Hey everybody, Pastor Steven Anderson here from Faith Forward Baptist Church in Tempe,
Arizona.
I'm here with brother Anselm and we're going through this book, Homeric Greek for beginners.
There's a PDF to the book in the description for the video.
It's in the public domain.
That's the old version.
This is the nicer new version.
You can get one of these on Amazon or wherever, but we are in lesson 14 today.
We finally got to the part of the book where we're actually reading the Iliad.
And the cool thing about this course is that if you go through all 77 lessons, you actually
read the entirety of book one of the Iliad and it breaks it all down to you.
So in lesson 13, we learned the meaning of these first five lines.
But today we're going to talk about the meter of the poem, like how to read this with the
rhythm.
Okay.
Now let me start out by saying this, that nobody really knows exactly how things were
pronounced back then.
There's no tape recording of it.
There's even debate about how these accents functioned in ancient Greek, obviously in
Homer's day, the accents weren't even written in.
And so we're here in 2022 doing what we can with this.
So first of all, we use modern pronunciation as we have in this entire series.
We use modern Greek pronunciation because we like to talk to Greek people as well.
So we use modern Greek pronunciation, but here's the thing about the meter.
Okay.
The meter is a series of longs and shorts, long vowels and short vowels.
Okay.
And so probably in ancient times, the long vowels are pronounced for like maybe twice
as long as a short vowel.
Okay.
But that's really hard to make that work today.
Like trying to figure out how to pronounce these and put the accent in the right place
and pronounce them twice as long and everything.
So the way that we're going to do it, and this is how most people do it, but it's obviously
controversial because you know, everybody's got their way of doing things the way we're
going to do it is we're just going to accent the long syllables and we're not going to
accent the short syllables.
Okay.
So we're going to put emphasis on the long syllables.
Does that make sense?
Now lest you think this is strange, this is poetry and it's, it was probably sung again.
We don't know for sure because we're talking about going back to like, you know, 700 BC,
800 BC.
We don't know.
So this is probably sung.
And a lot of times if you listen to music, when we sing, a lot of times we accent different
syllables than normal when we sing, because we're trying to fit the rhythm of the song
and accent a certain beat of the song.
So that's what we're going to do with this.
And again, if you don't like it, well tough, because this is our video.
Okay.
So I find this extremely helpful, the meter and accenting the long syllables of the meter,
because it really helps you memorize the passage.
Like I memorized like the first 150 lines of the Iliad, and it's so much easier because
it has a beat to it.
Okay.
So I'm going to teach you that basic rhythm, and then I'm going to explain to you how to
figure out the rhythm for any line in the Iliad.
Okay.
So the way that this is going to work is it's called dactylic hexameter.
Okay.
In fact, I'm just going to write that word right here so that you can see that dactylic
hexameter.
Okay.
Now what does this word mean?
Well, first of all, meter is pretty obvious hex.
I'm sure you know what that means, right?
Six.
So it's hexameter because there are six measures in each line.
Okay.
So there are six measures and then it's dactylic because have you ever heard of a pterodactyl?
Something with fingers?
Yeah.
Exactly.
But you know what a pterodactyl is?
Actually, I don't.
It's an ancient...
I mean, it's not a dinosaur, but when you're learning about dinosaurs and you're learning
about the Tyrannosaurus rex and the brontosaurus, you learn about this ancient bird called a
pterodactyl.
Oh, yeah.
You know what I'm talking about?
Yeah.
Starts with a P.
Yeah.
So the terra part, it means wing in Greek, and then the dactyl is talking about the fingers
because it's like finger wings, I guess.
So a pterodactyl.
So the dactyl is talking about a finger because here's the thing, dactylos means finger.
So this is what it is, is that your finger has like this long section and then there's
a joint and then there's two shorts.
Okay.
So a dactyl, a dactyl is a long followed by two shorts.
This is a dactyl because it's like a finger, you know, you have the long part and then
two short parts.
So this is a dactyl, okay.
And then there are going to be six of these per line.
That's why it's a hexameter, okay.
So but it's not just made up of dactyls, there's another option which is called a spondee,
which is just two longs.
So every single foot in this meter, because there are six feet per line, okay, hexameter,
each of these six feet is going to either be a dactyl or a spondee.
