ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE CAESURA IN
THE GREEK SENARIUS.
FROM THE
TRANSACTIONS OF THE PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
JUNE 23, 1843.
In respect to the cæsura of the Greek tragic senarius, the rules, as
laid down by Porson in the Supplement to his Preface to the Hecuba, and
as recognised, more or less, by the English school of critics, seem
capable of a more general expression, and, at the same time, liable to
certain limitations in regard to fact. This becomes apparent when we
investigate the principle that serves as the foundation to these rules;
in other words, when we exhibit the _rationale_, or doctrine, of the
cæsura in question. At this we can arrive by taking cognizance of a
second element of metre beyond that of quantity.
It is assumed that the element in metre which goes, in works of
different writers, under the name of ictus metricus, or of arsis,
is the same as accent _in the sense of that word in English_. It is
this that constitutes the difference between words like _týrant_
and _resúme_, or _súrvey_ and _survéy_; or (to take more convenient
examples) between the word _Aúgust_, used as the name of a month, and
_augúst_ used as an adjective. Without inquiring how far this coincides
with the accent and accentuation of the classical grammarians, it may
be stated that, in the forthcoming pages, arsis, ictus metricus, and
accent (_in the English sense of the word_), mean one and the same
thing. With this view of the arsis, or ictus, we may ask how far, in
each particular foot of the senarius, it coincides with the quantity.
_First Foot._--In the first place of a tragic senarius it is a matter
of indifference whether the arsis fall on the first or second syllable,
that is, it is a matter of indifference whether the foot be sounded as
_týrant_ or as _resúme_, as _Aúgust_ or as _augúst_. In the following
lines the words ἡκω, παλαι, εἰπερ, τινας, may be pronounced either as
ἥκω, πάλαι, εἴπερ, τίνας, or as ἡκώ, παλαί, εἰπέρ, τινάς, without any
detriment to the character of the line wherein they occur.
Ἥκω νεκρον κευθμωνα και σκοτου ρυλας.
Πάλαι κυνηγετουντα και μετρουμενον.
Είπερ δικαιος εστ' εμος τα πατροθεν.
Τίνας ποθ' ἑδρας τασδε μοι θοαζετε.
or,
Ἡκώ νεκρον κευθμωνα και σκοτου ρυλας.
Παλαί κυνηγετουντα και μετρουμενον.
Ειπέρ δικαιος εστ' εμος τα πατροθεν.
Τινάς ποθ' ἑδρας τασδε μοι θοαζετε.
_Second Foot._--In the second place, it is also matter of indifference
whether the foot be sounded as _Aúgust_ or as _augúst_. In the first of
the four lines quoted above we may say either νέκρων or νεκρών, without
violating rhythm of the verse.
_Third Foot._--In this part of the senarius it is no longer a matter of
indifference whether the foot be sounded as _Aúgust_ or as _augúst_;
that is, it is no longer a matter of indifference whether the arsis and
the quantity coincide. In the circumstance that the last syllable of
the third foot _must_ be accented (in the English sense of the word),
taken along with a second fact, soon about to be exhibited, lies the
doctrine of the penthimimer and hephthimimer cæsuras.
The proof of the coincidence between the arsis and the quantity in
the third foot is derived partly from _à posteriori_, partly from _à
priori_ evidence.
1. In the Supplices of Æschylus, the Persæ, and the Bacchæ, three
dramas where licences in regard to metre are pre-eminently common,
the number of lines wherein the sixth syllable (_i. e._ the last half
of the third foot) is without an arsis, is at the highest sixteen,
at the lowest five; whilst in the remainder of the extant dramas the
proportion is undoubtedly smaller.
2. In all lines where the sixth syllable is destitute of ictus, the
iambic character is violated: as--
Θρηκην περαράντες μογις πολλῳ πονῳ.
Δυοιν γεροντοίν δε στρατηγειται φυγη.
These are facts which may be verified either by referring to the
tragedians, or by constructing senarii like the lines last quoted. The
only difficulty that occurs arises in determining, in a dead language
like the Greek, the absence or presence of the arsis. In this matter
the writer has satisfied himself of the truth of the two following
propositions:--1. That the accentuation of the grammarians denotes some
modification of pronunciation other than that which constitutes the
difference between _Aúgust_ and _augúst_; since, if it were not so,
the word ἅγγελον would be sounded like _mérrily_, and the word ἁγγέλων
like _disáble_; which is improbable. 2. That the arsis lies upon
radical rather than inflectional syllables, and out of two inflectional
syllables upon the first rather than the second; as βλέπ-ω, βλεψ-άσ-α,
not βλεπ-ώ, βλεψ-ασ-ά. The evidence upon these points is derived from
the structure of language in general. The _onus probandi_ lies with
the author who presumes an arsis (accent in the English sense) on a
_non_-radical syllable.
Doubts, however, as to the pronunciation of certain words, leave the
precise number of lines violating the rule given above undetermined. It
is considered sufficient to show that, wherever they occur, the iambic
character is violated.
The circumstance, however, of the last half of the third foot
requiring an arsis, brings us only half way towards the doctrine of
the cæsura. With this must be combined a second fact arising out of
the constitution of the Greek language in respect to its accent. In
accordance with the views just exhibited, the author conceives that no
Greek word has an arsis upon the last syllable, except in the three
following cases:--