3. On the Origins of Dactylic Hexameter I propose that the archetype of the dactylic hexameter is the pattern pher3d, as it is still used by Alkaios: [1] 1̄̆ 2̄̆ 3̄ 4̆ 5̆ 6̄ 7̆ 8̆ 9̄ 10̆ 11̆ 12̄ 13̆ 14̆ 15̄ 16̄̆ This proposal entails that the original hexameter must have operated on an inherited principle of isosyllabism… Read more
4. The Metrical Context of κλέοc ἄφθιτον in Epic and Lyric There is a serious difficulty with the theory that epic formulas are derived from lyric formulas. The attestations of Greek lyric verses, let alone Pherecratic verses specifically, are scant. Furthermore, what little survives is late in comparison with the Iliad and Odyssey. Whereas the Homeric corpus became a fixed text in a prehistoric period,… Read more
5. The Wedding of Hektor and Andromache: Epic Contacts in Sappho 44LP Had this ill-fated couple ever really lived through a single happy day in their lives? Oh, yes: there was a time, once. In a reverie from the past, Andromache is growing up in the house of her parents. She has seven brothers and she is the only daughter. She is happy. Then, one… Read more
6. Formula and Meter: A Summary In L’épithète traditionnelle, [1] Parry recorded his discovery that the word-break patterns of epic hexameter mark the places where formulas generally start and end. I am now prepared to add to his thesis this corollary: that the epic formulas are derived from lyric formulas appropriate mainly to Pherecratic meters. Also, I propose that the epic meter… Read more
7. The Metrical Context of Rig-Vedic śráva(s) ákṣitam and ákṣiti śrávas The general form of the Vedas is that of lyrical poetry. They contain the songs in which the first ancestors of the Hindu people, at the very dawn of their existence as a separate nation, while they were still only on the threshold of the great country which they were afterwards to fill with… Read more
8. An Inquiry into the Origins of Indic Trimeter Let us first survey the basic types of dimeter and trimeter which are formally comparable in Greek and Indic. In the case of dimeters, the correspondences are obvious, and the essentials have already been presented in the Introduction. The analogue of the Greek octosyllables ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏓ (irregular… Read more
9. The Distribution of Rig-Vedic śrávas: An Intensive Correlation of Phraseology with Meter The usage of a word like śrávas in the Rig-Veda is subject to manifold constraints in matters of positioning and associations with other words. It now becomes imperative to examine such constraints in relation to meter and metrical origins. Beyond the immediate interest, the great advantage in such an examination is that we may… Read more
Epilogue: The Hidden Meaning of κλέοc ἄφθιτον and śráva(s) ákṣitam Having reconstructed a poetic expression which antedates even the meters in which it is preserved, we may well wonder about its traditional impact. What implicit message did the expression *klewos n̥dhgwhitom contain? What strength of heritage propelled it to survive in two such distantly related poetic systems as the Greek and the Indic? As I… Read more
Appendix A. μήδεα and ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδώc Within the framework of Homeric diction, the noun μήδεα can mean either ‘thoughts, schemes’ (as in Γ 202) or ‘genitals’ (as in σ 67). There are many typological parallels to such a semantic ambivalence in μήδεα. For example, Old High German gimaht may mean either ‘faculty’ or ‘genitals’. Notice too that the Greek word for ‘sexual coming of age’, ἥβη,… Read more
Appendix B. Dovetailing: Speculations on Mechanics and Origins Glyconics, among other Greek meters, ‘dovetail’ forward. [1] That is, the word-break at the end of one Glyconic can be skipped and transferred to the position after the first long/short (⏓) of a following Glyconic: regular pattern 1̄̆ 2̄̆ 3̄ 4̆ 5̆ 6̄ 7̆ 8̄̆||1̄̆ 2̄̆ 3̄ 4̆ 5̆ 6̄ 7̆ 8̄̆ … Read more
