Fantastic scanning primer! I learned the basics last night with my teacher, but I have a hard time with reading in meter. I'll keep practicing with your video to get better. Thanks!
@TheBlondieprincess Sorry, I don't do requests. You can find a fully parsed and scanned Book 1 of the Aeneid if you search hard enough on google or your library. Otherwise, the purpose of the video was to teach you the skill of scanning. Why should I do it for you? Learn to do it yourself.
@SuperKaulo We have two feet left to be determined in the line, and six syllables. So each foot has to have three syllables, which makes them both dactyls. You can double check this with the two consonant rule, and none of the shorts has to be long by position. You can use this guide (once you remove the last two feet): 12 syllables = 4 dactyls 11 = 3 dactyls and 1 spondee 10 = 2 of each 9 = 3 spondees, 1 dactyl 8 = 4 spondees
Well, I am german but this is way better explained than all german vids I had watched the last hour. :D thank you, it helps me a lot for my exam tomorrow! :)
@efccejc It does when it does. That's just one of the things you keep in mind when scanning and you come to the fifth and sixth feet, and there are only four long syllables left (and they are obviously long, because they are diphthongs or a vowel followed by two consonants). It doesn't happen much in Vergil (maybe a handful of times, but I can remember a few with the name Pallas), and a bit more frequently in Ovid.
Isn't a syllable with a diphthong long by nature, not long by position? The slides would be more helpful if they included macrons. Last, I don't understand why the first syllable of mutatas must be long other than it has to be long in order to make a spondee. That seems like it's the tail wagging the dog, but if that's the case, it's fine with me. Thanks, Benjamin! I love your videos and have used them for years.
In can also take the accusative case in Latin when it shows motion towards. Ovid's not talking about shapes changed in new bodies, it's shapes changes "into" new bodies. So nova modifies corpora in the next line, and both are neuter accusative plural.
This method makes sense but presumably if you're doing the scansion of Latin poetry, you know a little Latin as well and you'd know that ab has a short vowel and that the second a in aspirate is definitely long
A fantastic video there, Thank you for this. One question, though-- at 4:03 you said "a vowel before another vowel is usually short, make sure it's not a diphthong" and then you proceeded to mark the 'e' in 'meis' as a short vowel, when 'ei' is a diphthong! Made me a bit confused there.
so helpful thank you!!! could you pleaseee make metric on aeneid virgil? arma virumque cano...... (i need book 1,2 and 7) i can't find it anywhere here on youtube and since you are soo good at this, i'd love to see a video... if it's too complicated then just the pronounciation of the dactylic exameter of this epic . thank you again:)
so if we're reading a translation, such as E V Rieu's translation of the Iliad, would this still apply? as it's translated so the syllables etc are different. I'm trying to write a short poem about Charon in the style of Homer.
Probably not. Most translations in English are in a verse form that is much more natural to English. Dactylic hexameter is really a Greek meter forced into Latin and relatively ill suited to the standard patterns of English. Lots of translations utilize iambic pentameter, which involves variations of stressed and unstressed syllables (rather than syllable length, like here).
It is quite interesting you talk about this. Some translators actually did try to force Latin dactylic hexameter into their native English, most notably Richard Stanyhurst (albeit an Irish) in his translation of Aeneid 1-4 (first published in 1582). Despite the heroic efforts, the result is, as one would expect, ludicrous. That being said, it is an important step for the formation of Modern English poetry.
any good websites about determing quanities of letters and syllables.. Great syllable... the sad thing is Im taking latin at a school with a good classics program and this is more informative than the last 3 months have been,.
It will make it that much easier to understand, you can't just read it. You have to find the beat and rhythm first, then you have to understand what is really being said.
If you're interested in the longs by nature, check out perseus.tufts.edu and their dictionary feature (it's the out of copyright Lewis and Short). If you have an Apple iOS device, you can buy Lexidium or SPQR - they both have the Lewis and Short which is a good reference for longs by nature.
