1
Introduction to the Meter and Structure
of Homeric Verse
(work in progress)
Jack Mitchell
Table of Contents
1. Part One: Meter
1.1 What makes a syllable long or short? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1 Hiatus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2 Digamma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Scansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Spondaic substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Part Two: Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1 Caesuras and the Diaeresis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1 The number of parts to the line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1.1 The two-part line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
2.1.1.2 The three-part line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
2.1.1.3 Two-part or three-part? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 The Bucolic Diaeresis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Caesuras and Units of Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1 Units of Meaning in the two-part line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
2.2.2 Units of Meaning in the three-part line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
2.3 Caveat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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1. Part One: Meter
1.1 What makes a syllable long or short?
In the scansion of Greek meter, syllables are classed as either long or short, depending on
how long it takes to say them.
A syllable can be long either by nature or by position.
•
The vowels w andh are long by nature, as are all diphthongs (even –oi and
–ai). The letters i, u, and a can sometimes indicate long vowels (long i,
long u, and long a), though much more often these are short i, short u, and
short a.
 Note: a vowel carrying a circumflex accent can only be long.
•
A short vowel is metrically lengthened if it is followed by two consonants.
Eg. The o in Dios is short in the formula “anax dios huios Apollwn”
(being followed by only one consonant, s) but is lengthed in the phrase
“Dios d’ eteleieto boule” (being followed by two consonants, s and d).
 Exception: liquids and nasal consonants (l, r; m, n), if they occur as
the second of two consecutive consonants, sometimes do not make
position.
A syllable is short if it contains a vowel which is short by nature and which is not
lengthened by position. The vowels e and o are always short by nature, while the letters
i, u, and a usually indicate short vowels (short i, short u, short a)
1.1.2 Hiatus
When a word ending in a vowel is directly followed by a word beginning in a vowel, a
number of things may happen. Either:
a) the final vowel is elided (as in the formula “wJ" e[fat' eujcovmeno",” where
the ending vowel in is elided). This is especially common with prepositions
(such as ejpiv, yielding ejp' or ejf') and with enclitics (such as dev, tev,
yielding d’, t’, q’).
b) The final vowel, if long, is shortened. This phenomenon is called correption.
In the formula “eJkhbovlou jApovllwno",” for example, eJkhbovlou would
naturally be scanned w q w q, but the ending vowel –ou is shortened by a
following vowel ( jA-), so in the formula the word is scanned w q w w.
c) Nothing changes. This is relatively rare, but can occur when:
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a. The final vowel and the initial vowel are separated by a structurally
significant pause (a caesura or diaeresis: see below).
b. Elision has already taken place (eg. I.2, “muriv' jAcaioi`" a[lge'
e[qhken,” where the final vowels in muriva and a[lgea have already
been elided).
c. The final vowel is an i or an u (especially eg. in the dative singular of
the third declension, as in I.24 jAgamevmnoni h{ndane)
d. The final vowel and initial vowel are in fact separated by a digamma
(see below) which has disappeared.
e. God wills.
1.1.2 Digamma
Homeric Greek contains traces a letter and sound which had fallen out of Greek by
classical times, the digamma (W), which was pronounced like our letter W. Besides the
historical linguistic interest of this phenomenon (which reminds us that Homeric i[den,
for example, often treated metrically as Wivden, corresponds to the Latin vidit), the
digamma, when observed, behaves like an invisible regular consonant: it can make
position and prevent hiatus.
1.2 Scansion
The meter of Homeric verse is dactylic hexameter catalectic ('Dactylic Hexameter' for
short
'Hexameter' because it is composed of six (ßj) feet
'Dactylic' because each 'foot' is the syllable combination called a dactyl
The syllable combination in the dactyl is one long followed by two shorts
'Dactyl' (Grk. daktulos) means 'finger,' because, if you point your left
forefinger to the right and look at it from the top, you get a long (your knuckle)
followed by two shorts (the two finger joints)
'Catalectic' means that the last syllable in the line is omitted, and the new last
syllable is scanned as either long or short
Six dactyls in a row, with the last syllable left off, therefore constitute dactylic hexameter
catalectic. In scansion, the symbol "q" is used to indicate a long syllable, the symbol "w"
to indicate a short syllable. So, with these symbols, dactylic hexameter can be
represented thus:
qww
qww
qww
qww
qww
qww
1st foot
2nd foot
3rd foot
4th foot
5th foot
6th foot
The first (long) syllable of each dactyl is sometimes called the thesis, while the rest of the
dactyl is called the arsis.
