Dactylic Hexameter: Definition and Famous Examples in Literature

📚 What is Dactylic Hexameter?

Dactylic hexameter is a form of meter or rhythmic scheme traditionally associated with classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin. Understanding it requires a bit of knowledge about poetic feet!

• 👣 Dactylic Foot: A dactyl is a metrical foot consisting of one long syllable followed by two short syllables (— ∪ ∪). In quantitative meter, long syllables are twice the length of short syllables.
• 📏 Hexameter: Hexameter simply means “six measures.” In dactylic hexameter, each line consists of six dactylic feet.
• 🔄 Spondee Substitution: To add variety and avoid monotony, a spondee (— —) is often substituted for a dactyl, especially in the initial feet. However, the fifth foot is almost always a dactyl, and the sixth foot is typically a spondee or a trochee (— ∪).
• 🔑 Formula: (— ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — —) or (— ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ ∪ | — ∪ )

📜 Quick Study Guide

• 🏛️ Dactylic Hexameter is a poetic meter used in classical epic poetry (Greek and Latin).
• 🦶 A 'dactyl' is one long syllable followed by two short syllables (— ∪ ∪).
• 🔢 'Hexameter' means six metrical feet per line.
• 🔄 Spondees (— —) can replace dactyls for rhythmic variation, mainly at the beginning of the line.
• 📍 The 5th foot is almost always a dactyl.
• 🏁 The 6th foot is usually a spondee or a trochee (— ∪).

Practice Quiz

1. What is a dactyl?
   1. A foot with two long syllables.
   2. A foot with one short syllable followed by two long syllables.
   3. A foot with one long syllable followed by two short syllables.
   4. A foot with three short syllables.


2. How many feet are in a line of dactylic hexameter?
   1. Four
   2. Five
   3. Six
   4. Seven


3. What is a spondee?
   1. Two short syllables
   2. One long and one short syllable
   3. Two long syllables
   4. Three syllables of varying length


4. In dactylic hexameter, where is a spondee most likely to be substituted for a dactyl?
   1. At the end of the line
   2. In the initial feet of the line
   3. Only in the fifth foot
   4. Never


5. Which foot is almost always a dactyl in dactylic hexameter?
   1. The first
   2. The second
   3. The fifth
   4. The sixth


6. What typically concludes a line of dactylic hexameter?
   1. A pyrrhic
   2. A dactyl
   3. A spondee or a trochee
   4. An anapest


7. Which of these works prominently features dactylic hexameter?
   1. Shakespeare's Sonnets
   2. Homer's *Iliad*
   3. Dante's *Inferno*
   4. Chaucer's *Canterbury Tales*