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Greek Lyric MetreAuthor(s): W. HeadlamReviewed work(s):Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 22 (1902), pp. 209-227

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GREEK LYRIC METRE.

i.

7r0'ev

7rtcro-VTo9Geoopov

eEL

aeor6eL;6poU7"

opOlos'

oo

W6r0V O'pOVeetXevteo'e7rec'alav

ov

KaKopp?7pova ;

These wild and passionate throes,Whencerush they on theethronging ?

Such terrorswherefore hape in harsh and awful songAnd shrill withal ? What is it guides thy boding lips

On their ill-uttering path?

That, after all that has been written on the subject, I imagine to be still the

question in the bosom of most readers when they are confronted with a pieceof Lyric metre at all complicated. Those who are fortunate enough to havean ear for rhythm, and thus the capability of understanding, are still left, itseems to me, to hear a piece of metre as an uninstructed person hdars a pieceof music: though he may experience to a considerabledegree a sense of vagueand general satisfaction, he will lack the understanding of a musical adept.But a musician, hearing a sonata, follows what is being done; observes the

themes of which the composition is constructed; notes the treatment ofthem, how they are developed, varied, and combined; perceives their ethical

significance, and feels intelligent artistic pleasure. For all that I can see,the books on lyric metre do not put a student in the position to do this.

My knowledge of them is imperfect, and if I am doing an injustice I shallbe very ready to repair it; but from all that I am able to infer, they do not

yet advance the student much beyond the condition of a person who haslearnt his notes and keys and bars: they do not show him how a piece ofmetre is constructed; do not teach him, in the language of musicians, Form.

Putaway

all apriori theories,

and scanthe metres with your ear: scanevery piece of metre that you come across; observe what rhythmical phrases

are commonly combined together; on what occasions they are used, and bywhat characters.

With one preliminary warning:lyrics, as they are printed in editions,1I,S.-VVOL, XXII, p







210 W. HEADLAM

are divided as their various editors divide them. In Pindar and Bacchylidesthey have now, for the most part, been divided rightly; but our texts of the

Tragedians are still full of wrong divisions, owing to respect for the divisions

in the manuscripts. Disregard the manuscripts entirely. Different manu-scripts divide the same metres in quite different ways; even the same manu-

script is often inconsistent, not maintaining the same principles in its

divisions; and these divisions themselves are often meant to indicate no morethan what in Music you would call the phrasing and in Metre the caesura.One tendency which misleads the scribes habitually into error is to place inthe same line words which belong grammatically together.' Treat eachstanza as though it were continuous, unless you have reason to suppose itnot so,-for example, when you come to an hiatus; but if you find hiatus isavoided both in

stropheand

antistrophe, you may generally supposethe

metre is continuous.And observe also where any break after a syllable coincides in corre-

sponding stanzas; as for instance in these lines, Soph. Aj. 693= 706:

E'4p4:epWrt 7reptXap' 8' ave7rTatvn1 o6 tLo:..Xvo-ev alvo~v c',Xo' ir' opaTCwv "A. 161 toojVmVV az

I venture to think that there is no one who will not be astonished to discoverwith what care such correspondingbreaks-are studied; they always indicatethe phrasing, and before the end of this paper we shall see that their signi-

ficance is often most important.This is the method I have followed through the whole material of Greek

lyric; and the main results I now proceed to give as principles of structure.For me these principles, when once discovered, have illuminated so muchdarkness that it would surprise me now to find a piece of choric metre whichremained obscure. Prof. Blass gives up the metre of Bacchylides xv onDeianira : 'Ka'a8 dicTrvXovut videtur, certe magna ex parte; sed estmaxima numerorum obscuritas.' I can honestly say that I find it quiteintelligible: it contains dactylic phrases, but it belongs to a much-neglectedclass I shall not speak of in this paper but mean to deal with in my next,-paeonic.

I shall adopt from Dr. Christ the plan of placing dots beneath accented

syllables and hyphens after syllables of extra length, as in Ar. Vesp. 275 elT'

1 Just, of course, as printers tend to do: for

example, the first verse of Campion's song'Kind are her answers, But her performancekeeps no day; Breaks time as dancers, Fromtheir own music when they stray' should con-tinue

All her free favours

And smooth words win g my hopes in vain;but it is printed

All her free favoursand smooth words,Wing my hopes in vain.

and has escaped correction both by Mr. Bullenand Mr. Beeching.

2 In his Preface (ed. 2 p. lxviii) Prof. Blassdescribes this poem truly as a lamentatio

lugubris, and asks how that could be in honourof Apollo. A possible answer is suggested bya note of Wernsdorf's on ilimerius Eel. xiii. 6and 7, p. 213: 'Videtur Sophista hoc loco, utin Orat.xiv. 10, abitum Flaviani sui comparassecum reditu Apollinis ad Hyperboreosac descrip-sisse cum laetitiam Delphorum ob dei sui prae-sentiam, tum luctum eorum ob dei abitum :

porro autem tetigisse fluvium Alpheum, cuiusdiscessu similiter lugeant Elienses.'







GREEK LYRIC METRE. 211

•6•y-pq•ve aTroi,,

where for 4Xery n music there would be a dottedcrotchet: and I shall borrowa few simple terms from Music, giving explana-tions of them. Let no one be afraid, in anticipation of imposing hieratic

language; we shall have no use for the terminology of the grammarians,3 orfor those blessed words 'choreic,' 'logaoedic,' which proceed so comfortablefrom the lips of Dr. Schmidt. No one with an ear need be afraid at all:

though if he knows the rudiments of music he will apprehend perhaps more

vividly; and I would ask him constantly to keep analogies of Music in his

mind; for it appears to me that the principles of Form in modern music arethe very principles then followed in Greek lyric metre.

The elements in rhythmical construction are not feet, but-to adopt the

terminology of music-phrases. These are phrases, for example:-

--- - -

Glyconic- - - - Anacreontic.

You may, if it pleases you, divide such phrases into feet, as the old gram-marians were so fond of doing; all you will have achieved however willamount to just as little as if you had cut up a phrase of music into bars: itis only as a whole that such a phrase becomes an organism and conveys an

intelligible idea. It might be called a figure or Motiv, the shortest coherentelement in music, which Sir Hubert Parry in the Dictionary of Musicdescribesthus: 'A Figure is any short succession of notes, either as melody or a groupof chords, which produces a

single, complete,and distinct

impression.

