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Porson's Law

December 15, 2023

Porson's Law, or Porson's Bridge, is a metrical law that applies to iambic trimeter, the main spoken metre of Greek tragedy. It does not apply to iambic trimeter in Greek comedy. It was formulated by Richard Porson in his critical edition of Euripides' Hecuba in 1802.[1]

The law states that if a non-monosyllabic word ends on the 9th element of an iambic trimeter, the 9th element must be a short syllable.

Different formulations of the law edit

A line of iambic trimeter runs as follows:

x – u – / x – u – / x – u –

In this scheme, there are three anceps elements, marked by the symbol x. These may be long or short.

Porson's Law states that, if the third anceps (i.e. the bolded x above) is long and followed by a word break, then it must be a monosyllable.

A simpler summary of the Law is provided in W. W. Goodwin's Greek Grammar:

"When the tragic trimeter ends in a word forming a cretic (– u –), this is regularly preceded by a short syllable or by a monosyllable."[2]

M. L. West states it slightly differently, to take account of a rare situation not accounted for by Porson, where the word-break is followed rather than preceded by a monosyllable (e.g. Euripides, Heraclidae 529):

"When the anceps of the third metron is occupied by a long syllable, this syllable and the one following belong to the same word, unless one of them is a monosyllable."[3]

Normal lines edit

Some examples of normal tragic trimeters which do not break Porson's Law are the following from Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus:

ἦ δοῦλος οὐκ ὠνητός, ἀλλ᾽ οἴκοι τραφείς. (9th element is long, but does not end a word)
ê doûlos ouk ōnētós, all᾽ oíkoi trapheís.
"I was a slave, not bought but reared at home"
τὸν παῖδ᾽ ἔδωκας τῷδ᾽ ὃν οὗτος ἱστορεῖ; (9th element ends a word, but is short)
tòn paîd᾽ édōkas tôid᾽ hòn hoûtos historeî?
"Did you give this man the boy he is asking about?"
ἔδωκ᾽: ὀλέσθαι δ᾽ ὤφελον τῇδ᾽ ἡμέρᾳ (9th element ends a word and is long, but is a monosyllable)
édōk᾽: olésthai d᾽ ṓphelon têid᾽ hēmérāi
"I gave him – I wish I had died on that day!"

Breaches of Porson's Law edit

In tragedy edit

In tragedy, as West observes, there are very few breaches of Porson's Law. When the manuscript tradition, therefore, transmits a line that breaches Porson's Law, this is taken as a reason for suspecting that it may be corrupt.

For example, the first line of Euripides' Ion, as transmitted in the mediaeval manuscript Laurentianus 32.2 (known as "L"), the main source for the play, reads:

 u   –  u   – / u – u – / –  – u –
Ἄτλας, ὁ χαλκέοισι νώτοις οὐρανὸν
Átlas, ho khalkéoisi nṓtois ouranòn
Atlas, who with his back of bronze [rubs up] against heaven... (trans. Lee)

As Porson observed in his note on line 347 in his first (1797) edition of Euripides' Hecuba,[4] this line is irregular, since -τοις in νώτοις is long, occurs at the third anceps, and is followed by word break; it therefore breaks the law which Porson later formulated, and it is unlikely that Euripides wrote it as it stands. That the manuscript tradition is incorrect happens to be confirmed by a quotation of this line in a fragmentary papyrus of Philodemus. Philodemus' exact original text is uncertain, but it is reconstructed by Denys Page to read ὁ χαλκέοισι οὐρανὸν νώτοις Ἄτλας (meaning the same as L's version), which does not break Porson's Law, and therefore may be the correct text. Other scholars have suggested other possibilities as to what Euripides may originally have written.[5]

In comedy edit

In comedy, on the other hand, breaches of Porson's Law are very frequent, for example the following from Aristophanes' Clouds:

ἀπόλοιο δῆτ᾽ ὦ πόλεμε πολλῶν οὕνεκα[6] (9th element is long and ends a word)
apóloio dêt᾽ ô póleme pollôn hoúneka
"May you die, o war, for many reasons!"
ὀνειροπολεῖ γὰρ καὶ καθεύδων ἱππικήν.
oneiropoleî gàr kaì katheúdōn hippikḗn.
"Even when he's asleep he dreams of horse-riding!"

