Beginning Classical Greek II 陳斐婷 國立清華大學人社院學士班
The Iliad
Troy vs. the Troad Ἴλιον, τό Τροία, ἡ The title Ἰλιάς (the Iliad) is elliptic for ἡ ποίησις Ἰλιάς (the Trojan poem) Ἰλιάς, άδος, ἡ, peculiar fem. adjective
Hexameter and Scansion
Hexameter Short vowels: α, ε, ι, ο, υ Long vowels: ᾱ, ῑ, ῡ, η, ω Diphthongs: ᾳ, αι, αυ, ει, ευ, ῃ, ηυ, οι, ου, υι, ῳ Dactylic Hexameter: one metrum=one foot One foot: Dactyl or Spondee Dactyl (δάκτυλος, measure): long syllable — short syllable — short syllable Spondee (σπονδή, libation): long syllable — long syllable Iambic Trimeter: one metrum=two feet One foot = long syllable — short syllable
Hexameter The fifth dactyl is usually trisyllabic. A mute: γ, β, δ, κ, π, τ, ξ, φ, θ. A liquid: λ, ρ, more rarely μ, ν. The syllable preceding the mute (e.g., πέτρος) is counted either short or long. In the Homeric epic it is usually counted long, and sometimes short; while in Attic tragedy there is no distinct preference for either long or short. Synizesis: occasionally two adjoining vowels are treated as if they were one, e.g., Πηληϊάδεω. Hiatus is often, especially in Epic and Attic poetry, avoided by elision, i.e., the elimination of a final short vowel, or aphaeresis, the elimination of an initial short vowel.
Homer’s The Iliad 1.1-7
Homer’s The Iliad 1.1-7