Day 3: A few words on dactyls and spondees

The dactylic hexameter is the skeleton of the Homeric epic. It is the meter which gives the poem its voice and personality. It is a simple structure but I have to admit that I'm having some trouble with my initial attempts at having it roll off my tongue in a language that I am only beginning to come to grips with. But, difficulties aside, this is fun!

The feature which defines the hexameter verse is the length of the syllable. Greek vowels are either long or short, and long vowels obviously make long syllables while short vowels will make a short syllable unless they are followed by a double consonant or two separate consonants, in which case it becomes a long syllable.

The grouping of the long and short syllables are what makes the structure of the line. The Homeric line of verse is composed of six 'feet'. A foot is the length of two long syllables. The first syllable is always long and can be followed either by another long syllable or two short syllables. If the foot is a long followed by two shorts it is called a dactyl while if it is composed of two longs it is called a spondee. The feet can begin and end in the middle of words while the last foot in a line is always a spondee.

This mixing and matching of long and short syllables may seem confusing at first, but, from the little I've experienced, I have the sense that when the pattern is repeated, line after line, a cumulative effect starts to take hold of the listener. One writer has even remarked that in Homer's epics both gods and humans speak in dactylic hexameter and has likened this to the poet's firm conviction that it was Fate that ultimately held sway over the divine and human realms and that even the gods were powerless against it. More of the poem on the next post...
s26Telemachus