Philosophical and Literary Miscellany

folio 7 verso

By Demetrios Triklinios:

It must be understood that all meters, except for the dactylic the "finger" meter, a long syllable followed by two shorts, are measured by dipody: a unit consisting of two metrical feet. These measures can extend up to a hexameter a line of six units, which in dipodic meters equals twelve feet. A monometer is a line having two feet. A dimeter has four feet. A trimeter has six feet; a tetrameter has eight; and a pentameter has ten. The measure does not proceed any further than this. For every meter except the dactylic, there are four types of "withdrawals," which is to say, terminations: the way a line of verse concludes: brachycatalectic, catalectic, acatalectic, and hypercatalectic.

A brachycatalectic line is illustrated by the iambic monometer which lacks an entire foot to be complete. This is why we say "io" or "eo" original: "ἰῶ" (iō) or "ε'ῶ" (eō). For these are brachycatalectic monometers, because one foot is missing from the pair.

A catalectic line is one that requires a single syllable for completion. For example: "io moi" or "io moi" original: "ἰῶμοι" (iōmoi). These are catalectic monometers because they possess one whole foot and one additional syllable—which is to say, half a foot—and thus they lack one syllable to be a complete pair.

An acatalectic line is one which has its feet perfectly complete. For example: "io io" or "io io" original: "ἰῶ ἰῶ" (iō iō) or "pho pho" original: "φῶ φῶ" (phō phō). These are acatalectic monometers because they have their feet fully finished and do not fall short like the examples mentioned above.

A hypercatalectic line is one which has its feet complete but also has one extra syllable as a surplus. This applies to all except the dactylic meter, because that meter alone is measured by monopody: counting by a single foot at a time. This is because, as I say, the feet are trisyllabic three syllables long: one long and two shorts. Therefore, when it has its feet complete, it is called acatalectic. But when it has a surplus of a syllable,

it is called catalectic into a syllable. When it has a surplus of two syllables, it is called catalectic into a disyllable. In the dactylic meter, there is no place for the brachycatalectic or the hypercatalectic categories, as the master metricians say. These specific conditions and variations occur similarly in the dimeter, the trimeter, and the remaining lengths of verse.