Mytilene" class="mw-redirect" title="Alcaeus of Mytilene">Alcaeus</a>; others were used for choral dances, such as the choruses of tragedies and the victory odes of <a href="/wiki/Pindar" title="Pindar">Pindar</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ionic">Ionic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Ionic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Ionic_meter" title="Ionic meter">Ionic meter</a></div> <p>The basic unit of the <a href="/wiki/Ionic_meter" title="Ionic meter">Ionic meter</a> is the minor Ionic foot, also called Ionic <i>a minore</i> or double iamb, which consists of two short and two long syllables. An Ionic line consists of two of these feet:<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd></dl> <p>Occasionally a line will be <a href="/wiki/Catalectic" class="mw-redirect" title="Catalectic">catalectic</a>, that is, missing the final syllable. Catalectic lines tend to come at the end of a period or stanza:<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd>| u u – – | u u – |</dd></dl> <p>The process of <a href="/wiki/Anaclasis_(poetry)" title="Anaclasis (poetry)">anaclasis</a>, the metathesis of a short and a long syllable, yields a second pattern called <a href="/wiki/Anacreontics" title="Anacreontics">Anacreontic</a>: </p> <dl><dd>| u u – u | – u – – |</dd></dl> <p>Beyond these more common feet, a great amount of variation is possible within the Ionic meter because of <a href="/wiki/Anaclasis_(poetry)" title="Anaclasis (poetry)">anaclasis</a>, <a href="/wiki/Catalexis" title="Catalexis">catalexis</a>, <a href="/wiki/Resolution_(meter)" title="Resolution (meter)">resolution (meter)</a> and syncopation. </p><p>This meter is used by the lyric poets <a href="/wiki/Alcman" title="Alcman">Alcman</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sappho" title="Sappho">Sappho</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alcaeus_of_Mytilene" class="mw-redirect" title="Alcaeus of Mytilene">Alcaeus</a> and also in some of the choral songs of certain tragedies and comedies. An example is the following from <a href="/wiki/Euripides" title="Euripides">Euripides</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/The_Bacchae" title="The Bacchae">Bacchae</a></i> 519-28. It is a choral song addressed to the stream <a href="/wiki/Dirce" title="Dirce">Dirce</a>, about the birth of the god <a href="/wiki/Dionysus" title="Dionysus">Dionysus</a>, whose mother <a href="/wiki/Semele" title="Semele">Semele</a> was struck by lightning. Like all choral songs in Athenian tragedy, it imitates the <a href="/wiki/Doric_Greek" title="Doric Greek">Doric</a> α /ā/ in many words instead of η /ē/ (e.g. Δίρκα for Δίρκη 'Dirce'): </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἀχελῴου θύγατερ,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πότνι’ εὐπάρθενε Δίρκα,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">σὺ γὰρ ἐν σαῖς ποτε παγαῖς</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τὸ Διὸς βρέφος ἔλαβες,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὅτε μηρῷ πυρὸς ἐξ ἀ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">θανάτου Ζεὺς ὁ τεκὼν ἥρ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πασέ νιν, τάδ’ ἀναβοάσας·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἴθι, Διθύραμβ’, ἐμὰν ἄρ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">σενα τάνδε βᾶθι νηδύν·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἀναφαίνω σε τόδ’, ὦ Βάκ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">χιε, Θήβαις ὀνομάζειν.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| u u – – | u u – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – u u | u u – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – u u | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – u | – u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – u | – u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"Daughter of Achelous,</dd> <dd>queenly virgin Dirce –</dd> <dd>for you once in your streams</dd> <dd>received that baby of Zeus,</dd> <dd>when in his thigh from the immortal fire</dd> <dd>Zeus his father snatched him,</dd> <dd>after shouting these words:</dd> <dd>'Go, Dithyrambus,</dd> <dd>enter this, my male womb;</dd> <dd>I proclaim, Bacchian one, that they will name</dd> <dd>you this in Thebes.'"</dd></dl> <p>A variation of the ionic metre involves the use of choriambic feet | – u u – |, as in this choral song from <a href="/wiki/Sophocles" title="Sophocles">Sophocles</a>' <a href="/wiki/Oedipus_Rex" title="Oedipus Rex">Oedipus Tyrannus</a> (484-495). It starts with four choriambic dimeters, but then becomes Ionic (although some scholars analyse the whole ode as ionic).<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">δεινὰ μὲν οὖν, δεινὰ ταράσ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">σει σοφὸς οἰωνοθέτας</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">οὔτε δοκοῦντ’ οὔτ’ ἀποφάσ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">κονθ’· ὅ τι λέξω δ’ ἀπορῶ.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">πέτομαι δ’ ἐλπίσιν οὔτ’ ἐν-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">θάδ’ ὁρῶν οὔτ’ ὀπίσω.