The

term is the exact counterpart of the German Motiv, which is thus defined inReissmann's continuation of Mendel's Lexicon :-" Motiv, Gedanke, in der

Musik, das kleinere Glied eines solchen, aus dem dieser sich organischentwickelt." It is in fact the shortest complete idea in music; and in sub-

dividing musical works into sections, periods,phrases,the units are the figures,and any subdivision below them will leave only expressionless single notes, as

unmeaning as the separate letters of a word.'Of such rhythmical elements, phrases, motives, figures-or whatever you

may choose to call them-there existed a variety in Greek; and they would

be recognised in a moment by an educated hearer. What is important is thateach brought with it an association; it suggested certain characters,-of gods,or heroes, or of nations; certain subjects; certain shades or regions ofemotion. No one who knows anything of Greek feeling for appropriate formwill find it difficult to believe that their rhythms too were used appropriately;and he would not be incredulous if this artistic feeling should appear to have

guided sensitive metricians into the most delicate subtleties of touch.Our first business therefore, if we mean to appreciate what is being done

in choric metre, is to have learnt the various elements or phrases which layto a

composer'shand to use, and when

theyare introduced,to

recognisethem;

the second is to know the associations which these various phrases carriedwith them.

3 If only they had had our system of musical notation they would never have been bewilderingto us-or to themselves,







212 W. HEADLAM

The broadest distinction of character in rhythms is between the Dorian

and the non-Dorian. The non-Dorian may for the present purpose be classed

together under the general names Ionic, Asiatic, Eastern, including Lydian,

Phrygian etc.; Anacreon's belong of course to this division. All such aremarkedly different in spirit and associations from the rhythms which the

Dorians made their own; these are so few and simple and so easy to be learnt

that they may as well be stated here:

1 the enhoplion - - - -

.-,a dactylic phrase in tempo

staccato,beginning with or without the anacrusis.2 the epitrite, most commonly in this arrangement - -, the move-

ment in which Latin 'trochaics' naturally went.3 (formed by combining 2 and 1) the dactylo-epitrite- - --

.- -

e.g.the

beginningof the 4th

Pythian, odaeppopev Xp1ue7rap' vapt fIdc.Then there are two figures used to end a period:

4 -- - - . -, e.g. Aesch. Pers.869, Ar. Ban. 825 ryryPeveovo-part,Eur. Cycl.371.

5 - - - -, e.g. Aesch. Pers. 873, Soph. Tfrach.525 7rpopPdvov'

aKolTav, Ar. Ban. 674 sqq.,and Eur. Andr. 761:

ov'rotOVTOt,

Xei4ava T6V.ya0C0Vavopcv J/,atpeOraS xophvov 8 apeO.h

catOavo^ct Xadpret.

The same figures are combined in the Stesichorean verses4 of Ar. Pax

775=796:Moeo-a o-Vbpv7 woX4ove`wu

o'avtva .per'1,UoiT0oi

pixov xopevaov

KcXAeov'ae6W4

r.e y7dovdva3peov 're aav

Icat OaXiaq /tardpwv,uo yap rd e'de ApoxtdXet.

Dorian metre moves in strongly-marked 4 time. To convey the nature of

it in a single word, I should describe it as Handelian-in his square proces-sionals and martial songs.5

It was the expression of the Dorian temper, rigorous, energetic, mascu-

line, severe; the appropriate vehicle for their ideals, dpetd, dav8pela, bTdp-Iceta: appropriate of course also to the Dorian heroes, Heracles, the Dioscuri,Helen. Wordsworth's ode toDuty,' Stern Daughter of the voice of God,' or

Tennyson's upon the Death of Wellington could not have been written by a

Greek except in Dorian metre; to write of perTar av8peia in Anacreontic

would have been absurd and ludicrous. Dorian is the proper metre, as in the

passage from the Andromache just quoted, in Med. 624, and in this frag-

ment of Euripides (893)

4 The scholia are not correctly treated byBergk on Stesichorus 35 and 36 p. 220.

Dorian metre in burlesque, as Eur. Cycl.367 sqq., Ar. Ran. 814 sqq., would have just

the same effect as the delightfnl IHandelian

burlesques of Sullivan ; in Princess Ida for

example, ' This helmet, I suppose, Was made tQward off blows.'








apIcet erpTpa$torTd pot

o'4Opovov TparE• ?,

o a' lcatpov vrap repp•XX-

orTE 7 7rpocelpav.Accordingly the moral verses attributed to the Sages are in Dorian; 6 and

this continued to be the metre used in philosophic verse, as in the fragmentsof Cercidas on Diogenes and aoola (Bergk Poctae Lyrici Graeci II p. 513),and in Aristotle's hymn to 'Aperd (ib. p. 360):

'Apera, oX7roXV'xOe yeVveOpoT6e1,

Oipapa dIcaXXtrov .13,oia, 7rept, rapleve, popfal;Ia' Oavelv aXowOrbdE'VEXXd8t 7r'or

al 7rovovw TXqvat paXepobv alcapavTav"Totov e rcpeva /3cXXetv

,Kap7rovro-aOdvarov7 pVroV re,peCloUW

c7avErvrca

Xaavyroto 0''wrov.

Eei8' eveA' o1bK At4 'HpaKX '67 Aj8aT re cKOpot

w6XX' av&TXao-av e'pyotuav aypeoovrevT Svapttv,

12 o-ot8 w6d\otv "'AxtXLebAraq'

'At8a (86 ov lX~ov,0a

(?•'EVEKElc tXIov ,opcal Icat 'Arapve'o9 Evrpo)oq

aeXlovIXnpwoev

V t ga

rotyapdot EoE'p t

pyots,Otava'rov rTptv

avrlonovo-tMovioat

Mvapoo-zva9 Ovyarpeq, Atl ?evtovo'-ae`/

iaTov-

oas tX(al Te/yepa9

3e&alov.

