Greek Metre PDF
Preview Greek Metre
GREEK METRE GREEK METRE BY PAUL MAAS TRANSLATED BY HUGH LLOYD-JONES OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1962 Oxford UniversityP ress, Amen House, LondonE .C.4 OLASOOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOUllNB WELLINGTON BOMBAY CALCVTrA MA.DRAI XAJlACHI K.UALA LUIIPUll CAPB TOWN IBADA.N NA.DlOBI ACCllA. © Oxford University Press I96z PRINTED JN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD BY VIVIAN RIDLER PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY NOTE THE German original of this work first appeared in 1923, under the title of GriechischMe etrik; it formed Heft 7 of Einleitungi n die Altertumswissenscha(f =t An Introduction to Classical Studies), edited by Alfred Gercke and Eduard Norden and published in separate parts by B. G. Teubner of Leipzig and Berlin. In 1927 the separate parts were printed in a single volume, and this included a number of additions and corrections to GriechischMe etrik; these were increased when Heft 7 was reprinted separately in 1929. The present translation incorporates all this material, together with further amendments made necessary by new texts and new studies which have appeared since 1929. Where· it has seemed desirable the various additions made to the original text of 1923 have been distinguished accord ing to the dates to which they were appended (1927, 1929, or 1961). The reader may find that reference to the various writings of Professor Maas quoted in the book is made easier by the use of the bibliography published by the Clarendon Press (A SelectL ist of the Writingso f Paul Maas, Oxford, 1951). TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE its first appearance in 1923 Paul Maas's Grieckiscke SINCE Metrik has been indispensable to serious students of Greek metre. For many years now it has been out of print, and the difficulty of obtaining it has gravely handicapped the study of the subject, all the more since no other work that has appeared since can be called an acceptable substitute. Ancient theories about Greek metre are of little or no value; and modem theories are valuable only in so far as they are grounded upon the evidence of the texts. This is the only book about metre known to me which offers no theory that is not supported by observed facts and illustrated, where necessary, by quotations. In the most concise possible way it sets out what can be known with certainty about the metres used by Greek poets from the time of Homer to that of Nonnus and his imitators in the fifth century after Christ. There are other books which purport to give the essential elements of what we know of Greek metre ; but none of them gives so much information, and none of them so care fully distinguishes ascertained fact from theory that is only partially supported by textual evidence. There are also advanced books which try to explain the process by which the Greek metres developed out of one another, and then use these explanations to offer authoritative analyses of even the most baffling of Greek lyrics. Some of these books are full of acute observations and ingenious constructions; yet none seems to me proof against the objections which viii TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE Professor Maas (see in particular 7, 27) has levelled against the foundations upon which they rest. The book has a reputation for difficulty which is by no means altogether deserved. The belief that all German pro fe ssors are exceedingly long-winded writers will not survive an acquaintance with its original German. Professor Maas is a very concise writer indeed, and a reader who means to extract its full meaning from his work must carefully consider not only every sentence, but every word. But the book's brevity is not the only reason why some find it diffi cult. It offers a classification and a terminology which many readers, on first acquaintance, have found strange, par ticularly English readers, who have been taught, if they have been taught at all, by very different methods. The reader who wants to understand this book will be well advised to approach it only after clearing his mind of every preconception about Greek metre that it may contain and starting again from scratch. He will find the effort well worth while; for the known facts about Greek metre are set out by Professor Maas with an economy and a succinctness which no other metrist has achieved. To take a notable example, the English schoolboy beginning verse composi tion is still told that the iambic trimeter consists of six feet. Each of these feet, he is given to understand, is basically an iambus ( how then is he to account for the puzzling '.J -) ; variations which the feet in different places of the line exhibit? Professor Maas teaches his reader to consider the trimeter as consisting not of six feet, but of three metra, each of the basic form (see f.); if this method is x - " - 101 adopted, the variations found at different places in the line at once become much easier to explain. . TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE JX Readers who know the original will find this translation sadly lacking in character when compared with the laconic elegance of the original German. Its chief aim is clarity, and to secure this it has often been necessary to expand a little. Reluctantly, I have obeyed the author's command that I should insert some notes of my own. They are distinguished by my initials. Professor Eduard Fraenkel has read through an early draft, and has allowed us to incorporate a number of valu able observations of his own. The translator wishes to thank Mr. T. C. W. Stinton for his advice on several prob lems. The whole text has been read through by Professor A. M. Dale (Mrs. T. B. L. Webster), and has greatly pro fited by her sound judgement and her complete familiarity with the literature of the subject. HUGH LLOYD-JONES Christ Church,O xford 5 January 1!)62
The list of books you might like