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τί γὰρ ἢ Λαβδακίδαις</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἢ τῷ Πολύβου νεῖ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">κος ἔκειτ’, οὔτε πάροιθέν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ποτ’ ἔγωγ’ οὕτε τανῦν πω</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔμαθον, πρὸς ὅτου δὴ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">βασανίζων βασάνῳ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἐπὶ τὰν ἐπίδαμον</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">φάτιν εἶμ’ Οἰδιπόδα Λαβδακίδαις</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἐπίκουρος ἀδήλων θανάτων.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u u – | – u u – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – | – u u – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – | – u u – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – | – u u – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>| u u – – | u u – |</dd> <dd>| – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – |</dd> <dd>| u u – | u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u – – | u u – – | u u – |</dd> <dd>| u u – | u u – – | u u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"Terrible things, therefore, terrible things the <a href="/wiki/Teiresias" class="mw-redirect" title="Teiresias">wise prophet</a> stirs up</dd> <dd>that I can neither agree to nor deny; I am at a loss what to say.</dd> <dd>I am a-flutter with forebodings, seeing neither the present nor the future.</dd></dl> <dl><dd>For what quarrel there was either for the family of <a href="/wiki/Labdacus" title="Labdacus">Labdacus</a></dd> <dd>or for the son of <a href="/wiki/Polybus_of_Corinth" title="Polybus of Corinth">Polybus</a> neither ever before or now</dd> <dd>did I learn; enquiring from whom with a test,</dd> <dd>shall I go against the public reputation of <a href="/wiki/Oedipus" title="Oedipus">Oedipus</a></dd> <dd>to assist the family of Labdacus in the unsolved death?"</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Aeolic">Aeolic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Aeolic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Aeolic_verse" title="Aeolic verse">Aeolic verse</a></div> <p>Aeolic verse mostly refers to the type of poems written by the two well-known poets of <a href="/wiki/Lesbos" title="Lesbos">Lesbos</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sappho" title="Sappho">Sappho</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alcaeus_of_Mytilene" class="mw-redirect" title="Alcaeus of Mytilene">Alcaeus</a>, which was later imitated by Latin writers such as <a href="/wiki/Horace" title="Horace">Horace</a>. A development of Aeolic verse, but less regular and more varied, is found in the choral odes of <a href="/wiki/Pindar" title="Pindar">Pindar</a> and <a href="/wiki/Bacchylides" title="Bacchylides">Bacchylides</a>. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Aeolic_verse" title="Aeolic verse">Aeolic meter</a> is built upon two kinds of lines, the <a href="/wiki/Glyconic" title="Glyconic">Glyconic</a> and the Pherecratean. Both have the choriamb | – u u – | as their nucleus.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Glyconic can be represented as follows:<sup id="cite_ref-:5_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd>x x | – u u – | u –</dd></dl> <p>The Pherecratean: </p> <dl><dd>x x | – u u – | –</dd></dl> <p>An unusual feature, not found in most other types of Greek verse, is the double anceps (x x) at the beginning of the line. In Sappho and Alcaeus also the number of syllables in each line is always the same (that is, they are "isosyllabic"): a long syllable may not be substituted for two shorts or vice versa. In the later type of Aeolic written by Pindar, however, a long syllable may sometimes be resolved into two shorts. </p><p>Various patterns of Aeolic verse are found, some of which are named and organized here: </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="1" rowspan="2">verse-end </th> <th colspan="3">verse-begin </th></tr> <tr> <th>×× (aeolic base) </th> <th>× ("<a href="/wiki/Acephalous_line" title="Acephalous line">acephalous line</a>") </th> <th>no anceps syllables </th></tr> <tr> <th>˘ ¯ ¯ </th> <td><a href="/wiki/Hipponactean" class="mw-redirect" title="Hipponactean">hipponactean</a> <p><sup>× ×</sup> <sup>|</sup> <big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ˘ ¯ ¯</big> </p> </td> <td>hagesichorean <p><sup>×</sup> <sup>|</sup> <big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ˘ ¯ ¯</big> </p> </td> <td>aristophanean <p><big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ˘ ¯ ¯</big> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <th>˘ ¯ </th> <td><a href="/wiki/Glyconic" title="Glyconic">glyconic</a> <p><sup>× × |</sup> <big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ˘ ¯</big> </p> </td> <td>telesillean <p><sup>× |</sup> <big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ˘ ¯</big> </p> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/Dodrans" title="Dodrans">dodrans</a> <p><big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ˘ ¯</big> </p> </td></tr> <tr> <th>¯ </th> <td><a