Prosody is the study and use of how poems are structured. The word comes from the Greek term for "song sung to music" and "pronunciation of syllable." It also has roots in Latin and French, but its main meaning relates to the way words are arranged in poetry.
Prosody
Greek poetry uses the length of syllables, not the stress on syllables, as in English. In Greek poetry, syllables are either long or short. It is likely that in everyday speech, some syllables had lengths between short and long, such as the first syllable in the word τέκνα / tékna / 'children'. However, in poetry, these syllables were treated as either long or short. For example, in the play Oedipus Tyrannus, the first syllable of τέκνα is considered long in one line and short in another.
Different types of poetry use different patterns of long and short syllables, called meters (Commonwealth: metres). For instance, Homer’s epic poems used a pattern called dactylic hexameter, which follows the rhythm: | – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – u u | – – | (where “–” represents a long syllable and “u” a short one).
Most Ancient Greek poetry, including Homer’s works, was likely sung to music. Fragments of Greek music, like the Seikilos epitaph, suggest that short syllables were sung with short musical notes, and long syllables were sung with longer notes or groups of two or three short notes.
Word accents in Greek poetry did not affect the meter but influenced the melody. Syllables with an acute accent were often sung on a higher pitch, and those with a circumflex were sung on two notes, with the first higher than the second.
Rules determine whether a syllable is long or short. A syllable is "long by nature" if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong. A syllable is "long by position" if a vowel is followed by certain consonant combinations, such as ζ /zd/, ξ /ks/, or ψ /ps/, or two other consonants. However, a syllable ending in a vowel (called an "open syllable") is not necessarily long if it ends with a plosive and a liquid or nasal sound.
The final syllable of a line, even if naturally short, is often treated as long ("brevis in longo") if a specific rule is followed. For example, in the opening line of Euripides’ play The Bacchae, this rule applies. However, in some lyric poetry, this rule is sometimes ignored when lines flow continuously without pauses, as in a line from Aristophanes’ Birds.
When a single consonant is between two vowels, like in the word χθόνα (khthóna), the consonant starts the next syllable: χθό-να. A syllable ending in a vowel, like χθό-, is called an "open syllable." The letters ζ /zd/, ξ /ks/, and ψ /ps/ are treated as two consonants. For example, the word ἄξιος (áxios) is divided into syllables as ak-si-os, with the first syllable closed. A short syllable is an open syllable with a short vowel, such as khtho- or di-.
If a word ends in a short vowel + consonant, like ἄξιος (áxios), the final syllable is treated as long by position if the next word starts with a consonant. However, if the next word starts with a vowel, the consonant becomes part of the next syllable, and the final syllable of the word is considered short. For example, in the phrase ἄξιός ἐστι (áxiós esti), the syllables are divided as ak-si-o-ses-ti.
Metrical feet
Ancient experts divided lines of poetry into units called "feet." Each foot usually contains 3 or 4 syllables, though sometimes it has 2 or 5 syllables. These units are similar to bars in a line of music. Each type of foot has a unique name.
For notation: a line (–) represents a long syllable, and a small symbol (ᴗ) represents a short syllable.
Non-lyric meters
Non-lyric meters are used in poems that tell stories, mourn the dead, describe tragic events, celebrate nature, or teach lessons. A key feature of these meters is that each line in the poem has the same length (except in elegiac couplets, where the same pair of lines repeats throughout the poem).
The earliest Greek poetry, such as the works of Homer and Hesiod, uses a meter called dactylic hexameter. This meter has six parts, or feet, and follows a basic pattern. In this pattern, two short syllables (u u) can sometimes be replaced with a long syllable (–), though this is rare in the fifth foot.
For example, the opening lines of Homer’s Iliad use this meter. To fit the words into the rhythm, Homer sometimes changes how syllables are pronounced. In one line, two vowels in a name are merged into one sound. In another, a short vowel is stretched to match the meter. The name "Achilles" is sometimes pronounced with two "l" sounds and sometimes with one. Homer also uses the past tense of verbs with or without a prefix, like "ἔθηκε" and "τεῦχε."