Other similar laws edit

Several other similar laws or tendencies, such as (a) Knox's Iamb Bridge (stating that an iambic word, i.e. a word of shape u –, tends to be avoided in positions 9 and 10 in the iambic trimeter), (b) Wilamowitz's Bridge (stating that a spondaic word, of shape – –, is avoided in the same position), (c) Knox's Trochee Bridge (stating that a trochaic word, of shape – u, tends to be avoided in positions 8 and 9), and (d) the law of tetrasyllables (stating that words of the rhythm – – u x are avoided at the end or beginning of a line), have been discovered since Porson's time. These laws apply to different styles or periods of iambic-trimeter writing (neither of the first two bridges mentioned above apply in tragedy, for example). Details of these and other constraints on the trimeter are given in a 1981 article by A.M. Devine and L.D. Stephens.[7]

Possible explanations edit

Similar laws which have been discovered in the dactylic hexameter are that if a word ends the fifth or fourth foot it is almost never, or only rarely, a spondee (– –). The philologist W. Sidney Allen suggested an explanation for all these laws in that it is possible that the last long syllable in any Greek word had a slight stress; if so, then to put a stress on the first element of the last iambic metron, or the second element of the 4th or fifth dactylic foot in a hexameter, would create an undesirable conflict of ictus and accent near the end of the line.[8]

An alternative hypothesis, supported by Devine and Stephens in their book The Prosody of Greek Speech,[9][10] is that in certain contexts some long syllables in Greek had a longer duration than others, and this may have made them unsuitable for the anceps position of the third metron of a trimeter.

Citations edit

  1. ^ Porson, R. Supplementum ad Praefationem ad Hecubam, p. XXX
  2. ^ Goodwin, W. W. Greek Grammar, Macmillan (1895), p.358 §1660
  3. ^ West, M. L. Introduction to Greek Metre: Oxford: Clarendon Press (1987), p.25
  4. ^ Clarke, M.L., (1937) Richard Porson: A Biographical Essay, page 70.
  5. ^ Lee, K. H. Euripides, Ion: Aris and Phillips (1997), ad loc.
  6. ^ Aristophanes, Clouds 6.
  7. ^ A.M. Devine, Lawrence D. Stephens (1981) "Bridges in the Iambographers". Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 22.
  8. ^ W. Sidney Allen (1974) Vox Graeca (2nd edition), pp. 120-123.
  9. ^ A.M. Devine, Laurence D. Stephens, (1994) The Prosody of Greek Speech (Oxford University Press), pp. 119-20.
  10. ^ Fortson, B.W. (1995) "Review of Devine and Stephens (1994). Bryn Mawr Classical Review.