href="/wiki/Pherecratean" class="mw-redirect" title="Pherecratean">pherecratean</a> <p><sup>× × |</sup> <big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ¯</big> </p> </td> <td>reizianum <p><sup>×</sup> <sup>|</sup> <big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ¯</big> </p> </td> <td><a href="/wiki/Adonean" class="mw-redirect" title="Adonean">adonean</a> <p><big>¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ <sup>|</sup> ¯</big> </p> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Further types arise when the choriamb at the centre of the verse is extended, for example to | – u u – u u – | or | – u u – – u u – – u u – |. </p><p>A simple type of Aeolic metre is the <a href="/wiki/Sapphic_stanza" title="Sapphic stanza">Sapphic stanza</a> favoured by the poet <a href="/wiki/Sappho" title="Sappho">Sappho</a>, which consists of three lines in the form | – u – x – u u – u – – | followed without a break by | – u u – – |. The most famous poem of this type, written in the <a href="/wiki/Aeolic_Greek" title="Aeolic Greek">Aeolic dialect</a> spoken in Sappho's time on the island of <a href="/wiki/Lesbos" title="Lesbos">Lesbos</a>, is <a href="/wiki/Sappho_31" title="Sappho 31">Sappho 31</a>, which begins as follows: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔμμεν᾽ ὤνηρ, ὄττις ἐνάντιός τοι</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἰσδάνει καὶ πλάσιον ἆδυ φωνεί-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">σας ὐπακούει.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u – – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"That man seems to me to be equal to the gods</dd> <dd>who is sitting opposite you</dd> <dd>and hears you nearby</dd> <dd>speaking sweetly."</dd></dl> <p>Another kind of Aeolic meter, the hagesichorean (see above), was so named by M.L. West<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> after a line (57) in <a href="/wiki/Alcman" title="Alcman">Alcman</a>'s <i>Partheneion</i>, which goes: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἁγησιχόρα μὲν αὕτα</span></span></dd> <dd>| – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>"This is Hagesichora"</dd></dl> <p>The hagesichorean meter is used for all four lines of the famous <a href="/wiki/Midnight_poem" title="Midnight poem">Midnight poem</a> attributed to Sappho: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Δέδυκε μὲν ἀ σελάννα</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">καὶ Πληΐαδες, μέσαι δέ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">νύκτες, πάρα δ' ἔρχετ' ὤρα,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔγω δὲ μόνα κατεύδω.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| u – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| u – u u – u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"The moon and the Pleiades have set,</dd> <dd>it is midnight,</dd> <dd>and the time is passing,</dd> <dd>but I sleep alone."</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Dactylo-epitrite">Dactylo-epitrite</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Dactylo-epitrite"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Two elements comprise dactylo-epitrite (formerly also called Doric) verse, the one dactylic, the other epitrite.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The dactylic metron is called the <a href="/w/index.php?title=Prosodiac&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Prosodiac (page does not exist)">Prosodiac</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosodiakos" class="extiw" title="de:Prosodiakos">de</a>]</span> and is variable in the number of dactyls that proceed the final <a href="/wiki/Spondee" title="Spondee">spondee</a> or long syllable. Thus it is represented as follows:<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd>| – u u – u u – (–) |</dd></dl> <p>or </p> <dl><dd>| – u u – u u – u u – (–) |</dd></dl> <p>or </p> <dl><dd>| – u u – (–) |</dd></dl> <p>The epitrite is represented as follows: </p> <dl><dd>| – u – x |</dd></dl> <p>The dactylo-epitrite meter is often used for choral songs by <a href="/wiki/Pindar" title="Pindar">Pindar</a> and <a href="/wiki/Bacchylides" title="Bacchylides">Bacchylides</a> and also in the choruses of tragedies, for example (from <a href="/wiki/Aeschylus" title="Aeschylus">Aeschylus</a>' <i><a href="/wiki/Prometheus_Bound" title="Prometheus Bound">Prometheus Bound</a></i>, 542-51): </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μηδάμ᾽ ὁ πάντα νέμων</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">θεῖτ᾽ ἐμᾷ γνώμᾳ κράτος ἀντίπαλον Ζεύς,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μηδ᾽ ἐλινύσαιμι θεοὺς ὁσίαις θοίναις ποτινισομένα</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">βουφόνοις παρ᾽ Ὠκεανοῦ πατρὸς ἄσβεστον πόρον,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μηδ᾽ ἀλίτοιμι λόγοις·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἀλλά μοι τόδ᾽ ἐμμένοι καὶ μήποτ᾽ ἐκτακείη.