The enhoplion belonged especially to the Dioscuri (Ath. 184 f, Schol.Pind. P. ii. 127 Boeckh), and was therefore used in speaking of them; as byPind. 0O.ii. 1

enhoplion

Tvv(apia8at Te tXo?eivot d8evKGvXXtwrXo/Capz 9' 'EX'vadactylo-epitrite

and N. x. 51. So in Eur. Hel. 1479= 1496

Sta' epo9 deOeworavot =,Xote 'ro0' tr7rtov "ola

/evot/eOaAl/3ve9 <<ci> 8t' alipov6

/eVO

otwvot- TotXaod 9

ot/3povXaTrpv ao-Trpwv vr deXk It-

XtwroiXTat Xet/eeptov ot, 7rat(e; Tvv(api(at,vtrovitoTorat7rpeOvVra' o't vaiET

oapcvtot6 K. O. Miiller History of Greek Literature

I p. 251.7Wilamowitz- Moellendorff for cap6rbPs'

&Odvarovv.1. icaprbv7' &Odvarov) so in Aesch.Ag. 950 the MSS. give Elo&pyupovor

ledp-upov,in Ath. 689 b dE&pyupoiv ob xEpa for leapyupdvT' elo Xestpa. The reading of v. 12 (enhoplionrepeated) is due to the same scholar; the MSS.have 'At1aoVdIovs.

s Crusius forp~owta,, .1.aouo-a,:

so a&ovratahas been restored for ptov'ras in Pers. 592.

The active &aovras in O.C. 134.

SThe reading of the MSS. and of the Aldilnexa

too is oTroAd8es: have corrected this and themetre at the same time. The editors follow the

MS., which divides the words according to theirgranmmaticalonstruction

ole&cVVlroxdaes

b•/pov ALWroqIatXEME'pptorV

The antistrophe is restored by transposition.







214 W. HEADLAM

the opening is enhoplion for the Tyndarids in the antistrophe. Stesichorus

used it in his palinode on Helen,

obVKTr'6TVpo'A/o70 0VTOoob'S'a9 'v vavo-6v doEXot epitrite

o'eo 7rpyapa Tpotal.V t /CEO16rP7%t POi.

An Epodeo10 orrespondedto a coda. It was constructed, as a rule, out of

the same rhythmical elements or phrases as the strophe; contained the same

material, but arranged in a different and subtler combination. Since there-

fore it contains, as a rule, allusions to the material of the strophe, it often

contributes towards making certain what the rhythmical elements of the

strophe really are: conversely, we can often determine the metre of the epode

from the strophe. Here is a very simple case from the epode of the Doricchorus which describes the fight between Heracles and Achelous, Soph.Trach. 497; it should be divided thus:

17v (S' q4p4)iwXexrO111

,cX~axe27 e'Av&E?T('-

'wrev XoeavIa Orjy,!ara ia"t o'OgO a otv

a 8' eC' irtqA) pa epitrite

rXavrye. 'rap'~x' ,,

o-Tro•Tv

7rpoo.tevvo"'-

oilrav.

The first line is the normal dactylo-epitrite, but the MS. makes a completeline of the grammatical clause "v 8' AaAhrXexrot cXitigaiceq. The same thingis done by Nauck in a moral fragment (not necessarily Tragic) p. 867:

CoxpVO.4,X18vyTqA lOoo',olov e'ppra 3poroL-o0-

Xryet•,

ardVT(ovKpatno-VreiV, o7roXEotq '

"ApewoCpeucrov'

?-'ovsvvaptv, <ar> 7r'ra 12PT

.ye.4'7rt'yap'Opcoetatqhev atqe1re'o &vpea /at O ?p(A)Vvo'a 1ryeJOl

8 Ica\xO\v Pra

-

cat r'o7rOVoa •7ra/.q)9r0wp "Apr ,Besides other incorrect divisions, Nauck prints Xpowd, XdaO-TpaXloP',as though it were a separate line.

When Dorian metre is used by Orientals there is always a reason to be

looked for. Thus the Chorus in fro. 801 is about the sack of Troy by

o10Epodes belong properly to Dorian metre,and are usual with paeonic. All the purelyDorian odes of Pindar, except P. xii and N. ix,have

epodes;all the rest that have none

(0. i,iv, xiv, P. vi, N. ii, iv, I. viii) are in more orless varied Lydian or Ionic rhythms: so are the

only three complete odes of Bacchylides thathave not, iv, vi and xvii. The strophes of iii,which tells the story of the Persians and the

Lydian Croesus, are in Lydian or Ionic, but

the epode is in Doric because it is addressed to

Hiero of Sicily; and we are preparedfor this

by a Doric phrase (enhoplion) in the 2nd and

3rd lines of thestrophes.n Or c.pAtrAc-ot?

1 Or <oz-b > 7avra. The readingof the 2nd

line is uncertain, but as I have written it, it is

metre.13 E.g. ova&E or Aarpel5eL: the metre is in-

complete without this ending.








Telamon and Heracles; that in Hec. 889, a lament for the later fall of Troy,is partly in Doric for the Greeks:

891 TOrtovEXXdvwvvPeor akp/e Kpv7rre&911 Ke'Xevo-aPa Pvcar' ao-rv Tpol-ag 02,'('0'

?atee tEXXa'dwvrer rore ThV'IXtaa UKO7TtaP

o?oCa'o'ov ;

925 epode TaVroWvAtooo/COpotv

'EXe/vav dotv 'Is-

atov re 83oraV ....

If the Chorus in the Persae of Aeschylus use Dorian metre for their long

descriptive geographical account 855 sqq., it is because that was the metrewhich had been used by Stesichorus for such recitals; that is the reason itwas used by Philoxenus also in his portentous catalogue. Another piece of

Stesichorean Doric is a fragment of Aeschylus from the 'HpaXedF8at:de-

scribing the expedition of Heracles against Geryoneus, the Chorus use the

metre of Stesichorus in hisPt`pvov•'t;

Aesch. fr. 74

'pptevoqpO6xepwov -03Xa "

'eo-r" xaraTtv

yataq, oceavov 7repaaq ev 88raXPvX(at'•"8Torpa;Tr'

c181ov• IarT•E•ra ~Searo'r•v tre rpt7rTvxoV

Trpla8p) 7roXXouraeXpa',,

Tptia '.. d•a ,rporeVTol

petT 76' 0ro0-6e6a0vXOo•ov

o'Tretxevf'O

"Apet-lav.14"

So much for Dorian. To take one opposite example, metres appropriateto Dionysus were Glyconic, as Aesch. fr. 355, Soph. fr. 174, Eur. fr. 586,Pind. fr. 153; and Ionic a minore as Bacchae 64 sqq., Ar. Ran. 323 sqq.; for

a cpo6 , the Anacreontic - - - - as in Cyclops491 sqq.