December 15, 2023
porson, template, below, latin, greek, metre, being, considered, deletion, templates, discussion, help, reach, consensus, porson, bridge, metrical, that, applies, iambic, trimeter, main, spoken, metre, greek, tragedy, does, apply, iambic, trimeter, greek, come. The template below Latin and Greek metre is being considered for deletion See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus Porson s Law or Porson s Bridge is a metrical law that applies to iambic trimeter the main spoken metre of Greek tragedy It does not apply to iambic trimeter in Greek comedy It was formulated by Richard Porson in his critical edition of Euripides Hecuba in 1802 1 The law states that if a non monosyllabic word ends on the 9th element of an iambic trimeter the 9th element must be a short syllable Contents 1 Different formulations of the law 2 Normal lines 3 Breaches of Porson s Law 3 1 In tragedy 3 2 In comedy 4 Other similar laws 5 Possible explanations 6 CitationsDifferent formulations of the law editA line of iambic trimeter runs as follows x u x u x u In this scheme there are three anceps elements marked by the symbol x These may be long or short Porson s Law states that if the third anceps i e the bolded x above is long and followed by a word break then it must be a monosyllable A simpler summary of the Law is provided in W W Goodwin s Greek Grammar When the tragic trimeter ends in a word forming a cretic u this is regularly preceded by a short syllable or by a monosyllable 2 M L West states it slightly differently to take account of a rare situation not accounted for by Porson where the word break is followed rather than preceded by a monosyllable e g Euripides Heraclidae 529 When the anceps of the third metron is occupied by a long syllable this syllable and the one following belong to the same word unless one of them is a monosyllable 3 Normal lines editSome examples of normal tragic trimeters which do not break Porson s Law are the following from Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus ἦ doῦlos oὐk ὠnhtos ἀll oἴkoi trafeis 9th element is long but does not end a word e doulos ouk ōnetos all oikoi trapheis I was a slave not bought but reared at home tὸn paῖd ἔdwkas tῷd ὃn oὗtos ἱstoreῖ 9th element ends a word but is short ton paid edōkas toid hon houtos historei Did you give this man the boy he is asking about ἔdwk ὀles8ai d ὤfelon tῇd ἡmerᾳ 9th element ends a word and is long but is a monosyllable edōk olesthai d ṓphelon teid hemerai I gave him I wish I had died on that day Breaches of Porson s Law editIn tragedy edit In tragedy as West observes there are very few breaches of Porson s Law When the manuscript tradition therefore transmits a line that breaches Porson s Law this is taken as a reason for suspecting that it may be corrupt For example the first line of Euripides Ion as transmitted in the mediaeval manuscript Laurentianus 32 2 known as L the main source for the play reads u u u u u Ἄtlas ὁ xalkeoisi nwtois oὐranὸn Atlas ho khalkeoisi nṓtois ouranon Atlas who with his back of bronze rubs up against heaven trans Lee As Porson observed in his note on line 347 in his first 1797 edition of Euripides Hecuba 4 this line is irregular since tois in nwtois is long occurs at the third anceps and is followed by word break it therefore breaks the law which Porson later formulated and it is unlikely that Euripides wrote it as it stands That the manuscript tradition is incorrect happens to be confirmed by a quotation of this line in a fragmentary papyrus of Philodemus Philodemus exact original text is uncertain but it is reconstructed by Denys Page to read ὁ xalkeoisi oὐranὸn nwtois Ἄtlas meaning the same as L s version which does not break Porson s Law and therefore may be the correct text Other scholars have suggested other possibilities as to what Euripides may originally have written 5 In comedy edit In comedy on the other hand breaches of Porson s Law are very frequent for example the following from Aristophanes Clouds ἀpoloio dῆt ὦ poleme pollῶn oὕneka 6 9th element is long and ends a word apoloio det o poleme pollon houneka May you die o war for many reasons ὀneiropoleῖ gὰr kaὶ ka8eydwn ἱppikhn oneiropolei gar kai katheudōn hippikḗn Even when he s asleep he dreams of horse riding Other similar laws editSeveral other similar laws or tendencies such as a Knox s Iamb Bridge stating that an iambic word i e a word of shape u tends to be avoided in positions 9 and 10 in the iambic trimeter b Wilamowitz s Bridge stating that a spondaic word of shape is avoided in the same position c Knox s Trochee Bridge stating that a trochaic word of shape u tends to be avoided in positions 8 and 9 and d the law of tetrasyllables stating that words of the rhythm u x are avoided at the end or beginning of a line have been discovered since Porson s time These laws apply to different styles or periods of iambic trimeter writing neither of the first two bridges mentioned above apply in tragedy for example Details of these and other constraints on the trimeter are given in a 1981 article by A M Devine and L D Stephens 7 Possible explanations editSimilar laws which have been discovered in the dactylic hexameter are that if a word ends the fifth or fourth foot it is almost never or only rarely a spondee The philologist W Sidney Allen suggested an explanation for all these laws in that it is possible that the last long syllable in any Greek word had a slight stress if so then to put a stress on the first element of the last iambic metron or the second element of the 4th or fifth dactylic foot in a hexameter would create an undesirable conflict of ictus and accent near the end of the line 8 An alternative hypothesis supported by Devine and Stephens in their book The Prosody of Greek Speech 9 10 is that in certain contexts some long syllables in Greek had a longer duration than others and this may have made them unsuitable for the anceps position of the third metron of a trimeter Citations edit Porson R Supplementum ad Praefationem ad Hecubam p XXX Goodwin W W Greek Grammar Macmillan 1895 p 358 1660 West M L Introduction to Greek Metre Oxford Clarendon Press 1987 p 25 Clarke M L 1937 Richard Porson A Biographical Essay page 70 Lee K H Euripides Ion Aris and Phillips 1997 ad loc Aristophanes Clouds 6 A M Devine Lawrence D Stephens 1981 Bridges in the Iambographers Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies 22 W Sidney Allen 1974 Vox Graeca 2nd edition pp 120 123 A M Devine Laurence D Stephens 1994 The Prosody of Greek Speech Oxford University Press pp 119 20 Fortson B W 1995 Review of Devine and Stephens 1994 Bryn Mawr Classical Review Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Porson 27s Law amp oldid 1188589787, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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