Practice question · Numerical answer
Milman Parry argued that Homeric epithets such as "swift-footed Achilles" are metrical building blocks. If a singer must fill a six-foot line and an epithet reliably fills two feet, how many such slots would three epithets fill?
Hints
- Each epithet fills two feet.
- Three epithets at two feet each.
Show the answer
6
Why
Six feet: a whole hexameter line. That is Parry's point: the epithet is not decoration but a unit of composition, selected because it fits the metrical space available. A singer composing at performance speed needs ready-made pieces of exactly the right length.
Practise Literary Study Among the Disciplines
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