Table Of ContentGREEK 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
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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