Okay.
And a spondee, the word spondee means drink offering in Greek.
So I don't know why it's called that.
So you got a finger and a drink offering here, you got a dactyl and a spondee, okay.
Now there's going to be a combination of these.
They're all going to be mixed up, dactyls and spondees, but there's going to be six
of them and it makes a rhythm.
So first, I'm just going to just give you the rhythm so that you can just get it by
feeling because, you know, yeah, I can teach you all the rules and show you how to do it,
but the best way to learn this, I think, is just to get a feel for it.
So it goes like this.
And again, we're going to ignore the accent marks and we're just going to accent the long.
Okay.
And again, a lot of people don't like that, but it is what it is.
That's what most people do.
So we go...
Okay.
So you're seeing how it's like...
So it usually ends with a drink offering?
Always.
Very good observation.
That is very good because you have to kind of punctuate it.
So you always end with the spondee 100% of the time, 100% of the time.
Now, the vast majority of the time, the second to last is going to be a dactyl, but that's
not always.
You can end in two spondees, but that's called a spondaic line.
So that's less frequent.
So spondaic lines end in two spondees, but in general, we're going to end with a dactyl
and a spondee.
And then the first four are up for grabs.
So I clapped six times, right?
Because I'm clapping at the beginning of each foot.
Got it?
So you can see there's a rhythm to it.
Definitely.
Now, one thing that I think really helps that there's a guy on YouTube that actually, he
has kind of like a rap beat and he does the first 42 lines.
And if you listen to that, it'll help you get a feel for it.
He's a modern Greek guy, he's using modern Greek pronunciation and he's doing it exactly
the way that I'm doing it.
And so I recommend that video to kind of just drill it into your head, musically.
So now let's break this down a little further, okay?
So long and short.
Which ones are long?
Which ones are short?
Well, here's the thing.
Certain vowels in Greek are just, are long vowels.
Like eta is a long vowel and we've already had this concept of long and short earlier
when we were talking about accenting.
So the eta is long, the omega is long, right?
And then we've got some short vowels, like we've got the epsilon is short, right?
And then we've got the omicron is short.
So these are a couple that are long, always long.
These are always short.
And then we've had some that can go either way, right?
Like alpha can go either way, yoda can go either way, epsilon can go either way.
So that applies with the, let me draw a line just to kind of separate all the junk I'm
writing up there from the text.
So we've got some that are long by nature, short by nature, and some that can go either
way.
So that's one way to tell what's long and what's short.
And in general, diphthongs are generally going to be long, which makes sense.
There's two letters.
You'd think it's going to be long, right?
So in general, diphthongs are going to be long.
These are going to be long.
These are going to be short.
These can go either way.
So we're getting a lot of clues here.
But also, there's being long by nature, then there's being long by position.
Anything that comes before two consonants in a row is typically going to be long as
well.
Okay?
And that includes stuff like this, because this, even though this is one letter, it's
really a P and a sigma together.
See?
So this, so like this alpha is long by position.
It has to be long because it's in front of two right here, okay?
And so we don't really have a lot of examples of that here, but, or what about like here?
Two consonants in a row, you know, so that yoda is long by position.
And then omicron, we would expect it always to be short.
But it's not because it's in front of two long ves.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Also in kinesin?
Yeah.
So great example.
Because this would be short by nature, but it's long by position.
So it's kinesin.
Yes.
So because it's long by position.
So they can either be long by nature or they can be long by position.
Now listen, there are more other complicated rules.
Let me just, for now though, I don't want to overwhelm you.
So what I want to do is just give you the basics, because these rules that I'm giving
you are kind of made to be broken.
And there are complicated rules for when they get broken.
Like for example, you know, if you have a mute plus liquid, yeah, I don't want to explain
that to you.
They don't want to hear about that, right?
You don't want to hear about mute plus liquid rule.
The best way, in my opinion, is to get started with the basic rules, understanding these
basic things right here, understanding what it means to be long by position, okay?
And then getting the feel for it.
And then over time, you'll start to see the violations and why these rules are violated.
But I think that it's smart at this point not to go any deeper than we're going right
now.
Because I could explain that stuff to you, but it's just going to be too much to digest
for them either.
You know, it's better just to get started with the basic, okay?
