The common structure of dactylic hexameter and iambic trimeter in archaic Greek poetry

Abstract

Taking into account the bases of functional metre, I emphasise that, in the archaic Greek poetry, both the dactylic hexameter and the iambic trimeter respond to the same structure. These are spoken verses of twelve perfectly alternating components: six monosyllabic components (M) and six potentially disyllabic components (D), which have end-of-line marks, as well as positions in which the word ending is common (caesuras) and positions in which it is avoided (bridges). Each of them has a single rhythm (- ⏑ - or - ⏑ ⏑ -), which must appear at least once in each verse. The trochaic tetrameter is an extension of the iambic trimeter. All three lines necessarily end in a potentially disyllabic component (D), reduced to a single long syllable. A description of the elegiac distich is given, showing that its first verse is a spoken hexameter, while the second has a first series of perfect M/D alternation (MDMDM), but the second has a fixed scheme based on monosyllabic components, in the style of lyric poetry: MDMDM / MMMMMMM //. It thus serves as a bridge between spoken verse and lyric κῶλον.