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u u – u u – | (<i>prosodiac</i>)</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u u – u u – – | (<i>epitrite + prosodiac</i>)</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u u – u u – – | – u u – u u – | (<i>epitrite + prosodiac + prosodiac</i>)</dd> <dd>| – u – u | – u u – u u – – | – u – | (<i>epitrite + prosodiac + epitrite</i>)</dd> <dd>| – u u – u u – | (<i>prosodiac</i>)</dd> <dd>| – u – u | – u – – | – u – – – – | (<i>epitrite + epitrite + epitrite</i>)</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"May he who apportions everything, Zeus, never</dd> <dd>set his power in opposition to my purpose,</dd> <dd>nor may I be idle in approaching the gods with holy feasts</dd> <dd>of slain oxen beside the unending stream of my father Ocean,</dd> <dd>nor may I sin with words;</dd> <dd>but may this remain in me and never melt away."</dd></dl> <p>Meters such as the above, which consist of a mixture of dactyls and trochees, are sometimes referred to as "logaoedic" ("speech-song"), since they are halfway between the irregularity of speech and regularity of poetry.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_27-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:4-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Mixed_meter">Mixed meter</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Mixed meter"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Choral song is often in a mixture of meters, such as the <i>Partheneion</i> of the 7th century BC <a href="/wiki/Sparta" title="Sparta">Spartan</a> poet <a href="/wiki/Alcman" title="Alcman">Alcman</a>. In the first eight lines of each stanza, trochaic rhythms predominate, mixed with the hagesichorean, which gets its name from this poem. Lines 9 to 12 of each stanza are trochaic, breaking into dactyls for the last two lines.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The stanza below is part of the song only (lines 50-63): </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἦ οὐχ ὁρῆις; ὁ μὲν κέλης</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἐνετικός· ἁ δὲ χαίτα</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τᾶς ἐμᾶς ἀνεψιᾶς</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἁγησιχόρας ἐπανθεῖ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">χρυσὸς ὡς ἀκήρατος·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τό τ᾽ ἀργύριον πρόσωπον,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">διαφάδαν τί τοι λέγω;</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">Ἁγησιχόρα μὲν αὕτα·</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἁ δὲ δευτέρα πεδ᾽ Ἀγιδὼ τὸ ϝεῖδος</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἵππος Ἰβηνῶι Κολαξαῖος δραμήται·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ταὶ Πεληάδες γὰρ ἇμιν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ὀρθρίαι φᾶρος φεροίσαις</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">νύκτα δι᾽ ἀμβροσίαν ἅτε σήριον</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄστρον ἀυηρομέναι μάχονται·</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – – u – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u u u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u u – u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u u – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – – u u – u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>| – u – u | – u – u | – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u – – | – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u | – u – u |</dd> <dd>| – u – – | – u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – u u – u u – u u |</dd> <dd>| – u u – u u – u – – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"Do you not see? The one is an Enetican</dd> <dd>racehorse; but the mane</dd> <dd>of my cousin</dd> <dd>Hagesichora blooms</dd> <dd>like pure gold,</dd> <dd>and her silver face –</dd> <dd>what shall I say openly? –</dd> <dd>that is Hagesichora!</dd></dl> <dl><dd>But she, Agido, second in beauty,</dd> <dd>runs after her, a Colaxaean horse to an Ibenian;</dd> <dd>for the Pleiades fight for us</dd> <dd>as we carry the robe (plough?) for the dawn goddess,</dd> <dd>rising through the ambrosian night</dd> <dd>like the star Sirius."</dd></dl> <p>If <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">φάρος</span></span> "a plough (plow)" is read in the 12th line above instead of <span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">φᾶρος</span></span> "a robe", the metre of the line will be </p> <dl><dd>| – u – u | – u – – |</dd></dl> <p>A similar mixture of trochaic and dactylic meter is also found in some of <a href="/wiki/Pindar" title="Pindar">Pindar</a>'s choral odes, such as the <a href="/wiki/Pindar%27s_First_Olympian_Ode" class="mw-redirect" title="Pindar's First Olympian Ode">First Olympian Ode</a>, which begins as follows with a glyconic and a pherecratean, but soon becomes more irregular: </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πῦρ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">εἰ δ’ ἄεθλα γαρύεν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔλδεαι, φίλον ἦτορ,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μηκέθ’ ἁλίου σκόπει</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄλλο θαλπνότερον ἐν ἁμέρᾳ φαεννὸν ἄστρον ἐρήμας δι’ αἰθέρος,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μηδ’ Ὀλυμπίας ἀγῶνα φέρτερον αὐδάσομεν·</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| u – – u u – u – | – u – u u – – |</dd> <dd>| u u u – u – – u u – u u – u u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u u – – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u u u u – u – u – u – u u – – u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u – u – u – u – u u – – u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"Water is best, and gold, like a blazing fire</dd> <dd>in the night, stands out above all lordly wealth.