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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 line of verse with six metrical feet, typically dactylic in classical poetry

Detailed Definition
Hexameter is a classical metrical line of six feet, typically dactylic (¯ ˘ ˘) with a spondaic (¯ ¯) substitution in the fifth foot and a trochaic (¯ ˘) or spondaic sixth foot; foundational to epic poetry in Greek and Latin (e.g., Homer, Virgil), it creates a stately, narrative rhythm through its long, rolling cadence.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hexameter: Virgil’s “Arma virumque cano” opens Aeneid in dactylic hexameter; Longfellow’s “Evangeline” adapts hexameter to English; Anne Carson’s “Autobiography of Red” revives classical hexameter; “The slow drag of time through honeyed hours” mimics hexameter flow; Contemporary translations preserving hexameter’s grandeur; Hexameter used in modern epic to evoke antiquity
Additional Notes
Six-foot line. Most common: dactylic hexameter (epic meter). Related: epic poetry, dactylic meter, meter. Study: Homer's hexameters as foundational form.
Also Known As
Six-foot line dactylic hexameter epic meter classical line
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