Homeric Greek

Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used in the Iliad, Odyssey, and Homeric Hymns. It is a literary dialect of Ancient Greek consisting mainly of Ionic, with some Aeolic forms, a few from Arcadocypriot, and a written form influenced by Attic. It was later named Epic Greek because it was used as the language of epic poetry, typically in dactylic hexameter, by poets such as Hesiod and Theognis of Megara. Compositions in Epic Greek may date from as late as the 5th century CE, and it only fell out of use by the end of classical antiquity.
Main features
In the following description, only forms that differ from those of later Greek are discussed. Omitted forms can usually be predicted from patterns seen in Ionic Greek.
Phonology
Homeric Greek is like Ionic Greek, and unlike Classical Attic, in shifting almost all cases of long to .
Exceptions include nouns like ("a goddess"), and the genitive plural of first-declension nouns and the genitive singular of masculine first-declension nouns.
For example ("of goddesses"), and ("of the son of Atreus").
Nouns
First declension
The nominative singular of most feminine nouns ends in , rather than long , even after and (an Ionic feature): for . However, and some names end in long .
Some masculine nouns have a nominative singular in short rather than : for Attic .
The genitive singular of masculine nouns ends in or (rarely - only after vowels - ), rather than : for Attic .
The genitive plural usually ends in or : for Attic .
The dative plural almost always ends in or : for Attic .
Second declension
Genitive singular: ends in , as well as . For example as well as .
Genitive and dative dual: ends in . Thus, appears, rather than .
Dative plural: ends in (ν) and . For example as well as .
Third declension
Accusative singular: ends in , as well as . For example as well as .
Dative plural: ends in and . For example, or .
Homeric Greek lacks the quantitative metathesis present in later Greek (except in certain α-stem genitive plurals and certain masculine α-stem genitive singulars):
Homeric instead of , instead of
instead of
instead of
instead of
Homeric Greek sometimes uses different endings:
alternates with
A note on nouns:
After short vowels, the reflex of Proto-Greek *ts can alternate between and in Homeric Greek. This can be of metrical use. For example, and are equivalent; and ; and .
A relic of the Proto-Greek instrumental case, the ending (ν) ((ν)) can be used for the dative singular and plural of nouns and adjectives (occasionally for the genitive singular and plural, as well). For example, (...by force), (...with tears), and (...in the mountains).
Pronouns
Third-person singular pronoun ("he, she, it") (the relative) or rarely singular article ("the"):
Third-person plural pronoun ("they") (the relative) or rarely plural article ("the"): nominative , dative .
Verbs
Person endings
appears rather than . For example, for in the third-person plural active.
The third plural middle/passive often ends in or ; for example, is equivalent to .
Tenses
Future: Generally remains uncontracted. For example, appears instead of or instead of .
Present or imperfect: These tenses sometimes take iterative form with the suffix before the ending. For example, : 'they kept on running away'
Aorist or imperfect: Both tenses can occasionally drop their augments. For example, may appear instead of , and may appear instead of .
Homeric Greek does not have a historical present tense, but rather uses injunctives. Injunctives are replaced by the historical present in the post-Homeric writings of Thucydides and Herodotus.
Subjunctive
The subjunctive appears with a short vowel. Thus, the form , rather than .
The second singular middle subjunctive ending appears as both and .
The third singular active subjunctive ends in (ν). Thus, we see the form , instead of .
Occasionally, the subjunctive is used in place of the future and in general remarks.
Infinitive
The infinitive appears with the endings and , in place of and . For example, for ; instead of ; or for ; and in place of .
Contracted verbs
In contracted verbs, where Attic employs an , Homeric Greek will use or in place of . For example, Attic becomes .
Similarly, in places where contracts to or contracts to , Homeric Greek will show either or .
Adverbs
Adverbial suffixes
conveys a sense of 'to where'; 'to the war'
conveys a sense of 'how'; 'with cries'
conveys a sense of 'from where'; 'from above'
conveys a sense of 'where'; 'on high'
Particles
'so' or 'next' (transition)
'and' (a general remark or a connective)
Emphatics
'indeed'
'surely'
'just' or 'even'
'I tell you ...' (assertion)
Other features
In most circumstances, Homeric Greek did not have available a true definite article. and their inflected forms do occur, but they are in origin and usually used as demonstrative pronouns.
Vocabulary
Homer (in the Iliad and the Odyssey) uses about 9,000 words, of which 1,382 are proper names. Of the 7,618 remaining words 2,307 are hapax legomena. According to classical scholar Clyde Pharr, "the Iliad has 1097 hapax legomena, while the Odyssey has 868". Others have defined the term differently, however, and count as few as 303 in the Iliad and 191 in the Odyssey.
Sample
The Iliad, lines 1–7
Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα· Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή·
ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε
Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς.
Theodore Alois Buckley (1860):
Sing, O goddess, the destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Greeks, and hurled many valiant souls of heroes down to Hades, and made themselves a prey to dogs and to all birds but the will of Jove was being accomplished, from the time when Atrides, king of men, and noble Achilles, first contending, were disunited.
Authors
Homer
Hesiod
Theognis of Megara
Apollonius Rhodius
Quintus Smyrnaeus
Nonnus
Author(s) of the Homeric Hymns
Poets of the Epic Cycle
Stasinus
Arctinus of Miletus
Lesches
Agias
Eumelus of Corinth
Eugammon of Cyrene
Musaeus of Athens
See also
Ancient Greek dialects
Homer's works
Hesiod's works
Notes
References
Bibliography
Pharr, Clyde. Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, new edition, 1959. Revised edition: John Wright, 1985. . First edition of 1920 in public domain.
Further reading
Bakker, Egbert J., ed. 2010. A companion to the Ancient Greek language. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Christidis, Anastasios-Phoivos, ed. 2007. A history of Ancient Greek: From the beginnings to Late Antiquity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Colvin, Stephen C. 2007. A historical Greek reader: Mycenaean to the koiné. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Edwards, G. Patrick. 1971. The language of Hesiod in its traditional context. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hackstein, Olav. 2010. "The Greek of epic." In A companion to the Ancient Greek language. Edited by Egbert J. Bakker, 401–23. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Horrocks, Geoffrey C. 1987. "The Ionian epic tradition: Was there an Aeolic phase in its development?" Minos 20–22: 269–94.
––––. 2010. Greek: A history of the language and its speakers. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Janko, Richard. 1982. Homer, Hesiod, and the Hymns: Diachronic development in epic diction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
––––. 1992. "The origins and evolution of the Epic diction." In The Iliad: A commentary. Vol. 4, Books 13–16. Edited by Richard Janko, 8–19. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lord, Albert B. 1960. The singer of tales. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Nagy, Gregory. 1995. "An evolutionary model for the making of Homeric poetry: Comparative perspectives." In The ages of Homer. Edited by Jane Burr Carter and Sarah Morris, 163–79. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Palmer, Leonard R. 1980. The Greek language. London: Faber & Faber.
Parry, Milman. 1971. The making of Homeric verse: The collected papers of Milman Parry. Edited by Adam Parry. Oxford: Clarendon.
Reece, Steve. 2009. Homer's Winged Words: the Evolution of Early Greek Epic Diction in the Light of Oral Theory. Amsterdam: Brill.
West, Martin L. 1988. "The rise of the Greek epic." Journal of Hellenic Studies 108: 151–72.
Varieties of Ancient Greek