Each line of dactylic hexameter is divided into six feet. These feet can be dactyls (– u u) or spondees (– –). In the Iliad, dactyls and spondees appear equally often, though in most Greek poetry, dactyls are more common (60% of the time), and in Latin poetry, spondees are more common (60% of the time). The fifth foot in Greek hexameters is usually a dactyl, and only one in 18 lines has a spondee there. The final foot of a line is always a spondee because the last syllable is naturally long.
A pause in the middle of a line, called a caesura, often appears in the third foot. However, this pause can shift to other positions for variety. In pastoral poetry, a pause sometimes occurs between the fourth and fifth feet, called a "bucolic caesura."
The dactylic hexameter is also used in short poems, like an epigram by Simonides that honors fallen Spartans. In this case, the hexameter is paired with a pentameter, which has two parts of two and a half feet each. The second part of the pentameter always follows the same pattern: | – u u | – u u | – |, with no changes.
The dactylic hexameter-pentameter pair is also used in elegies (called "elegiac couplets") and later in love poems by writers like Callimachus.
Another common meter used in Greek plays is the iambic trimeter. This meter has three feet, and each foot has one long syllable followed by one short syllable (– u). A group of two feet is called a "metron." In some cases, a long syllable can be replaced with two short syllables. When proper names are used, an anceps syllable (which can be either long or short) may also be replaced with two short syllables.
Unlike other types of Greek poetry, the iambic trimeter was used for dialogue without music. For example, the opening lines of Euripides’ play The Bacchae use this meter.
The iambic trimeter is also used in Greek comedies, such as those by Aristophanes and Menander. In comedies, more short syllables are used than in tragedies, and a rule called Porson’s Law is not always followed. Sometimes, a short syllable can be replaced with two short syllables. However, the last foot of the line is always an iamb (u –).
An example of this comic version appears in the opening lines of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. In this version, short syllables are used in lines 2, 4, 6, and 7, and Porson’s Law is broken in lines 1, 7, and 8.
Other meters are used in comedies when the pace or mood changes. One such meter is the iambic tetrameter, which is often catalectic (missing the final syllable). In this case, the last syllable of the line is treated as long. An example appears in Aristophanes’ Clouds. In Roman comedies, this meter is called the "Iambic septenarius."
Sometimes, Greek playwrights use trochaic feet (– u) instead of iambic. This meter was originally used in satyr plays and later in comedies. The basic pattern is | – u – x |. An example from Aristophanes’ Clouds shows this meter. In tragedies, there is usually a break in the middle of the line, but this is not always the case in comedies. In Roman comedies, this meter is called the "Trochaic septenarius."
Some scholars debate whether this meter is trochaic or iambic, depending on how the final syllable is treated. Ancient writers, however, recognized that trochaic meters had a faster, livelier rhythm than iambic.
Anapaestic tetrameter (u u – repeated four times) is also used in comedies. It is described as a "dignified" meter and appears in Clouds when a character describes how boys should behave. Anapaestic verse is always found in dimeters or tetrameters, with spondees (– –) being the most common foot, followed by anapaests (u u –) and dactyls (– u u). The proportions of these feet vary between authors. In Sophocles, anapaests make up 26% of the feet, but in Aristophanes, they make up 39%. In comedy, very few feet are proceleusmatic (u u u u).
Other meters, like the Eupolidean, are occasionally used in comedies. This meter has a complex structure and is named after the poet Eupolis. It appears in Clouds when the character speaks. In this meter, there is either a break in the middle of the line or a pause after the first syllable of the second part.
Lyric meters
Lyric meters, which are meters used in songs played on a lyre, are usually less regular than other types of meters. The lines in these meters are made up of different kinds of feet and can vary in length. Some lyric meters were used for solo songs, like those written by Sappho and Alcaeus. Others were used for group dances, such as the songs in Greek tragedies and the victory odes of Pindar.
The basic unit of the Ionic meter is the minor Ionic foot, also called the double iamb. This foot has two short syllables and two long syllables. An Ionic line is made of two of these feet.
Sometimes a line may be catalectic, meaning it is missing the last syllable. These lines often appear at the end of a stanza or section.