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1.2.1 Spondaic substitution
The two short syllables (w w) within any of the dactyls above may be replaced by a
single long syllable (q). The result, a foot comprised of two long syllables (q q), is called
a spondee. The rationale for spondaic substitution is that it takes about the same amount
of time to pronounce two short syllables as one long syllable. If we use the symbol y to
indicate the option of either two short syllables or one long syllable in the arsis, dactylic
hexameter looks like this:
qy
qy
qy
qy
qy
qa
1st foot
2nd foot
3rd foot
4th foot
5th foot
6th foot
Let's take an example (Odyssey ix.19):
ei[m' jOduseu;" Laertiavdh" o}" pa'si dovloisin
I am Odysseus Laertes' son
who with all [my] schemings
foot #
dactyl part
scansion
syllable
1st foot
q
y
q
ww
ei[m' jOdus
2nd foot
q
y
q
q
eu;"
La
3rd foot
q
y
q
r
ert
iaj
4th foot
q
y
q
q
dh"
o}" p
5th foot
q
y
q
ww
a's
i doj
6th foot
q
a
q
a
lois
in
In this example, then, the first foot is a dactyl, the second a spondee, the third a dactyl,
the fourth a spondee, the fifth a dactyl, and the sixth a spondee.
•
There is no general pattern to the distribution of dactyls and spondees
within the line, except that the 2nd foot is very often a dactyl, and the 5th
foot is almost always a dactyl. When the 5th foot is a spondee, the whole
line is called a "spondaic line."
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2. Part Two: Structure
The dactylic hexameter is a fairly long meter; that is, it takes a relatively long time to
pronounce a verse of it, and a verse generally expresses more than one idea. The
arrangement of these ideas — usually two, sometimes three — follows certain regular
patterns, however, and these patterns constitute the structure of the hexameter line.
Although none of these rules apply 100% of the time, they are generally observed both in
the breach and in the observance.
2.1 Caesuras & the Diaeresis
Both the caesura and the diaeresis are breaks between words in the line and corresponds
to a pause in sense. There is effectively no difference between a caesura and a diaeresis,
except that, technically, a caesura falls in the middle of a foot and a diaeresis between
feet. We will have more to say, below, about caesuras than about diaereses.
2.1.1 Number of parts to the line
Most commonly, a line will have one caesura (which divides the line into two parts);
sometimes it will have two caesuras (which divide the line into three parts). The caesura
is marked with the symbol ||
2.1.1.1 The Two-Part Line
The single caesura is called the medial caesura because if falls in the middle of the line
(actually always within the third foot). It is also sometimes called the principal caesura.
There are two types of medial caesura, however, the feminine and the masculine.
The masculine caesura falls after the first syllable of the third foot (the syllable which is
always long):
1st foot
2nd foot
3 rd f o o t
4th foot
5th foot
6th foot
q y q y q || y q y q y q a
The feminine caesura falls after the first short syllable of the third foot:
1st foot
2nd foot
3
r d
f o o t
4th foot
5th foot
6th foot
q y q y q w || w q y q y q a
So, it will be seen that the medial caesura, whether masculine or feminine, leaves two
parts to the line, each consisting of three theses with arses in between.
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1
2
3
1
2
3
q y q y q || y q y q y q a
q y q y q w || w q y q y q a
(Seemingly, the same balanced, two-part structure might be achieved by putting a caesura
[actually, a diaeresis] between the third and fourth feet, but this is consciously avoided
and only occurs once.)
An example of a two-part line is ix.20:
ajnqrwvpoisi mevlw kaiv meu klevo" oujrano;n i{kei
I am on the mind of mankind and my fame reaches the sky
where we may mark three theses before the masculine caesura and three after:
1
2
q q qw wq
3
q q
1
2
3
r q ww qa
ajnqrwvpoisi mevlw || kaiv meu klevo" oujrano;n i{kei
2.1.1.2 The Three-Part Line
Though it is most common for the line to have one caesura, it may also have two
caesuras. Two caesuras divide the line into three parts. They fall a) after the first thesis
of the second foot and b) after the first thesis of the fourth foot. As a result, each of the
three parts contains two theses.
1
2
1
2
1
2
q y q || y q y q || y q y q a
Since these three parts contain progressively more syllables (4, 6, 7 all feet are counted as
dactyls), the three-part structure is generally known as the Rising Threefolder (RTF).
An example of a three-part line is ix.19:
ei[m' jOduseu;" Laertiavdh" o{" pa'si dovloisin
I am Odysseus, Laertes' son, who with all [my] schemings
where we can mark three theses in each of the three parts:
1
2
1
2
1
q ww q qqwwq q qw w qa
ei[m' jOduseu;" || Laertiavdh" || o{" pa'si dovloisin
2
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2.1.1.3 Two-Part or Three-Part?
