I wonder what the word Ὁμερίζω could mean in detail, beyond the dictionary definitins, e.g. imitating Homer, using Homeric phrases, and I imagine myself in the likeness of a disciple in the old times hoping to learn from his master how to homerize as best as possible. Based on my current understanding of Homeric meter, this is how I think a conversation would go, in old times, between the disciple and his master:
Disciple (D): Master, I’ve just learned a few things about Homer and his poems; they are absolutely great! I would very much like to be able to recite Homeric verse the way rhapsodes do…
Master (M): Well, my son, the most critical ingredient of this endevour is passion and dedication, which you obviously have, since you appear to be willing to spend significat time, on the expense of your leisure, for this purpose. Secondly, you should be able to read Greek, without tripping on letters, words, punctuation, or anything else. But I suppose this is no problem for you since we use this language in our every day conversations.
D: No quite so, Master; actually, Greek is foreign language to me. My native language is Getonian; my family and I moved here from the city of Comidava just a few years ago. Therefore I sometimes have problems reading Greek fluidly.
M: You should first familiarize yourself very well with each piece of text you have in mind; it doesn’t make sense to try to recite a text which you are not able to read as fluidly as any other piece of literature. For this end, you should first practice reading carefully the text word by word. Let me set a pattern for you: I will read a piece of text and you listen and repeat each word. Then you should do it by yourself. Now, listen and repeat…
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D: Oh, I noticed you observed the word accents while reading, which I also did as I repeated after you; but I heard that accents should be discarded when reciting Homeric verse. Will this not be a hindrance when I come to reciting?
M: Not at all; the core of hexameter is the foot, whose measure is the syllable - either two longs or one long plus two shorts. Word accent has nothing to do with rhythm in Greek poetry, therefore there is no reason to discard it. Word accent, as far as Homeric meter is concerned, is like, as some say, ‘parsely in a soup - neither helps, nor does it any harm’… However, discarding word accent in reciting would be like stripping a piece of music of everything but the drums.
D: I see… While practicing this exercise, I had the impression though that reading the text with proper fluidity does not help, by itself, to recognizing the poetic rhythm…
M: If you observe the pronunciation rules, plus just a few additional rules specific to Homeric poetry, the rhythm should emerge just naturally, because the poet assumed the ‘responsibility’ to compose the poem in such a way that anyone who recites it should obtain, relatively easily, the proper flow in recitation. But I do have some additional exercise for you in this respect: I call it ‘foot spelling’ which is in fact reading each verse foot by foot. It is intended to help you internalize the Homeric rhythm. Just listen and repeat after me…
D: Wow! Very interesting indeed!.. It looks like I have now all the tools needed for practicing.
M: In summary, the pattern for the complete exercise is as follows: (1) practice reading word by word until you get acceptable fluidity; (2) practice reading each verse foot by foot; (3) practice reading the text verse by verse; you will then be ready to recite the whole text like an authentic rhapsode. By the way, since we are talking about rhythm, you may add a musical instrument to accompany your recitation, and even compose a suitable melody and sing the poem… Here it is: just listen and repeat after me - https://vasilestancu.ro/TK/audio_library/homeric_verse_recitation-by_word.html.