Verse literature: Group 3 set text

Both lines are quoted exactly and are the opening lines of their poems. Translate each and account for the word order. (a) Homer, Iliad 1.1: μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος. (b) Homer, Odyssey 1.1: ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλά.

1. 01(a) the first word is the subject of the poem

   μῆνιν is the accusative singular of μῆνις, wrath, and it is the object of the imperative ἄειδε, sing. It stands first, before the verb and before the goddess who is asked to sing, so the poem announces its theme in its opening syllable. Naming the emotion rather than the man is itself the claim the whole poem then makes good.

2. 02(a) the addressee and the genitives

   θεά is the vocative, goddess, addressed to the Muse. Πηληϊάδεω is a Homeric genitive singular of the patronymic Πηληϊάδης, son of Peleus, and Ἀχιλῆος is the Homeric genitive of Ἀχιλλεύς; both depend on μῆνιν. Note the endings: -εω for the first-declension masculine genitive singular and -ος on a stem Ἀχιλῆ- are epic forms with no Attic equivalent, and they are the first sign that Homeric dialect has to be learned as its own system. Translate: sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles son of Peleus.

3. 03(b) the same shape, differently loaded

   ἄνδρα is the accusative object of ἔννεπε, tell, and stands first exactly as μῆνιν does. μοι is the enclitic dative, to me. Μοῦσα is the vocative. The Odyssey therefore opens by naming not an emotion but a man — and, crucially, by not naming him: he is ἄνδρα, a man, for the whole of the first line and beyond.

4. 04(b) the delayed epithet

   πολύτροπον is an adjective agreeing with ἄνδρα, of many turns, and so of many devices or much travelled. It is separated from its noun by three words, including the invocation itself, which is a placement no prose could produce. The effect is that the defining quality of the hero arrives after the Muse has been called, and arrives alone in the fourth foot with a pause after it. ὃς μάλα πολλά begins the relative clause that will run into the following lines: who very much.

5. 05What both lines teach about reading epic

   In each, the object comes first and the verb second; in each, the words that belong together are separated; in each, the sentence does not end with the line. Reading epic therefore means the same discipline as reading tragedy: find the finite verb, attach the accusatives and genitives to what they belong with by their endings, and read to the punctuation rather than to the line end.

Result: (a) Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles son of Peleus. (b) Tell me, Muse, of the man of many turns, who very much ... Both poems open with the accusative object in first position, both hold the verb back to second, both use epic case endings that have no Attic equivalent, and the Odyssey additionally separates its hero's defining epithet from him by the whole invocation.

Quoted exactly: Homer, Odyssey 1.1, ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλά. Scan it, name the caesura, and account for every quantity.

1. 01Divide and count

   ἄν-δρα-μοι ἔν-νε-πε Μοῦ-σα-πο-λύ-τρο-πον ὃς-μά-λα-πολ-λά. Seventeen syllables. Seventeen is the maximum a hexameter can hold, and it is reached only when the first five feet are all dactyls and the sixth is the usual two syllables. So before marking a single quantity we already expect five dactyls and a spondee, and the scansion becomes a check rather than a search.

2. 02First foot, and the one rule that has to be applied

   ἄν is heavy: the alpha is short by nature but ν and δ follow it, so the syllable is heavy by position. δρα is light: short alpha, and only the single μ of μοι follows. μοι is a diphthong and should be heavy — but the next word ἔννεπε begins with a vowel, and a final long vowel or diphthong before a vowel is shortened by epic correption. So μοι counts LIGHT here. First foot: ἄν-δρα-μοι, - u u, a dactyl. Without correption the line cannot scan at all, which is why the rule has to be automatic.

3. 03Second and third feet

   ἔν is heavy by position, before the double ν. νε is light: short epsilon, single π following. πε is light: short epsilon, and the following Μ is a single consonant. Second foot ἔν-νε-πε, - u u. Then Μοῦ is heavy, containing the diphthong ου; σα is light, short alpha before a single π; πο is light, short omicron before λ. Third foot Μοῦ-σα-πο, - u u.