A stanza might be constructed entirely in one rhythm, as the 4thPythian is in Dorian metre purely; or it might be made of two or more

combined; or the briefest phrase even of a different metre might beintroduced in passing, when it was appropriate to the sense: as in Soph.Trach.953

aO Elo&orora t?t I Ve 0

7EveLr'TopoVPOT•

JTL'TgV

apa

?TLT / a7rotlcto-eteve dEcTo7r)v o(

Troy qvbv a1 ov yr6vov

IraplaXe'a

Odvotq ,ttoivov0 etattova'

`ap

14efTELXLtros ap-q•,a MS.; I give the correc-

tion of Weil, cf. Pind. I. ii. 16: faos ApeteIrxepe •8(av

would be as good, cf. Pind. P. iv.

8; but&rT' x' Ieos"Apei fatvwould be a glyconic

line quite foreign to the metre. In the previousline

rphaL&eaTi ocou VwporTelwP awaits correc-

tion; I cannot scan Wecklein's rpla 8eAarais

OrdaCTporelwVw.







216 W. HEADLAM

At v. 4 this has lapsed insensibly into Dorian epitrite for describing Heracles,and abandons it again immediately.

Thus any phrase or figure carrying with it an association could be used

precisely as modern music uses a Leit-nmotiv r 'guiding theme'; for explana-tion of which term I quote again Sir Hubert Parry:

' Leit-motive,' he says'consist of figures or short passages of melody of marked character which

illustrate, or as it were label, certain personages, situations, or abstract ideaswhich occur prominently in the course of a story or drama of which themusic is the counterpart; and when the situations recur, or the personagescome forward in the course of the action, or even when the personage oridea is implied or referred to, the figure which constitutes the leit-motif isheard.'

Metricianly accomplishmentwas shown in

passingfrom one

rhythmto

another while keeping the movement going all the time. So far as I dis-

cover, there were three devices which enabled you to manage these transi-

tions; (1) by link: (2) by echo: (3) by overlapping.A connecting link or copula is a syllable interposed between two lines to

enable the movement to be carried on without a rest. It is so designed that

rhythmically it could belong to either line; but while it is common to them

both, you are to feel that it is intermediate between them; so for theinstruction of the ear it is made to consist usually, on the first occurrence, ofa single separate word. But when the ear has thus been made to under-

stand the phrases which the movement is constructed of, it does not needthat explanation any longer, and succeeding strophes do not think it necessaryto observe the separation of the link.-This is only one application of a

general principle :-The first strophe states the metre plainly; afterwards,when the metre is firmly established in the ear, it can be trusted to acceptthe liberty of an equivalent variation. This will seem a matter of course tothose who know anything of music.1-Examples of what I mean by links aremarked off here by dotted lines:

Aesch. Oho.379 = 393

"roroTta/1&7repf'c&6 Kat

7r•r'av alxkotXao'KEO'airfp TE3)oq ZeD Ze'srt XP'pa/8aXotc;

Zef Kd'drwevd?kaXV16 e63vapava SaVwa,

vtO-iepo7Trowtvov aTav 7to-a / Y6VOtTOa.

15 ' Or of metre either' I might almost say ;only that Bergk on Nemn.vi. 7 p. 279 laid down

exactly the opposite for Pindar, - that hismetregets morestrict as it proceeds: ' in primastrophacorreptiominus offendit, solet enim poetadeiniepsseveriore egeuti.' It would be strangeindeed if it were so, but it is simply not the

fact.16 I have no doubt that the readings given

here are right so far as metre is concerned. Inthe antistropheI take it there is an anacoluthonas in the strophe: 'smitr the heads, and thatwill be a pledge!' (or 'and let that be a

pledge').







GREEK LYRIC 1METRE. 217

Soph. El. 480 =495

..... au

v7rvOwVXcovoav.....

roTe,,rroO,

?rtv 17

apriTW ovetpaTroV

a#•y'

7reEXav rTepa; Iou yap ro Tvar1LLaO 6' cjcrat o cop(t Ka' o-vV8pC^o-rV"7rot

CEXXdver aivafaV•reFat

porT•^oV

V a 7raXa'a XaXio'whaTco( robicLU betro, elpolq

dA• dmxi7EvVS ov6'

dEOEo4

droLS

Ar. Vesp. 273 = 282

pcOV(tdoX

CC.ece

Ta E/d438aa7 i) irpoo-

•ararTw^v "Aey

V 0' W' tXaOqvator

diof' ( iE

•) or7K9TOrVarXov irov KcatTraylavl 7rpcro

KaeTCWoteLT E0Xeey--?7Pev aVTOV

Eur. Hipp. 752 = 763Kc ovoTaov

Toav'Ovao't, toV•fr

tfVSitvlcKPejFaUrTOV

,yapa7'apo-EpoviUAJ ETaa-L'I L8pOo'X

Kpr7o'ia; dic" soK8opovtr

XevcKcaOap/bouov'a

8elpa

ETrraToKXceVaS

'AOdvas 8altzova o-Tvyva' Kca tSe-

Mouvdrov 8'' ^rae dic--"~tava7

l8(r vap

MOIViaXOV8'1CrTaw-tv EKlW -OcO•E' a' 7VT'

E.UVO•OVavlatp-

o-avrTo 7rXeCTdasretoapdTaO ap-ovt•va

cdyav a'7raXXao-

Xa; ara pov rE yasa; ao-av. oovaa r'aXyd.evov

6pevlov 'pwTra.

In the following passage we have a rapid triplet as a link:

Eur. Andr. 136 =142ywwo 8 0ovo e7 tEval?8 3Ec7?OTw^VV<W^l Vf00,98 18'

aukr' Xaorpiavq orviav

ayio•v"E70oX

'VOob CXtvEry

loopa rb 8 o-votr•

f'povo-a rvyXaow

Echo is the ending of a line repeated as the beginning of the next. Thusin the following stanza there is a constant reiteration of the figure

-.hich serves to begin lines 4 and 8:

Bacchylid. iv

VErt $uipaKoo-laV tuXet

w76Xtv X"poxooiaq 'ArrOXXWov

da•CTOletv0 Ipova yepalpet-

4rpirpv

yTap rap'b,•i4aXbv'*tSeipov xOovbs

HlvOovt1coq de68erat <oJc-v~rSjv0

& 'P a " P277r"ov7o

ape'ra rbv irrnrrw.bdoT' 'OXVh7rtovixa9

8 deI18evT1c/1pTEpov 0 EOtV

06Xov dvrara TwaroaW'ov

XayXaiverv ~lwropotpavEorOyv

; is

1r7dv is the vulgate, but metre requires

pwtvr 7Ipv, and in cod. L 5Avhas been madefrom '4v. The same correction is to be madein Trach. 610 6

KauhxA as rdX' Xbv abxbs obVK

avapcaaYl.

