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Epitritic hexameter

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A six-foot line dominated by epitritic (stressed-unstressed-unstressed-stressed) feet

Detailed Definition
Epitritic hexameter is a six-foot line incorporating epitritic (˘ ˘ – –) feet, often alternating with other metrical units to create complex rhythmic textures; used in classical choral odes, it lends a stately, processional quality, with the heavy closing stresses of each epitrite providing emphatic cadence.
Example
Example in poetry:
Greek tragedians like Aeschylus used epitritic hexameter in choral parts; Latin poets adapted it for hymns; English examples are rare but appear in translation of Pindar by Abraham Cowley; Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “The Wreck of the Deutschland” uses sprung hexameter approximating epitritic stress; Contemporary poet Derek Walcott uses hexameter with epitritic variation in “Omeros”; Annie Finch’s translations of Sappho employ epitritic hexameter.
Additional Notes
Six epitrite feet per line. Extremely rare—long, weighty line. Classical meter. 24 syllables (approximately). Related: epitritic meters, hexameter. Study: why so uncommon.
Also Known As
Six-epitrite line Complex hexameter Mixed six-foot verse Compound six-measure
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