Diaeresis

[Brendan]

Hi folks,

I've been working on memorizing the opening lines of the Iliad as Pharr suggests, and just realized I might be mis-scanning line 3.

In the Pharr text, I was reading Αιδι as having two syllables, the first of which is long because it's a dipthong.

But now I'm looking at other versions, like at Perseus, and they all print a diaeresis mark over that first iota, making the word three syllables (two short followed by one long, I think).

My question is, is there some way I should have known that wasn't a dipthong just from reading the Pharr text? I couldn't tell from the meter, could I? And why doesn't Pharr print the mark, when he does so later in the very same line?

[spiphany]

Take a look at where the accent/breathing marks are placed: Ἄιδι. If it were a diphthong, it would appear over the second vowel, like this: Αἴ. Because it doesn't, you know that the vowels are pronounced separately. This is one reason it really helps to pay attention to the accents and breathing marks in Homer. You'll notice he does this with ε? a lot, too, it's frequently ?υ (two syllables) instead. In this case, it doesn't make a difference to the meaning, but it does to the scansion. There are several words where a rough rather than a smooth breathing mark, or an accent on a different syllable, has tripped me up, because I confused it another word which looks similar, but means something different.

[alauda]

Wow. That was a really useful answer. It seems I had a confusion on that subject, and never knew it. I was just reading the forum, and when I read that, a little light bulb flashed over my head. And I wasn't the one who asked the question, so thanks to Brendan too.

Cheers.

[Brendan]

Thanks, spiphany. I really have to train myself to pay attention to every detail.