18 This being mutilated, I have taken thefirst half from oce strophe and the second fromthe other. In v. 16 dpc-rTvw w is rightly re-stored by Prof. Blass.







218 W. HEADLAM

In continuance by echo this particular figure --'does great service.

When existing by itself it is called bacchiac,and used for short moments ofviolent excitement: here we see this bacchiac changing to glyconic, Eur.

Supp. 1015opW

8ii reXeUav bacchiac

Wv"/Ta'a-a. Tgxa

86 1o0 glyconic

vqd'TreCtV7roob• Xa ra

e6Vckelal Xdpev 6vOevp-EawcX ra•8

....E'p

p 'ao-&T'

da7ro"reTpa9.

It is very common to echo a figure immediately before the conclusion of

a stanza: thus in the Dorian of Pind. I. 1,

e (ov0 'ro7rOXXwV1LdL"d( o)OTepvTOI apTWOV

abv Oeo s •de6W TCXo4.

and this little offspring - - is duly mentioned at the beginning of the

epode.Not only the ending, however, may be echoed, but some other portion of

a previous line; in this pretty little glyconic stanza from the 2nd Nemean for

instance :

dEv.E0O

IIdorovo wruxatOKT&) crrEiba'vv? e' IJ4Xev 1

4 'cot car ov' AptOiptoi"

ratcKT4a/re TtpoS-

Aov•by

ebCX vOoT(rO*8

•42vAEXe&S'

9 itEgpX6TE60WVa^V.

cSuveXe"s an echo of the - - which has been heard in the interiorof all the lines preceding.

Soph. Aj. 221 will lead us a little further :

1 oIqav4S--Xwoaa

av8pop a'Oovos cirryEXav2 i'rXa'rov

o'4 eCVaThv3 ToOv 7ydWov avaadv

irroxXicYopvav

4 rav 6pelyaq 1ioq [email protected] 06oot 0o/3o0-pa6 TOWrpO p7rOV 7reptsbav'rov dv p

S

\

P

6 9averra6 vrapa7rXa4KT(Oep6 oavyiyaTCTa4ra

7 ceXacvotq4Ifeaorv /OTA cal8

3o•vi)paqzirov$tac.

Oavedras in v. 6 andeXawvo•

in v. 7 echo the endings of the lines pre-

ceding them. The movement ofbegie'iav

in v. 1 is repeated in v. 3 and

twice echoed in v. 4. The second time it occurs in v. 4 it is extended to








--j - this is taken up in the next line and continues to v. 7, from

which a return is made to the rhythm of the opening lines: awv8o0rT a't IforT paq

7r7rovc, aaq

=

ad'yyeXav

f !rXaTrov OVE 4eVKTav.

The way by which the return is made from one rhythm to another in v. 7is an example of the last and subtlest form of shift. I call it overlapping.You expect the rhythm to continue KeXacLvSb1eao-.ev

a't,but $1coatv affordsan opportunity of continuing with anapaestic (or dactylic) movement, Iboatvo$ort

aKa: so that what you get is a line of which the first part is in one

rhythm and the last part in another, while the middle part is common o themboth:

KeXavo- ; Ioeatv ort ica

This device of overlappingenabled a metrician sometimes to get even a

continuous contrapuntaleffect of rhythm. The following fromthe PrometheusVinctus is a very skilfully composed example; where the Ocean Maidens are

compassionating Prometheus in mournful Anacreontic measures.9 The chief

subject is- 20

a well-known rhythm, e.g.

Ar. Nub. 949 vU8el4eoTQVo 7(T r',7tV(0)TO' reptCeP8elotatv

950 XOyoo(rtxal Spovro-t xaiy/wtoroT"ro;

/pept.ivat;.

Cratinus fr. 172 4'v8pa oo-oobpi -rdrapOh rp•tyta KaXor)eK SvaptV TIOeo-Oat.

But here, by repeating the first section thus,

it is so contrived that another Anacreontic phrase (2) - - isheard moving underneath against it:

1 1

130 nsv f0o0,897104 Xa yi\p "8 T6crrepTryeoV

= 150 XeL~o-pHpopn e4 bo/epo-p ' dpoo-w,Oaot opluXXa2 2

1

0oai'qa ikXXaqpoo-e.a7rpoo-1E17rXqp?74 a9pdo

3

TOVSE 7rwyov 71-arpf&a4;

&bv 8&paa edow$ovo-a 211

Lo4v07 7rapetro oa

ppervaw7rrpatC 7rpoo-avatvotevov

19 See the schol. on v. 130.20 The first section presently is numbered (1),

the second (3).

21Probablyelo8oaaO or deatog-oar then the

metre is continuous throughout.







220 W. HEADLAM

4

Kpat7rvocop e2 A'

-E7rEJav aivpat

7a t0.' a 6av'oSroto't tatv

1 1

KT7roU ryapaXO7X /- ...v

.vpwv..v.Ovec

veot yap otatovopot KcpaTOi a-' 'OX•drov vEoxot4o2 2

3

8' frXi pPov tv E0ep.eprtv ai&i

86 8s vopot ZE'Iq aOETO9 cKpaTVvet

4

o-VOrlV3' w'dS&Xo0XW7rTEepJT

Ta7rptv S 7reXwpta vi.v a.o-ro.

In setting this to music we should now design one melody for (1) and a

different, but of course harmonious, melody for (2): whether the Greeks

attained to counterpoint in metre and yet failed to think of counterpoint in

melody I cannot say.It will be observed how carefully the common elements are marked off

by separation of the words. So it is in the fragment (Anacr. 56) quoted bythe schol.:

o

.av'

/

.'

iot 9UEOV'VT a.3' a7-reXOetV;

where the second part is Ionic a minore. Here is another fragment of that

fine metrician, Anacreonfr. 19:

apEtI Ti'ro' w'AEvKodS

7vrTptv' dE 7roktOX'LiV/pa KcoXv/o •p~Oelwv'pwCr'.