It will sometimes happen that word-break occurs at all three points identified above, and
it is not immediately clear whether the line should be pronounced as a two-part line or a
three-part line. An example is I.35:
polla; d' e[peit' ajpavneuqe kiw;n hjra'q' oJ geraiovv"
where it is not clear whether the caesuras should fall at
polla; d' e[peit' ajpavneuqe || kivwn hjra'q' oJ geraiovv"
or
polla; d' e[peit' || ajpavneuqe kiw;n || hjra'q' oJ geraiovv"
with the sense being either
"And so in turn a long way off || the old man prayed as he went"
or
"Often in turn || having gone off || the old man prayed."
Unfortunately, formulaic analysis does not help in this instance (there being instances of
kiw;n in both two-part and three-part lines), but one can usually guess whether a line is
two-part or three-part or, failling that, confirm one way or another through formulaic
analysis.
2.1.2 The Bucolic Diaeresis
A diaeresis, like a caesura, marks a break between words which corresponds to a pause in
the sense, but a diaeresis falls between metrical feet. There is only one common diaeresis
of much significance in the structure of the hexameter, the bucolic diaeresis. It falls
between the fourth and fifth feet, and we mark it with the symbol \
1st foot
2nd foot
3rd foot
4th foot
5th foot
6th foot
qyqyqyqy\qyqa
The metrical unit between the bucolic diaeresis and the end of the line is most commonly
filled either with a relative clause (beginning with a relative pronoun such as o{", h{,
ou{", etc.) or with a single formulaic phrase of the with the syllable pattern q r q a. Such
a formulaic phrase is sometimes called an adonaic phrase or adonaic formula.
An example of a bucolic diaeresis which precedes a relative clause is i.1:
[Andra moi e[nnepe Mou'sa poluvtropon \ o{" mavla povlla
Tell me of the man, Muse, the man of many shifts \ who very often / greatly / etc.
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An example of a bucolic diaeresis which accomodates an adonaic formula is IX.479:
Fqivhn d' ejxikovmhn ejribwvlaka \ mhtevra mhvlwn
And I came to Phthia, that fertile land \ the mother of herds
Note that the bucolic diaeresis is usually to be found in a two-part line; it never occurs in
a three-part line. So we may mark the medial caesuras (feminine at i.1, masculine at
IX.479) in our two examples thus:
[Andra moi e[nnepe Mou'sa || poluvtropon \ o{" mavla povlla
Fqivhn d' ejxikovmhn || ejribwvlaka \ mhtevra mhvlwn
If there happens to be a word-break between the fourth and fifth feet but the material
following it neither constitutes a distinct unit of meaning nor begins a new idea, the break
is not of structural significance and not a true bucolic diaeresis.
2.2 Caesuras and Units of Meaning
Generally speaking, each metrical part of the line (the two or three metrical parts created
by the one or two caesuras) corresponds to a single unit of meaning.
2.2.1 Units of Meaning in the Two-Part Line
The Two-Part Line, divided metrically into two parts, generally also contains two units of
meaning. The correspondence of metrical unit and unit of meaning tends to create a
sense of balanced halves across the medial caesura.
An example is v.320:
ei{mata gavr rJ' ejbavrune tav oiJ povre di'a Kaluywv
For the clothes weighed him down, which bright Calypso gave him
where the feminine caesura falls thus,
ei{mata gavr rJ' ejbavrune ||
tav oiJ povre di'a Kaluywv
the two parts of the line which are separated by the caesura are themselves independently
complete: we translate "ei{mata gavr rJ' ejbavrune" as "For the clothes weighed him
down"; but we if we encountered the second part of the line, "tav oiJ povre di'a
Kaluywv," on its own, without reference to the first half of the line, we could very well
translate it, "Those things the bright Calypso gave him," and the thought is complete by
itself.
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2.2.2
Units of Meaning in the Three-Part Line
As in the two-part line, he metrical units created by the caesuras in the Three-Part Line
tend to correspond to units of meaning, three in this case. For example, in v.333,
to;n de [W]i[den || Kavdmou qugavthr || kallivsfuro" jInw
She saw him, Cadmus' daughter, Ino of the beautiful ankles
"She saw him," "Cadmus' daughter," and "Ino of the beautiful ankles," are all
independent units of meaning which have come together in the line.
2.3
Caveat
Of course, the neat correspondence of metrical units and units of meaning does not hold
in many lines. In general, however, the art of Homeric versification consists in the
variation and select violation of the principles sketched above.