4. 04Fourth foot, and a cluster that does make position

   λύ has a short upsilon by nature, but it is followed by τ and ρ. In epic a stop plus a liquid normally does make position — the licence that leaves such a syllable light belongs to Attic drama — so λύ is HEAVY. τρο is light, short omicron before a single π; πον is light, short omicron before the ὃ of ὅς. Fourth foot λύ-τρο-πον, - u u. This is the foot that most often defeats a reader trained on tragic scansion, because the Attic habit says the syllable should be light.

5. 05Fifth and sixth feet

   ὃς is heavy by position: short omicron, then ς and μ. μά is light: the alpha of μάλα is short. λα is light: short alpha before the single π of πολλά. Fifth foot ὃς-μά-λα, - u u, the dactyl the fifth foot almost always is. Then πολ is heavy by position before the double λ, and λά closes the line, so it counts heavy whatever its nature. Sixth foot πολ-λά, - -.

6. 06The pattern, the caesura and the diaeresis

   Five dactyls and a spondee: - u u | - u u | - u u | - u u | - u u | - -. A holodactylic line, the fastest shape a hexameter has. The word Μοῦσα occupies the first two syllables of the third foot, so word end falls after the first light syllable of that foot: this is the feminine, or trochaic, caesura. And πολύτροπον ends exactly at the close of the fourth foot, which is a bucolic diaeresis, so the epithet is detached and the last two feet begin a new phrase. Both are worth naming; both are facts before they are effects.

Result: Odyssey 1.1 scans - u u | - u u | - u u | - u u | - u u | - -, seventeen syllables, five dactyls and a closing spondee. Two rules were load-bearing: epic correption shortening μοι before a vowel, and a stop plus liquid making position in πο-λύ-τρο-πον, which is the epic practice rather than the Attic one. The caesura is feminine, after Μοῦσα, and there is a bucolic diaeresis after πολύτροπον.

Constructed teaching Greek, each line scanned position by position before being printed here. An exchange between a mother and her child. (1) τί φῄς; τί λέξεις; οὐ γὰρ οἶδα τὸν λόγον. (2) ἄπελθε, μῆτερ· δεινὰ γὰρ πάσχω κακά. (3) τίς σοι παρέσχε τήνδε τὴν βουλήν ποτε;

1. 01Line 1 scanned

   τί is light, short iota before a single φ. φῄς is heavy, containing eta with iota subscript. τί is light again. λέ is heavy by position before ξ, which is a double consonant. ξεις is heavy, diphthong. οὐ is heavy, diphthong. γὰρ is light, short alpha before a single ρ and then a vowel. οἶ is heavy. δα is light. τὸν is heavy by position before λ. λό is light. γον closes the line and counts heavy. So u - u - | - - u - | u - u -, a regular trimeter with the first and third ancipitia light and the second heavy, and a penthemimeral caesura after λέξεις. Position nine is light, so Porson's bridge is not engaged.

2. 02Line 1: what it will support

   The metre here is entirely regular and supports no claim at all — and saying so in your own notes is useful, because it stops you inventing one. What the line DOES support is a claim about repetition and word order: τί φῄς; τί λέξεις; is two two-word questions in the first five positions, with anaphora on τί and a shift from present to future, so the speaker asks the same thing twice and cannot wait for the answer to the first. That is an observation about arrangement, it is demonstrable, and it needs no help from the metre.

3. 03Line 2 scanned

   ἄ is light. πελ is heavy by position before θ. θε is light. μῆ is heavy. τερ is heavy by position before δ. δει is heavy. νὰ is light. γὰρ is heavy by position before π. πά is heavy by position before σχ. σχω is heavy. κα is light. κά closes the line and counts heavy. So u - u - | - - u - | - - u -, again regular, with the second and third ancipitia heavy. Caesura penthemimeral, after μῆτερ. Position nine is heavy, in πάσχω — and no word ends there, because πάσχω continues into position ten, so Porson's bridge holds.

