Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used by Homer in the '' Iliad'', '' Odyssey'', and Homeric Hymns. It is a literary dialect of Ancient Greek consisting mainly of Ionic, with some

Aeolic In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anatoli ...

forms, a few from

Arcadocypriot Arcadocypriot, or southern Achaean, was an ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia in the central Peloponnese and in Cyprus. Its resemblance to Mycenaean Greek, as it is known from the Linear B corpus, suggests that Arcadocypriot is its desce ...

, and a written form influenced by

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

. It was later named Epic Greek because it was used as the language of

epic poetry An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

, typically in dactylic hexameter, by poets such as Hesiod and

Theognis of Megara Theognis of Megara ( grc-gre, Θέογνις ὁ Μεγαρεύς, ''Théognis ho Megareús'') was a Greek lyric poet active in approximately the sixth century BC. The work attributed to him consists of gnomic poetry quite typical of the time, ...

. 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 : thus, Homeric for Attic " Troy", "hour", "gates (dat.)". Exceptions include nouns like "goddess", and the genitive plural of first-declension nouns and the genitive singular of masculine first-declension nouns: "of goddesses, 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 .Some suggest that -ᾱο may have originally been the more expected -ηο, with -ηο later being transcribed -ᾱο under the influence of other (literary) dialects, whilst others suggest that -ᾱο may have been an Aeolic form. (See λᾱός and Ποσειδᾱ́ων for expected ληός and Ποσειδήων.) : The genitive plural usually ends in or : for Attic .-ᾱων for expected -ηων would occur for the reasons given in Note 1. : The dative plural almost always end 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 Quantitative metathesis (or transfer of quantity) Smyth, ''Greek Grammar''paragraph 34on CCEL: transfer of quantity is a specific form of '' metathesis'' or ''transposition'' (a sound change) involving ''quantity'' or vowel length. By this process ...

present in later Greek (except in 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 τελῶ. : 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 An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" a ...

. , , 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 Clyde Pharr (17 February 1883 – 31 December 1972) was an American classics professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, Southwestern Presbyterian University (now Rhodes College), Vanderbilt University (where he was head of the classics department for ma ...

, "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''.Reece, Steve. "Hapax Legomena," in Margalit Finkelberg (ed.), ''Homeric Encyclopedia'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2011) 330-331
Hapax Legomena in Homer
/ref>

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 Theodore Alois William Buckley (1825–1856) was a translator of Homer and other classical works. In 1852 Buckley published the book "''The great cities of the ancient world in their glory and their desolation''". This book depicts stories, descri ...

(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 *

Apollonius Rhodius Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and ...

Quintus Smyrnaeus Quintus Smyrnaeus (also Quintus of Smyrna; el, Κόϊντος Σμυρναῖος, ''Kointos Smyrnaios'') was a Greek epic poet whose ''Posthomerica'', following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War. The dates of Quintus Smy ...

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis ( grc-gre, Νόννος ὁ Πανοπολίτης, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century CE) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Theba ...

* Author(s) of the Homeric Hymns

Poets of the Epic Cycle

* Stasinus *

Arctinus of Miletus Arctinus of Miletus or Arctinus Milesius ( grc, Ἀρκτῖνος Μιλήσιος) was a Greek epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive. Traditionally dated between 775 BC and 741 BC, he was said to have been ...

* Lesches * Agias *

Eumelus of Corinth Eumelus of Corinth ( el, Εὔμελος ὁ Κορίνθιος ''Eumelos ho Korinthios''), of the clan of the Bacchiadae, is a semi-legendary early Greek poet to whom were attributed several epic poems as well as a celebrated '' prosodion'', th ...

Eugammon of Cyrene Eugammon of Cyrene ( el, Εὐγάμων ὁ Κυρηναῖος) was an early Greek poet to whom the epic ''Telegony'' was ascribed. According to Clement of Alexandria, he stole the poem from the legendary early poet Musaeus; meaning, possibly, t ...

Musaeus of Athens Musaeus of Athens ( el, Μουσαῖος, ''Mousaios'') was a legendary polymath, philosopher, historian, prophet, seer, priest, poet, and musician, said to have been the founder of priestly poetry in Attica. He composed dedicatory and purificat ...

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.
*