Lesson 14.1: Dactylic Hexameter

The Iliad is read in the meter of dactylic hexameter. It is a quantitative meter. That is, it is based on the length of syllables, not on stress as in English.

Syllables are either long or short. The macron [ ¯ ] designates a long syllable. The breve  [ ˘ ] designates a short syllable. One long syllable is always equal to two short syllables [ ¯ = ˘ ˘ ].

There are two possible patterns that can be used for each measure of a line:

• dactyl [ ¯ ˘ ˘ ]
• spondee [ ¯ ¯ ]

Notice that the first syllable of a measure is always long.

A complete line consists of six measures. The last measure is always a spondee.

Here's an example of a perfectly dactylic line:

¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ¯

Here's an example of a perfectly spondaic line:

¯ ¯ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ¯

The dactyls and spondees can be mixed in order to bring variety into the poetry. For example:

¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ¯ | ¯ ˘ ˘ | ¯ ¯

Next, we will learn how to determine whether a syllable is long or short.