4. 04Line 2: what it will support

   Here the word order does carry something. δεινά and κακά agree and are separated by the whole of γὰρ πάσχω, so the line opens with terrible and closes with sufferings and encloses the verb between them. That framing is a real effect and it is visible: the speaker's suffering is surrounded by the word for its quality. Note also that the vocative μῆτερ arrives immediately after the imperative that dismisses her, so the address and the rejection occupy the same breath.

5. 05Line 3 scanned

   τίς is heavy by position before the σ of σοι. σοι is heavy. πα is light. ρέ is heavy by position before σχ. σχε is light. τήν is heavy. δε is light. τὴν is heavy. βου is heavy. λήν is heavy. πο is light. τε closes the line and counts heavy. So - - u - | u - u - | - - u -, with the first anceps heavy, the second light and the third heavy, a penthemimeral caesura after παρέσχε, and position nine heavy inside βουλήν, so the bridge again holds.

6. 06What the three lines show together

   All three are metrically regular; none contains a resolution; none has an unusual caesura. Any answer claiming that the metre of this exchange conveys agitation would be inventing it. What the exchange DOES support is a claim about stichomythia as a form: three lines, three speakers' turns, each complete in itself, with a question answered by a command and the command answered by another question. The pressure is in the structure of the exchange, not in the rhythm of the individual lines, and saying that precisely is worth more than any number of unearned metrical claims.

Result: Line 1: u - u - | - - u - | u - u -. Line 2: u - u - | - - u - | - - u -. Line 3: - - u - | u - u - | - - u -. All three regular, all with a penthemimeral caesura, Porson's bridge intact in lines 2 and 3 where the ninth position is heavy. The metre supports no interpretative claim here; the anaphora in line 1, the framing of δεινά and κακά in line 2, and the stichomythic structure of the whole do.

Build the notebook entry for Homer, Odyssey 1.1, ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλά, and then for the constructed trimeter ἄπελθε, μῆτερ· δεινὰ γὰρ πάσχω κακά.

1. 01Column one and two — the Greek and a literal version

   For the hexameter: ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλά — the man tell me, Muse, of many turns, who very many things. The literal version is deliberately ugly; its job is to record what each word is doing, not to read well. A polished version goes underneath: tell me, Muse, of the man of many turns, who ...

2. 02Column three — the grammar that had to be looked up

   ἄνδρα, accusative object of ἔννεπε, which is an epic imperative of ἐννέπω, tell. μοι, enclitic dative of the person told. Μοῦσα, vocative. πολύτροπον, accusative adjective agreeing with ἄνδρα across three intervening words. ὅς, nominative relative pronoun beginning a clause that runs into the next line. μάλα πολλά, adverb with neuter plural, very many things. Five notes, and each of them is a thing that could be asked about.

3. 03Column four — the metre, with a comment

   Five dactyls and a spondee, holodactylic; feminine caesura after Μοῦσα; bucolic diaeresis after πολύτροπον; μοι shortened by epic correption. Comment: the diaeresis detaches πολύτροπον, so the hero's defining epithet stands alone at the end of its phrase, delayed by the whole invocation. That is a genuine claim, and the metrical fact is the evidence for it.

4. 04The same for the trimeter

   Greek: ἄπελθε, μῆτερ· δεινὰ γὰρ πάσχω κακά. Literal: go away, mother; for terrible I am suffering evils. Polished: go away, mother; for the sufferings I endure are terrible. Grammar: ἄπελθε, aorist imperative of ἀπέρχομαι; μῆτερ, vocative; δεινά agreeing with κακά, both accusative neuter plural, object of πάσχω; γάρ postpositive, so the clause begins at δεινά.

