Chapters

Book Chapter

9. The Distribution of Rig-Vedic śrávas: An Intensive Correlation of Phraseology with Meter

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

Book Chapter

8. An Inquiry into the Origins of Indic Trimeter

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

Book Chapter

Part II. śráva(s) ákṣitam and Indic Meter7. The Metrical Context of Rig-Vedic śráva(s) ákṣitam and ákṣiti śrávas

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

Book Chapter

6. Formula and Meter: A Summary

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

Book Chapter

5. The Wedding of Hektor and Andromache: Epic Contacts in Sappho 44LP

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

Book Chapter

4. The Metrical Context of κλέοc ἄφθιτον in Epic and Lyric

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

Book Chapter

3. On the Origins of Dactylic Hexameter

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

Book Chapter

2. Internal Expansion

2. Internal Expansion More needs to be said about the choriambic dimeter. This octosyllable is the most primitive form of regular dimeter inherited by Greek. In its pattern ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ ⏓ – ⏑ ⏑ ⏓, we see the preservation of a clear metrical delineation between opening and closing, with an unfixed rhythm in the former and a fixed rhythm in… Read more

Book Chapter

Part I. κλέοc ἄφθιτον and Greek Meter1. The Common Heritage of Greek and Indic Meter: A Survey

1. The Common Heritage of Greek and Indic Meter: A Survey With the ultimate aim of comparing the metrical contexts of Greek κλέοc ἄφθιτον and Indic śráva(s) ákṣitam, we must start by reviewing the conventions of Greek and Indic meter which have been recognized as cognate by Meillet and his followers. [1] My approach will be to consider first those of the… Read more

Book Chapter

Introduction

Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] Just as the Greek language is cognate with the Sanskrit… Read more