</dd> <dd>But if you wish to sing of contests,</dd> <dd>my dear heart,</dd> <dd>look no further</dd> <dd>for any other star warmer than the sun, shining by day through the lonely sky,</dd> <dd>and let us not proclaim any contest greater than <a href="/wiki/Olympia,_Greece" title="Olympia, Greece">Olympia</a>."</dd></dl> <p>In his book on Pindaric metre, Kiichiro Itsumi characterises this ode as "amalgamated style", that is, a mixture of Aeolic and dactylo-epitrite rhythms.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Paeonic">Paeonic</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Paeonic"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Paeon_(prosody)" title="Paeon (prosody)">Paeonic</a> meter is based primarily on two kinds of feet, the <a href="/wiki/Cretic" title="Cretic">Cretic</a>:<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <dl><dd>| – u – |</dd></dl> <p>and the <a href="/wiki/Bacchius" title="Bacchius">Bacchius</a>: </p> <dl><dd>| u – – |</dd></dl> <p>By resolving the longs of these two feet, one may produce an additional two feet, named for the position of their long syllable, the First Paeon: </p> <dl><dd>| – u u u |</dd></dl> <p>and the Fourth Paeon: </p> <dl><dd>| u u u – |</dd></dl> <p>Adding an <a href="/wiki/Iamb_(poetry)" title="Iamb (poetry)">iamb</a> to any of these creates a <a href="/wiki/Dochmiac" title="Dochmiac">dochmiac</a>. From the Cretic and the Bacchius, the Slow Dochmiacs: </p> <dl><dd>| u – – u – | and | u – u – – |</dd></dl> <p>and the Fast Dochmiacs: </p> <dl><dd>| u u u – u – | and | u – u u u – |</dd></dl> <p>Dochmiac rhythms are much used by the Athenian tragedians for agitated lamentations.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> An example is the following, from <a href="/wiki/Aeschylus" title="Aeschylus">Aeschylus</a>'s play <i><a href="/wiki/Seven_Against_Thebes" class="mw-redirect" title="Seven Against Thebes">Seven Against Thebes</a></i> (78ff): </p> <dl><dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">θρέομαι φοβερὰ μεγάλ’ ἄχη·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">μεθεῖται στρατός· στρατόπεδον λιπὼν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ῥεῖ πολὺς ὅδε λεὼς πρόδρομος ἱππότας·</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">αἰθερία κόνις με πείθει φανεῖσ’,</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἄναυδος σαφὴς ἔτυμος ἄγγελος.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἔτι δὲ γᾶς ἐμᾶς πεδί’ ὁπλόκτυπ’ ὠ-</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">τὶ χρίμπτει βοάν· ποτᾶται, βρέμει δ’</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἀμαχέτου δίκαν ὕδατος ὀροτύπου.</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἰὼ ἰὼ</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">ἰὼ θεοὶ θεαί τ’ ὀρόμενον κακὸν</span></span></dd> <dd><span title="Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text"><span lang="grc">βοᾷ τειχέων ὕπερ ἀλεύσατε.</span></span></dd></dl> <dl><dd>| u u – u u u u u u – |</dd> <dd>| u – – u – | u u u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u u u u u – | u u u – u – |</dd> <dd>| – u u – u – | u – – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – – u – | u u u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u u u – u – | u u u – u –|</dd> <dd>| u – – u – | u – – u – |</dd> <dd>| u u u – u – | u u u u u u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – u – u – | u u u – u – |</dd> <dd>| u – – u – | u u u – u – |</dd></dl> <dl><dd>"I wail fearful loud cries of distress;</dd> <dd>an army has been let loose; having left the camp</dd> <dd>a great host of horsemen, look!, is flowing, rushing ahead;</dd> <dd>the dust which appears in the air persuades me,</dd> <dd>a speechless but clear, true messenger;</dd> <dd>and in addition the plain of my land, resounding with hoofs,</dd> <dd>brings a cry to my ear; it flies and roars</dd> <dd>like water which cannot be fought against pouring from a mountain.</dd> <dd>o, o!</dd> <dd>o gods and goddesses, with a shout over the walls</dd> <dd>ward off this evil which has been stirred up!"</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Vocabulary">Vocabulary</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Vocabulary"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Anaclasis – an interchange of the final long syllable of the first metron with the opening short syllable of the second.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Catalexis – Absence of a syllable in the last foot of a verse.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Metron – Each of a series of identical or equivalent units, defined according to the number and length of syllables, into which the rhythm of a line of a particular metre is divided.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Resolution – The substitution of two short syllables for a single long one; the result of such a substitution.