This begins with a glyconic, and you expect it to continue so, r'rrpyls6

7ro)t,- : instead of which it shifts, through the common element Ev

7-oXtV, to choriambic.

In subtlety of artistic workmanship no one is the superior of Sophocles:here is an elaborate piece of contrapuntal writing, basedon the same subjectas P. V. 130 O.- ~ .

•--'-- i :-- ?

the former half of this

I number 1, the latter 5. The second subject, introduced immediately to

move against this, is glyconic, numbered 2 and 3,

Stlcawl,a&0Licov pdvaq

7rapao-vra ,;7rtXcL,8.

2*At 4 we get a new figure which is repeatedat the close: in the antistrophe it is indicated

by caesura; and I think there would have beena caesurain the strophe too, if it had not been

that Kpatroq5pot is one long word: Goa,oalwould have been unrhythmical, but patrvoq5d'potdoes not spoil the movement. Other cases in

passages to be quoted presently arewpaoootrVa

in Again. 707,&$poRLw,

in Bacchyl. xvii. 2.-When anapaestic dimeters and iambic trimeters

have not the usual caesura, it will be foundthabta long word is the condition of the license,as Agamn.781 T

uavrpayoi,'rtr'

e•T'rO-EdXeV,784 ical vuyXalpovUOr 6zplotorperets 7f'Aar'Ta

wrpotrwrajetat4v•eros,

Soph. fr. 300 7rppatLos d?

epoltrs 'AOal"Anw,

ryqots (epitrite movement);








At 7 the ending - - is taken up with choriambic movement; whileat 8we begin to hear a sound of three consecutive long syllables, whichrecurs on several occasions; Antig. 781= 791

1 1 2

aEp LVLKaTcaetaxav Epo'oE dVK /.aUct rt7rTEt I

oVbKat &calov a&icovg pelvaq 'apacr77rv der

a.Xw.3a2 3 - _ l~

2

0oodlV ctaaxai? 7rapetat9 veavtoq0dqVVX6etq

06 ical 1vo~e we icov Atv~pgv (vvatstov AyetV •'apd~as !Ka 45 6 4 5P

1 8

OtTer 8' vE7roprVto VTr' aypovolo.tt ablXai9VtaIC 8evapyr9

I3Xkedapav L[Lepov eXEKTcpoV7

7 8

Kat( ' oTr' MaOavdoV cvt/t9o 0•869

vv4a9 rToV odXo oi 'of

ape8pov232

4 5 8

ov50'a/ieplAvo 7' vaOpco7rwOv8' 'c /iIVEV

6eO-/C&v,a•/aaoq

t7apdpe7ral?et Oe19 'A po81ra4 5 6

Those who may care to pursue this method of analysis and wish for a

good field to practise in will find it in the lyrics of Antigone which follow,in El. 1058 and in Ajax 693: except that Ant. 850= 869 are both, I think,corrupted and should be

lIo 8VrTavo4, OD - CC KVpOw97ayov

poroo'V oit"r'V vecpotv, 'LOcacrtqvo-rrrV,

TIrotIK4o oD ort, oD Oavoo-tv. Oavo 6r'Do"o-aV "carapE

/e.

There is a very beautiful example of transition in a passage of admirable

metre which will serve at the same time to illustrate nearly all the principlesI have advanced; Aesch. Agamn.686= 702:

1 To7ro'T

AVo/.ap (VO8 1 'IXio 8eKr80o

opO-e To7raVTrTT(W0 <OVVIoV

TexeoO"'Opwcov(P7 rt'•rtv'

ovX pp4ev 7rpovotato-t 2

/.?v) )VVOaeVTpar qa9

"'Ao-TOV7rrerrpw0LVov

iE-repW XpPvg3 lyX&ioo-av

rvxqa'vewov;) 3 icat

vvvertovAZt

4 raVcopStYap/pov aPOtvetc0I O' 4 rpao-(roji'va rbvvtu6rtto,

".3 ovl 7rdpe&posindorf: the MS. is rTv

e-yd•,wvrdperposJv &paXes, variation without

parallel in choriambic metre, and the contraryofthe sense. Sophocles is alluding to the proverbOeoalb "Epws bico e Jntd &xo s used by Paul.

Sjl. A.P. v. 193 in his clever answerto Agathias,

ib. 192. AlMc, Oefts, No'los, A2&Usare ircpc8potof Zeus (0.C. 1267, 1382, PiDd. O. viii. 21,Plut. Alex. 52, Orpheusin ' Dem.' 772. 26 andfr. 18 in Proclus on Alcib. I.) ; but "Epwss notwith them; "Epws is like Nature,-p

p6oT•Bo06XO', vv4,wv ob'v

IAtEEur. fr. 920,







222 W. HEADLAM

5'EA,6vav

; 7e' 17rpe7rOVT'j 5

EX0.?e

o cr eoa iovTal,

6 XE'vav9 Xav8poz •4wroXt9 6 5 v a t o v, rTOT" 7rEppe6rev

7 6C' Trv &/3por'l4mo 7 ya pf8po 0ota-tv dei8ev.

8 w7rpocaXvaCr),w "e'Xevoe 8 Perapav ,vovo-,a8'b'PVov9 Zeofpov yt'yavro1 aipa 9 Hptdpov7rokv yepata\

10 7roXiav8po1 10 7rokXipPvov,11 TEcepda'r8EvS cvvayoi 11 /JdeyarOV

oTTEVEttKCXcjKOV-12 taT' vo 7rXaTaVaaVTov 12 caa laptV ToVav6XeKTpoV13

KEXa-aPTC0V1tOVTO9 aICTa 13 Tcl7rpo-O 7roXVOpvov atwv'

14 e7r' e?tfvXovq 14 d4~' 7roXtITav15 81 eptv a iTL TOrdeooav 15 pLEXeovate' dvaTrXo-a.

