Dactylic Hexameter

A short primer on strategies for scanning Latin epic poetry.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• latin
• hexameter
• epic
• poetry
• scan
• scanning
• meter
• line
• poem
• ovid
• vergil
• virgil
• greek
• classics
• school
• prosody
• metrical
• metrics
• aeneid
• metamorphoses
• rome
• roman
• greece
• classical

[SuperKaulo]

2.42 Why should they be dactyles?

[brj4]

@SuperKaulo We have two feet left to be determined in the line, and six syllables. So each foot has to have three syllables, which makes them both dactyls. You can double check this with the two consonant rule, and none of the shorts has to be long by position.

You can use this guide (once you remove the last two feet):

12 syllables = 4 dactyls

11 = 3 dactyls and 1 spondee

10 = 2 of each

9 = 3 spondees, 1 dactyl

8 = 4 spondees

[brj4]

@efccejc It does when it does. That's just one of the things you keep in mind when scanning and you come to the fifth and sixth feet, and there are only four long syllables left (and they are obviously long, because they are diphthongs or a vowel followed by two consonants). It doesn't happen much in Vergil (maybe a handful of times, but I can remember a few with the name Pallas), and a bit more frequently in Ovid.

[TheBlondieprincess]

so helpful thank you!!!

could you pleaseee make metric on aeneid virgil?

arma virumque cano......

(i need book 1,2 and 7) i can't find it anywhere here on youtube and since you are soo good at this, i'd love to see a video... if it's too complicated then just the pronounciation of the dactylic exameter of this epic .

thank you again:)

[brj4]

@TheBlondieprincess Sorry, I don't do requests. You can find a fully parsed and scanned Book 1 of the Aeneid if you search hard enough on google or your library.

Otherwise, the purpose of the video was to teach you the skill of scanning. Why should I do it for you? Learn to do it yourself.

[anFRUITanCOasi]

Shouldn't "ei"  in meis be long?

[brj4]

@anFRUITanCOasi meis is disyllabic, not monosyllabic. The "ei" there isn't a diphthong, but the e is part of the stem (me-) and the ī happens to be part of the ending (īs).

[mobspeak]

Thanks for the vid, but did it have to be in latin? :P

[ZarrogasCoD]

thank you :D

[Glueckskecks22]

Thanks so much!

[interpird350]

Nice man

[KSawyer28]

Thanks a bunch man! You have just just saved me for my latin final!

[Koentje342]

Awesome:D!

[JanSze123]

collegehumor intro? :D

cool video it helped me out :)