So let's go through here and right away, let's just start marking stuff that we pretty much
know is long and what we pretty much know is short.
Let's do this first line.
So what's this look like?
Is that long or short?
So that syllable is long.
Now here's a little tip for you as well.
The first syllable is always going to be long because it has to start with either a spondee
or a dactyl.
So we know that me and oo and po and e, you already know that these are all going to be
long, right?
Okay.
So what's this look?
Short.
It could technically go either way, but you're right that it's short, okay?
Let's do the ones that we know for sure at first, okay?
I wish I was using a different color right now because it's going to get confusing with
the accent mark.
Is this red thing work?
That's terrible.
But anyway, yeah, it's kind of nice if we would use a different color, right?
Let's do the ones we know for sure.
Well, here's the thing.
If this one's long and this one's short, the next one has to be short because there's no
such thing as a foot that's just a long and a short, right?
Or a long, short, long.
That doesn't exist.
These are the only two options.
So that's got to be short, am I right?
So me, ni, na, and then we have to go long.
Me, ni, na, e- Because it's a diphthong, right?
Well, it's a diphthong and it's the beginning of a foot.
So yeah.
And then what about this epsilon?
It has to be short.
Short by nature, right?
And then the next one, same thing.
So then this one has to be long.
Why?
Because alpha can go either way.
It has to be long because- It has to be the next foot.
Yeah, because we just ended a dactyl, we got to start a new one.
Okay?
What do you think this is?
Well, this has to be short again.
No, because it's long by nature.
Okay, let's draw the lines between the feet.
Why can't this be a spondee?
Can't this be a spondee?
Because look, it can either be a dactyl or a spondee, we've got to long here.
Why can't this be a spondee?
Because e does long by nature.
Right?
I was kind of expecting that the spondee is only at the end of the line.
No, no, no.
The first four feet are typically going to be a mix of dactyls and spondees in any order.
All mixed up.
And then you're typically in with a dactyl and a spondee.
But again, you can end spondee, spondee.
The only one that's guaranteed is that the last one is going to be a spondee.
Everything else is up for grabs.
Okay, I see.
Does that make sense?
So me, ni, na, i, the, thea, pi, see it's two longs, thea, pi, li, long.
What are we looking at here?
So we have long, long, long.
Why not?
Okay.
Okay, so maybe this part is, let's say we get a little hung up.
Just for grins.
Here's a little trick just to help you.
Sometimes this is good if you get somewhere and you're not sure where to go because this
part was really easy so far.
If you get somewhere and you're like, hmm, what's going on with these things, right?
Here's what you can do.
You can always just work backwards from the end because you know the end is going to be
a spondee.
Right.
So you can kind of work backwards too.
But honestly, what are our next?
We've got this.
We got this.
Okay, so we're kind of working backwards here.
We got foot six figured out.
We got one, two, and three figured out.
Okay, so me, ni, na, i, the, thea, pi, li, i, short, the alphas, short.
Well, this one's usually going to be a spon, or it's usually going to be a dactyl, right?
We got a, it looks like we got a lot of syllables.
Let's try dactyls.
You said short, right?
Is that what you said?
Okay, so now we got four, we got four vowels left.
So what's going to happen is these, these are going to get pulled together, which is
a rule that, you know, we're going to talk about another time because it's just, it's
too much.
But sometimes vowels will get run together like that into the, and so then, you know,
if we make these short, it works.
So me, ni, na, i, the, thea, pi, li, i, a, theo, see how they get run together?
Theo, a, hi, li, jos, does that make sense?
Yep.
Okay, and then the next one, we got oo, oo, lo, men, so it's short.
These look short, right?
It's again long.
So this could be a spondee.
It is a spondee because this is long by nature.
Yeah.
Okay.
So then it's long again.
So oo, lo, men, ni, ni, mi, because it has to start a new one.
Both vowels are short.
Miria, that's got to be long, diphthong makes sense, right?
What do you think we're doing here?
Long again, spondee.
Okay.
All of us long.
It has to be because it's the beginning of a foot, a couple epsilons in a row, and we're
in the fifth foot, which is usually what, vast majority of the time the fifth foot is
going to be what?
It's going to be a dactyl.
Yeah.
Most of them.
It's a spondaic line.