Here we have three metres: trochaic with syncopation, 1-3; Ionic a

minore or Anacreontic,4-6 and 8-12; glyconic 6-7 and 13-15. These cor-responding stanzas are constructed with such artifice,--there are so manyantithetic meanings woven in so close a texture,-that I give a rendering

designed to bring them out, endeavouring also to suggest something of the

metrical effect; though not of course by use of the same metres, which in

English has rarely that result:

Who named her all so shrewdly?-Was't One beyond our ken,

By glimpse of Order fated

His happy lips who moved ?-This Helena, so rudely

Still warred about by men,This bride with iron mated,-

Sure Hell enow she proved!When lightly from the silken-tissued

Veils before her bower emergingForth to Eastward sail she issued,

Breeze of earth-born Zephyrus urging-Forth to Eastward sail

Men swarming after, hot in quest,Fierce myriad hunters, all addrest

With shields, that harrier-like pursuedFast on a sightless trail, of oars

Beached upon Simois' leafy shores,Full cry, in bloody feud!

Revenge will surely render

That pairing well-repaired;Will make this dear alliance

Be all too dear for Troy:Of high Zeus Home-defender

And friendly Table shared

Repays that prime defiance

On all that uttered joy;








So loudly once in gay carousalBride with Hymen-song would honour,-

Kinsmen, when the time of spousal

Bade them heap their praise upon her-Ah but at this time,

Though late the lesson, learned grownWith age-long suffering of her own

Sons' blood so lamentably shed,That ancient City loud, I ween,Laments, with practice-perfect Threne,'0 Paris, evil-wed!'

The rhythmical elements are three, and to appreciate their dramatic

significance we must consider strophe and antistrophe together. The openingtrochaics in both cases are for the expression of their own stern moral and

religious views, and this metre they continue till they come to paintingHelen, when they shift by means of a link-a syllable kept studiouslyseparate on the first occurrence-

7/X-co-avE&-'Xav4caw

T Sr0oplyap,3pov •/A,1.vetK?)O'

to Anacreontic, _2- - -*24 That is appropriate both for Tb

/3p6w7rXoVrTovnd T'ba po7revOev in the strophe it describes the sumptuousdelicate luxurious Helen flying Eastward with her Asiatic lover; and is

equally fitting in the antistrophe for the Asiatic banquetters and for theirthrene. But it will be observed that this rhythm is interrupted for a momentat v. 6: you expect it to continue AX'dvavq Xavppov dra, but it shifts, by

overlapping,to glyconic:

6XSava eXav~po9E`XewrOXPs ipetvatov o r r'T"ErEppEE

61c

7^.Va/portipov 7yappo'o-tv aeeSetv

the break in each casebeing

markedby

the division of thewords. Thepurpose of this transition becomes fully apparent in the antistrophe; for this

glyconic was the metre of the refrain in wedding-songs:

cTl•INVC9 IA'Tdvat'T/w•V,

'Ty@'T..s'T. 25eTu l AE'vat .

Thus in Eur. I.A. 1036 sqq. where the marriage of Peleus and Thetis isdescribed, this is the natural conclusion of the stanzas:

1055

wre.vT-covTra"pat NT'pewq = 1076

Nqp,'vwveeraav 7rpo)Tra"

a Pv

. Xopevo-avllHXo

v1' sev

al ov•.

24 Transitionto this metre is always, I believe,prepared by

u-•.-preceding; therefore the

corruptverses Soph. O.T. 1210= 1219 have yetto be restored correctly.

25 Eur. Tro. 307 sqq., Ar. Av. 1731 sqq.,Pax 1329 sqq., Catull. 61. 4, Plaut. Casing799.







224 W. HEADLAM

Our transition to this metre here might well have been accentuated both by

melody and orchestration,--wood-wind at this point, since the b vato, was

accompanied by flutes, whereas Anacreon was avWoXav

VTirraX1ov,

ftXo/3dp3tTro

(Critias in Ath. 600 e). It is just as though a phrase were introduced fromsome familiar Wedding-march. Then the ending dei&tv enables the Ana-

creontic to be resumed at once without further preparation,and the changeof metre sharply points the contrast in the sense, between the joyful bLucvato9then and the melancholy Op?)ovnow.26

Surely this is very beautiful.

The qacev,of Bacchylides opens with this prelude,

1

xvii. 1 3ao-tXcEiravtepav 'Apavav

=16 vEoV lXeVq1oXacxv

a/lIEa922

rTwv/po/3iwov vap 'Ia'Wovicapv 7roo-iv 'l9L avl KIcev9ov

1

At 2 it lapses into a modification of glyconic; but the prelude is Ionic a

minore, and this movement continues to the break at lepav '. The meaningis apparent; for this metre more than any other meant 'Ionic', and he is

speakingof the 6I3potov IdcJvWOv.The 7th Olympianof Pindar, orDiagorasof Rhodes, s in Doricrhythmwith a slight exception. This is that famous ode which the Rhodians in-

scribed in golden letters in the temple of the Lindian Athena:

(DFiJav04 : GT7l9(tWagpvaaaro

XEtpo9 ex(

Mvop a/A47-EXovKaXXa'2otcrav p a-poo.

scopqarTatveaviadt/i3pp

7rpodvcowv oLKov oc't'Kae,XrdyXXpcov,KopV av KTeavcowV,

G-V/,7rOCOOVeEdptv Kca8 e awloE a opv, v 8e folxv7rapeovPTCO0q7Ktv aXOwrov0/Upovo Evva9.

The only variation from pure Dorian here is the prelude-singular and re-

markable-to the first line and the last. Each time, in the opening strophe,it is separated from the remainder of the line, which is the normal dactylo-

26 ErTa••avOcvo•aa vov 7roXto0prnovhy-

mencei1oco

discensflebile carmen Bothe. Change

from the S/4EaLos to the Opg~ross a theme found

first inErinna

A.P.vii

712,and it became a

commonplace with later writers, ib. 52, 182,

183, 186, 188, Ach. Tat. iii. 10, Heliod. ii. 29,Eur. Alc. 924-31. The point is made in our

passage with such care and so impressively that

it is somewhat surprising to find it has hardlybeenperceived: Heusde comparesBion i. 87 and

Schneidewin P. V. 573. T47rpooO' 7roXt'Op7vov

alvy' avarxaaa means that she has acquired at

last (yEpaid, as o4lAaO0s)he different strain of

7roAtOprnvosuvos, her

perfection

in it havingbeen precededby long practicalexperience(rdOEL

/AaOo-aa) of suffering fitted for lament indeed.

r&AIrpooOEwas restored by Heusde (who under-

stood it somewhat differently); and J, suggested

by Hermann and confirmed by Paley, seems tome better here than 4.








epitrite, such as begins, for instance, the 4th Pythian. But the prefix- - is Ionic a minore: and not only that, but it continues further in

Ionic rhythm, cdfXav dohe't

•tVbvet, - - --. That is often

used in Ionic a minore (with the effect of rallentando) to conclude a period, asin Aesch. Snpp. 1032= 1040, P.JV. 421= 430, Ar. Vesp. 296 = 308; it occursoften in Ar. Ran. 320 sqq., and is among the Asiatic rhythms of the Persae:

952 =965

'I'owv ,ytp anr-vpa oXoov4d?e'Xet'nov

'Idvcov vappaKtro; "Api &6'epaXK1c Tvpia9de'c vab9ppov'ra

di-r'aKTrat

981 =994

STXao•e?

do-7rapov,,-xepc.

