6.1 Dactylic Hexameter & Scansion

The epic meter

Latin epic uses dactylic hexameter: six 'feet' per line. A dactyl is one long syllable + two short (— ˘ ˘); a spondee is two longs (— —).

Scansion

Scansion marks each syllable long or short. The first four feet may be dactyls or spondees; the fifth is almost always a dactyl and the sixth a spondee (or trochee).

Long by nature or position

A syllable is long by nature (a long vowel or diphthong) or by position (a short vowel followed by two consonants). Elision drops a final vowel before a word starting with a vowel or h.

Key terms

dactylic hexameter

the six-foot meter of Latin epic

dactyl

one long + two short (— ˘ ˘)

spondee

two long syllables (— —)

scansion

marking each syllable long or short

elision

a final vowel dropped before a following vowel/h

Try an AP-style question

A dactyl consists of…

1. one long and two short syllables
2. two long syllables
3. two short and one long
4. one short and one long