5. 05The metre column for the trimeter

   u - u - | - - u - | - - u -, regular, penthemimeral caesura after μῆτερ, ninth position heavy inside πάσχω so Porson's bridge holds. Comment: NOTHING. The metre is unremarkable and supports no claim. What is worth a note is not metrical at all — δεινά and κακά frame the clause, so the quality of the suffering encloses the suffering itself. Write that in the third column, where claims about word order belong.

6. 06Why the fourth column earns its place

   Two entries, and one of them says nothing in the metre column. That ratio is realistic and it is the point. A candidate who has written nothing three hundred times has learned exactly what a real metrical effect looks like, and will recognise one instantly in the examination — and, more importantly, will not manufacture one when there is none.

Result: The hexameter entry records five dactyls and a spondee, the feminine caesura, the bucolic diaeresis and the correption of μοι, and it earns a genuine comment about the detached epithet. The trimeter entry records a regular line with a penthemimeral caesura and an intact Porson bridge, and its metre comment is the word nothing — while the observation worth having, the framing of δεινά and κακά, is filed under word order instead.

The question: how does the poet present the man who is the subject of the opening? [15] The passage is Homer, Odyssey 1.1, ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλά, scanned in an earlier section as five dactyls and a spondee, with a feminine caesura after Μοῦσα and a bucolic diaeresis after πολύτροπον.

1. 01The overall claim, written first

   The opening presents its hero by withholding him: he is named by his species, then by his quality, and not at all by his name, so that the poem's first act is to make the audience wait. That is a claim about this passage, it can be proved from the line, and everything below will support it.

2. 02Unit one — the first word

   The poem's first word is ἄνδρα, a man — an accusative common noun placed before the verb, before the Muse and before any name. Beginning with the object rather than the request puts the subject of the poem in the first syllable, and beginning with a common noun rather than a proper one means that what has been announced is a category, not a person. The Iliad, opening μῆνιν, wrath, does the same thing with an abstraction; the parallel makes the choice look deliberate rather than accidental.

3. 03Unit two — the delayed epithet, and the metre as evidence

   The defining word, πολύτροπον, of many turns, agrees with ἄνδρα but is separated from it by the whole invocation, μοι ἔννεπε Μοῦσα. It then ends exactly at the close of the fourth foot, a bucolic diaeresis, so it stands alone in its phrase with an audible pause after it. Here the metrical fact is doing real work: the position is what makes the delay audible rather than merely visible, and a listener hears the epithet arrive isolated after the Muse has been named. The claim is about the presentation of the hero; the metre is the evidence for it.

4. 04Unit three — what the epithet does not settle

   πολύτροπος is itself an ambiguous word: many-turned may mean much-travelled or much-turning in mind, resourceful or devious. The poem does not choose between them here. So the audience is given a defining quality that is itself undecided, immediately after being denied a name, and the whole apparatus of the opening is arranged to postpone rather than to inform.

5. 05The link outward and the close

   Link: the withholding is not confined to the first line, since the hero is not named for some considerable time after it, and the poem's habit of introducing him through other people's accounts is established here. Close, returning to the claim sharpened: the opening does not describe its hero, it defers him, and the deferral is the first characterisation the poem offers.

6. 06The metre-spotting version, for comparison

   Here is the same material written badly. The line is made up of five dactyls, which makes it fast and exciting and draws the reader in. There is a caesura in the third foot, creating a pause and adding emphasis. The bucolic diaeresis at the end of the fourth foot creates another pause, making the line memorable. Three sentences, three correct metrical facts, and not one word that identifies this passage rather than any other hexameter. Cover the Greek and the paragraph survives intact, which is exactly the diagnosis.

Result: The good version makes one claim — the opening defers its hero rather than describing him — and proves it from the first word, the delayed and metrically isolated epithet, and the ambiguity of πολύτροπος, with the bucolic diaeresis used as evidence for the delay rather than as an observation in its own right. The metre-spotting version states three true metrical facts and says nothing about the poem. The difference is not knowledge; it is whether the metre was made to serve a claim.