3oi 3oiae eX4vrO-Oev Top.

And in Ar. Thesm. 101, where Agathon with his Chorus comes on singing,this is among his soft and delicate Asiatic phrases:

107 AF. ye vPv6'Xk3t?e ovca

XpVo-wOspvropa ro 01

116 XO. 6'-rop~atK'X•ovo'a

Ueppbv

'yvov X/igovoaAaTOj3

123 oe'/optat Aardo' Tvaocav

ciOapiv 're /ar ep'l

vw

When therefore I was first attending to the metre of the 7th Olympian, theeffect it suggested to my ear was an Asiatic phrase, merged presently, by

overlapping,into Dorian:

0 taXaveet

"rtVcpeta9aro

Xtpo( eXwo

If you were to make two melodic figures, each to serve as a Leit-motiv, you

might say, this shall be the Asiatic:

= • _ _•z_-_ _-= = r

and this the Dorian:

Then you could combine the two, the one blending into the other, in this

way:

Now if this is the true account,-if we have really an Ionic rhythm here,-there should, according to the principle laid down before, be some allusion

to that rhythm in the epode. We turn, then, to the epode, and we find that

it proceeds in Dorian metre till we come to the last line but one, describing

Rhodes and her inhabitants:

UI.S.-VOL. XXU, Q







226 W. HEADLAM

Ka '7rapa KaG-TaXL' 7TarfpaEAa/et~rov d6oVTa

Atka

'A a- a eVPVXOpov rpiroXWtvacov'n-Xav

S4f 6Xo vaizoVTa' 'Ap y e i av atxl.

There is our Ionic plainly, - - - and - - j - -, thesecond phrase repeating what we opened with, ftdkav ,; e'tb' dv4. Andthis Ionic comes in momentarily, for Asia; while in the next line we returnto Dorian epitrite for Argos. The meaning is apparent when you think of

Rhodes; the connexion of it with the mainland was particularly close, but itwas colonized by Argives; and the metre indicates this double character.Thus the first line symbolizes Dorian with a tinge of Asiatic, or Asiatic over-whelmedbeneathsubduing Dorian.

Aristotle is a good authority, and he tells us that Sappho wrote an

answer to Alcaeus: Alcaeus having said 0'XWor- Fe6rrv, dXdaL KoX et

at8&ows,he replieda I Iq~X~9ECO?eXVl/JtlEPOV '7/ cc0)Vi

Kat rt Fr1vr/fyX6-Vo-' 'KVKaaKov,aai& ;KE o- OUKiXavevzrJraTad`XVgXeyel;Teplt TWt)&Kalw9?.

Bergk thought 27 that this line of Alcaeus was in the same metre and

belonged to the same poem as another fragment quoted by Hephaestion, sothat it should run

tO7TXoK' a&/vaAeXMXO'/.et?d&r~ooOEXC,t FE17TlV,dXXd/t KWXuVeaa''wt

the open syllables in K&XieC af'Iol; coalescing. Be that as it may, there is no

reason to doubt, and no one doubts, that the first line, an address to Sappho,was written by Alcaeus; and the metre is remarkable. Hephaestion calls it

a 7~pErpovacarvaXcrI7

ov 7rpEtT7r e)oJEvX^af/TerYrdp7,

#caXovtevov 84

'AXKaiKOvo•8caao-XXafov.

Those who like may make it so: 'What is it ?

A learned man Could give it a learned name: Let him name it who can, The

beauty would be the same.' What we see is that it begins as an Alcaic but

its ending is the Sapphic, and the two metres are wedded in the closestway :

27 Opinions on the question are well sum-marized by Prof. H. W. Smyth Greek MelicPoets(1900) p. 239. I quote a portion of Bergk'snote Poetae Lyrici Graeci III p. 99: 'Cum

Aristoteles, fide si quis alius dignus, testificetur

poetriamhaec rescripsisseAlcaeo, apparet neces-

situdinem, quae inter haec carmina intercedit,manifestam fuisse : itaque non dubitavi Alcaeiversui quemAristoteles adscripsit

Odex tt

FefrEV

&axxd je ,cxtei alcws praemittere versum

eiusdem numeri quem servavit HephaestioilrXo)c' &'yva ,LeXXLdet, e 2dvpot, atque con-

sentaneum est etiam Sapphonem in praegressastropha Alcaeum nominatim compellasse.Animadversione digni etiam numeri utriusque

carminis: Alcaeus ad Sapphonem scribens

Sapphico utitur versu sed hendecasyllabonanacrusi auxit, ut numeri lenitatem propria

gravitate temperaret, ac videtur hoc metrum,

quod novavit, in hoc uno carmine adhibuisse.

Sappho Alcaeo rescribens praeter solitum Al-

caicam stropham, cuius indoles a suae poesisnatura abhorrebat, adhibuit. Haec igitursingularis ars, quamin numeris deprehendimus,consilium utriusque carminis egregie illustrat

Aristotelisque testimonium planissime con-

firmat.' The same argument weighs stronglyin my mind; though the significance of the

metres I interpret differently.








Alcaic

o6WXoK' aryza ILeXXtX6LEo'ete?lan-oe

Sapphic

A poetess from whom the language of metre was not hid could easily dispensewith any more; this little Valentine would tell its story quite intelligibly byitself: ' The Form, the Form alone is eloquent'!

As for Sappho's answer in Alcaics, there is no evidence that she usedthis metre elsewhere. If you were a woman and desired, while uttering a

reproof in words, to acknowledge and return a compliment, would you writein your own proper metre or in his ? For Sappho writes in his.

W. HEADLAM.

q2

headlam, w._greek lyric metre_1902_jhs, 22, pp. 209-227

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