Yeah.
Now, technically, some people will prefer to write these as shorts because technically
it's a short and they'll just say, well, it's just some people will claim that the last
line is either this, it's just convention.
I like to think of them both as long because I think they both get pronounced long to emphasize
the end of the line.
You could, if you wanted, label these as shorts because technically they are, but it's confusing.
I'd rather just call it a spondee and call it a day, you know, and just never even think
about the last line or don't even think about the last one.
The last one's a spondee because that's how you're going to sing it.
That's how you're going to pronounce it.
Okay.
So next.
So all of us short, Yoda's short.
I disagree because I feel like we're going to be long by position here with those two
letters there.
Oh, yeah.
Right.
So if this is long, then this has to be long.
So that has to be a spondee.
Okay.
What does this look like?
Long or short?
I mean, it looks like long.
Okay.
Well, then this would have to be long too.
Oh, wait.
Did I just draw the line in the wrong place?
Yes, I did.
Whoops.
Sorry.
So it's Paul laws, Paul laws, the theme moves, see Haas.
So this is a lot of spondees in a row, which kind of a spondee line here.
No, but it's technically, this is a line with a lot of spondees, but it's not spondee because
of the fact that at the end we have this, but oh, yup.
Sen because a spondaic line is one that ends in two spondees and this one does have a dactyl
here.
Right.
Okay.
Sure.
So what we end up with is just, we have three spondees in a row, two dactyls and a spondee
Paul laws, the theme moves, see Haas, I, the pro ups and, but see stacking up these spondees,
you know, it kind of very, it kind of mixes things up a little bit because it would get
a little boring if every line had the exact same rhythm.
It kind of emphasizes in a different way.
Paul laws, the theme moves, see Haas IV pro ups and he row on off to stay low or the attack
can last seen.
So you get the idea, right?
I mean, we could, we could go through all these, but you kind of get the idea.
These are obviously both, these are obviously long, long, long by nature, right?
E row own off choose that low re uh, right?
TAF care key ness seen because of the position E O E O me see, see, see, see, see, see,
see T A V O S because look to two consonants because even if they're in separate words,
the Sigma and the Delta makes it long by position that the do those that tell Lee yet to booty.
Cool.
So here's the thing like, obviously at first it's like, it's almost like a math problem,
know trying to figure it out and stuff and looking at the rules and everything but honestly you get
to the point where you just read it like when i'm when i'm reading this stuff typically i don't
even necessarily have to think that much about the rules i just read it in the rhythm the rhythm just
comes automatically after a while after you've done literally thousands of lines of this stuff
because it's not just the Iliad and the Odyssey it's also the Homeric Hymns it's also Hesiod,
Theogony, Works and Days i mean there's all kinds of ancient literature and in Latin if you're
reading the Aeneid or Ovid's Metamorphoses you're going to be reading in Dactylic Hexameter in Latin
too not saying you're interested in Latin but i'm saying you know once you've read thousands and
thousands of lines in Dactylic Hexameter it kind of just starts to just naturally you do a lot by
feeling and i think it's good to do it by feeling know the rules but if you follow your feelings
and then check it with the rules that's the best way if you're just only doing rules and don't have
a feel for it you're going to be like you know Dactylspony and it's going to be like so slow
you're not going to be able to enjoy the poem as much as if you can just read the thing
you know so anyway i hope that this makes sense i hope that wasn't too much to take in i mean
does it make sense to you doesn't make sense okay do you have any questions or anything and you've
never heard of this before today right i didn't okay so hopefully you and the view if you're
satisfied hopefully the viewers at home are satisfied and again i'm not giving all of the
complicated rules because i feel like this is enough to get you started because if you follow
everything that i just explained to you right here and then just have it in your head hey sometimes
these rules get a little broken if you fill in the stuff you know for sure and you get to a part like
you come to something like this where you got four vowels you know hey i need to do something
here and sometimes i'll read it a couple different ways and then see which one sounds good yeah
but again there are more complicated rules that you should learn later but i think this
is just a basic introduction to dactylic hexameter so in the next lesson lesson 15
we're going to get back to actually learning the language now that we understand the meter
and so we will learn more ancient greek grammar and vocab and we'll be getting into lines
six through ten of the ilead