Spondees and dactyls and their prosodic basis in the Latin hexameter

Abstract

This paper analyses the transfer of the Greek dactylic hexameter to Latin. The discussion centers on two questions: the unequal proportion of spondees and dactyls and the incidence of metrical bridges. In line with generative and prosodic metrics the rhythmic basis of both Latin and Greek is the stress-matrix of one heavy or two light syllables. The hexameter line when parsed into these constituents turns out to have exactly six stress-clashes per line. From this observation it is argued that the preference for heavy syllables to be stressed is the reason for the preponderance of spondaic feet and the lack of metrical bridges in the Latin hexameter.