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Syncopation – Suppression of a short or <a href="/wiki/Anceps" title="Anceps">anceps</a><sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFReference-OED-prosody" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1"><span class="id-lock-subscription" title="Paid subscription required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/152998">"prosody"</a></span>. <i><a href="/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary" title="Oxford English Dictionary">Oxford English Dictionary</a></i> (Online ed.). <a href="/wiki/Oxford_University_Press" title="Oxford University Press">Oxford University Press</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2016-10-04</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=prosody&rft.btitle=Oxford+English+Dictionary&rft.edition=Online&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Fview%2FEntry%2F152998&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span> <span style="font-size:0.95em; font-size:95%; color: var( --color-subtle, #555 )">(Subscription or <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.oed.com/public/login/loggingin#withyourlibrary">participating institution membership</a> required.)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">West, M.L. (1970), "A new approach to Greek prosody", <i>Glotta</i> 48:185.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Cf. also A.M. Devine, Laurence D. Stephens (1994), <i>The Prosody of Greek Speech</i>, p. 359.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFAnnis2006" class="citation web cs1">Annis, William (January 2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.aoidoi.org/articles/meter/intro.pdf">"Introduction to Greek Meter"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Aoidoi.org</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Aoidoi.org&rft.atitle=Introduction+to+Greek+Meter&rft.date=2006-01&rft.aulast=Annis&rft.aufirst=William&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aoidoi.org%2Farticles%2Fmeter%2Fintro.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">West, M. L. (1987). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/west-1987-introduction-to-greek-metre/mode/2up?view=theater"><i>Introduction to Greek Metre</i></a>, Oxford, p. 61.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Homer, Odyssey 1.1</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-COED-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-COED_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-COED_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Collins Online English Dictionary</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Golston, C; Riad, T. (2000) "The Phonology of Greek Metre", <i>Journal of Linguistics</i>, 41 no. 1, Jan. 2000, p. 132.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Golston, C; Riad, T. (2000) "The Phonology of Greek Metre", <i>Journal of Linguistics</i>, 41 no. 1, Jan. 2000, p. 133, quoting Ludwich 1885.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Tyrrell, R.Y. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23036269">"The Bucolic Caesura"</a>. <i>Hermathena</i> Vol. 4, No. 8 (1882), pp. 340-343.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Denniston, J.D., article "Metre, Greek", <i>Oxford Classical Dictionary</i>, 2nd ed., p. 680 note.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/A._M._Dale" title="A. M. Dale">A. M. Dale</a> (1948), <i>The Lyric Metres of Greek Drama</i>, p. 77.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">A promontory (now Agios Kosmas near <a href="/wiki/Piraeus" title="Piraeus">Piraeus</a>) where there was a temple of Aphrodite.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Goddess of one's birth hour.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Denn681-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Denn681_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Denn681_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Denn681_15-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Denniston, J.D., article "Metre, Greek", <i>Oxford Classical Dictionary</i>, 2nd ed., p. 681.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Golston, C; Riad, T. (2000), "The Phonology of Greek Metre", <i>Journal of Linguistics</i>, 41 no. 1, p. 143-4.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">A.M. Devine, Laurence Stephens (1994), <i>The Prosody of Greek Speech</i>, p. 116.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Golston, C; Riad, T. (2000) "The Phonology of Greek Metre", <i>Journal of Linguistics</i>, 41 no. 1, pp. 116-117.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Dover, K.J. <i>Aristophanes: Clouds</i>1968, page 164.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomson1929" class="citation book cs1">Thomson, George (1929). <i>Greek Lyric Meter</i>. Cambridge. p. 8.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Greek+Lyric+Meter&rft.pages=8&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1929&rft.aulast=Thomson&rft.aufirst=George&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">West, M.L. (1982). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/638567?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">"Three topics in Greek metre"</a>. <i>Classical Quarterly</i> Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 281-297.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Finglass, P. J. (2018). <i>Sophocles: Oedipus the King</i>, Cambridge University Press, Commentary ad loc.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:5-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:5_23-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDale1968" class="citation book cs1">Dale, A. M. (1968). <i>The Lyric Meters of Greek Drama</i>. Cambridge. p. 216.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Lyric+Meters+of+Greek+Drama&rft.pages=216&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1968&rft.aulast=Dale&rft.aufirst=A.+M.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">West, M.L (1982) <i>Greek Metre</i>, p. 30.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomson1929" class="citation book cs1">Thomson, George (1929). <i>Greek Lyric Meter</i>. Cambridge. p. 7.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Greek+Lyric+Meter&rft.pages=7&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1929&rft.aulast=Thomson&rft.aufirst=George&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomson1929" class="citation book cs1">Thomson, George (1929). <i>Greek Lyric Meter</i>. Cambridge. p. 151.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Greek+Lyric+Meter&rft.pages=151&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1929&rft.aulast=Thomson&rft.aufirst=George&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:4-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-:4_27-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomson1929" class="citation book cs1">Thomson, George (1929). <i>Greek Lyric Meter</i>. Cambridge. p. 9.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Greek+Lyric+Meter&rft.pages=9&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1929&rft.aulast=Thomson&rft.aufirst=George&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For the meter cf. Golston, Chris; Riad, Tomas (2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.29917.1320939951!/GkLyricGolstonRiadJofL.pdf">"The phonology of Greek Lyric meter"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180827143817/http://www.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.29917.1320939951!/GkLyricGolstonRiadJofL.pdf">Archived</a> 2018-08-27 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. <i>J. Linguistics</i> 41, 77–115, pages 80-82.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kiichiro Itsumi, (2009). <i>Pindaric Metre: 'The Other Half'.</i> Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press; <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010-03-41.html">Review by Andrew Kelly.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFThomson1929" class="citation book cs1">Thomson, George (1929). <i>Greek Lyric Metre</i>. Cambridge. p. 155.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Greek+Lyric+Metre&rft.pages=155&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1929&rft.aulast=Thomson&rft.aufirst=George&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">J.D. Denniston, article "Metre, Greek", <i>Oxford Classical Dictionary</i>, 2nd ed. p. 682.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/6916?redirectedFrom=anaclasis#eid">"Oxford English Dictionary"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Oxford+English+Dictionary&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Fview%2FEntry%2F6916%3FredirectedFrom%3Danaclasis%23eid&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/28705?redirectedFrom=Catalexis#eid">"Oxford English Dictionary"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Oxford+English+Dictionary&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Fview%2FEntry%2F28705%3FredirectedFrom%3DCatalexis%23eid&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/245294?redirectedFrom=Metron#eid">"Oxford English Dictionary"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Oxford+English+Dictionary&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Fview%2FEntry%2F245294%3FredirectedFrom%3DMetron%23eid&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/163721?rskey=9O50qE&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid">"Oxford English Dictionary"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Oxford+English+Dictionary&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Fview%2FEntry%2F163721%3Frskey%3D9O50qE%26result%3D1%26isAdvanced%3Dfalse%23eid&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDale1968" class="citation book cs1">Dale, A. M. (1968). <i>The Lyric Meters of Greek Drama</i>. Cambridge. p. 15.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Lyric+Meters+of+Greek+Drama&rft.pages=15&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1968&rft.aulast=Dale&rft.aufirst=A.+M.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGreek+prosody" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Greek_prosody&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Annis, William S. 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