The process of anaclasis, which swaps a short and a long syllable, creates a different pattern called the Anacreontic.
Many variations are possible in the Ionic meter because of anaclasis, catalexis, resolution, and syncopation.
This meter was used by lyric poets like Alcman, Sappho, and Alcaeus, as well as in some choral songs from Greek tragedies and comedies. An example is a choral song from Euripides’ Bacchae, which is addressed to the stream Dirce and describes the birth of the god Dionysus. This song uses the Doric pronunciation of certain words, such as “Dirce” instead of “Dirke.”
A variation of the Ionic meter uses choriambic feet, which have the pattern of a long syllable followed by two short syllables and then another long syllable. This can be seen in a choral song from Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus. The song starts with four choriambic dimeters but later follows the Ionic pattern.
Aeolic verse refers to poems written by Sappho and Alcaeus, two famous poets from Lesbos. Later poets, like Horace, imitated this style. A more varied form of Aeolic verse appears in the choral odes of Pindar and Bacchylides.
The Aeolic meter is based on two types of lines: the Glyconic and the Pherecratean. Both include the choriamb as their central pattern. The Glyconic line can be described as a choriamb followed by additional syllables.
A unique feature of Aeolic verse is the use of a double anceps (two short syllables) at the beginning of a line. In the works of Sappho and Alcaeus, each line has the same number of syllables, meaning a long syllable cannot replace two short ones or vice versa. However, in later Aeolic verse by Pindar, a long syllable can sometimes be replaced by two short ones.
Several patterns of Aeolic verse exist, some of which are named and described here.
Additional patterns occur when the choriamb in the middle of a verse is extended, such as adding more syllables to the pattern.
A simple type of Aeolic meter is the Sapphic stanza, used by Sappho. This stanza has three lines with a specific pattern, followed by a shorter line. One famous example is Sappho’s poem 31, which begins with a line in the Aeolic dialect spoken on the island of Lesbos.
Another type of Aeolic meter is the hagesichorean, named after a line in Alcman’s Partheneion. This meter is used in the famous “Midnight Poem” attributed to Sappho.
Dactylo-epitrite verse (also called Doric verse) combines two elements: the dactylic metron and the epitrite. The dactylic metron, called the Prosodiac, has a variable number of dactyls before the final spondee or long syllable. The epitrite has a specific pattern of syllables.
This meter was used in choral songs by Pindar and Bacchylides, as well as in the choruses of tragedies. An example is a song from Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound.
Meters that mix dactyls and trochees are sometimes called “logaoedic,” meaning they are between the irregularity of speech and the regularity of poetry.
Choral songs often use a mix of meters. For example, the Partheneion by Alcman, a 7th-century BC Spartan poet, uses trochaic rhythms mixed with hagesichorean patterns. In some lines, trochaic rhythms shift to dactylic patterns.
If the word “plough” (φάρος) is used instead of “robe” (φᾶρος) in a line, the meter changes.
A similar mix of trochaic and dactylic meters appears in some of Pindar’s choral odes, such as the First Olympian Ode. This poem starts with glyconic and pherecratean patterns but becomes more irregular later.
In his book on Pindaric meter, Kiichiro Itsumi describes this ode as having an “amalgamated style,” meaning it combines Aeolic and dactylo-epitrite rhythms.
The Paeonic meter is based on two types of feet: the Cretic. By changing the long syllables in these feet, additional feet are created, such as the First Paeon and the Fourth Paeon. Adding an iamb to these feet creates a dochmiac. From the Cretic and Bacchius feet, two types of dochmiacs are formed: the Slow Dochmiac and the Fast Dochmiac.
Dochmiac rhythms were often used by Athenian tragedians for dramatic lamentations. An example is a passage from Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes.
Vocabulary
Anaclasis – An exchange of the final long syllable in the first metron with the initial short syllable in the second.
Catalexis – A missing syllable in the final foot of a verse.
Metron – A unit of rhythm in a line of verse, defined by the number and length of syllables.
Resolution – Replacing a single long syllable with two short syllables; the outcome of this replacement.
Syncopation – Omitting a short or anceps syllable.