@anFRUITanCOasi meis is disyllabic, not monosyllabic. The "ei" there isn't a diphthong, but the e is part of the stem (me-) and the ī happens to be part of the ending (īs).
it is for us to understand how, for example, ovidius spoke. it also helps making wordgroups because it is poetry and this is how the romans made poem, they did not rhyme.
I swear no English/ American person could ever SPEAK proper Latin. Great lesson on hexameters, too bad about your pronunciation. I assume you are fluent in Latin, why not take 2-3 lessons in spoken Italian and Romanian to see how you should actually pronounce Latin words? Both languages are far easier than Latin.
+Val D His pronunciation actually sounds pretty good to me and closer to that of a Romance language than many Latin teachers I've heard. I speak Spanish as well, and I therefore speak Latin with a definite Spanish accent. Italian and Romanian both did come from Latin, but they also have different accents from each other and other Romance languages, so it's logical to assume that Latin would have a unique accent unto itself as well. There will be similarities, but also differences. It may be best for the focus here to stay on what Mr. Johnson was trying to explain which was dactylic hexameter. In that, regardless of opinions about his Latin pronunciation, he was successful and helpful to his viewers.
Lol, even at it creation, classical Latin was spoken over a vast tract of land and pronunciations varied as with any language, despite the formation of the Latin language in that it seeks to create uniformity. To say that someone doesn't pronounce classical Latin "correctly" is uneducated.
I learned more in these 6 minutes than I do in 2 weeks of Latin classes
+Felicia Alejandro Thanks. If you want some practice, check out hexameter.co.
+Benjamin Johnson I will man
absolute valid facts
Why have you given up this channel? This latin videos made my live great. 😭😭😭
i think he made a new channel: latintutorial
@@ytae4102 Ok, thanks for the information.
Genuine masterclass! My fellow students in our U3A Latin class will be delighted to get to grips with the concepts here. Thank you.
Fantastic scanning primer! I learned the basics last night with my teacher, but I have a hard time with reading in meter. I'll keep practicing with your video to get better. Thanks!
Thanks a bunch man! You have just just saved me for my latin final!
@TheBlondieprincess Sorry, I don't do requests. You can find a fully parsed and scanned Book 1 of the Aeneid if you search hard enough on google or your library.
Otherwise, the purpose of the video was to teach you the skill of scanning. Why should I do it for you? Learn to do it yourself.
@SuperKaulo We have two feet left to be determined in the line, and six syllables. So each foot has to have three syllables, which makes them both dactyls. You can double check this with the two consonant rule, and none of the shorts has to be long by position.
You can use this guide (once you remove the last two feet):
12 syllables = 4 dactyls
11 = 3 dactyls and 1 spondee
10 = 2 of each
9 = 3 spondees, 1 dactyl
8 = 4 spondees
Well, I am german but this is way better explained than all german vids I had watched the last hour. :D thank you, it helps me a lot for my exam tomorrow! :)
Anna Brownie Thanks! If you want to practice scanning, be sure to check out hexameter.co.
you can't explain it any better!
thanks a lot!
@efccejc It does when it does. That's just one of the things you keep in mind when scanning and you come to the fifth and sixth feet, and there are only four long syllables left (and they are obviously long, because they are diphthongs or a vowel followed by two consonants). It doesn't happen much in Vergil (maybe a handful of times, but I can remember a few with the name Pallas), and a bit more frequently in Ovid.
THIS is a / BRILL-iantly / help-ful / VID-eo / BEN-jamin / Thank You!
;D
You are a wonderful teacher
Isn't a syllable with a diphthong long by nature, not long by position? The slides would be more helpful if they included macrons. Last, I don't understand why the first syllable of mutatas must be long other than it has to be long in order to make a spondee. That seems like it's the tail wagging the dog, but if that's the case, it's fine with me. Thanks, Benjamin! I love your videos and have used them for years.
In can also take the accusative case in Latin when it shows motion towards. Ovid's not talking about shapes changed in new bodies, it's shapes changes "into" new bodies. So nova modifies corpora in the next line, and both are neuter accusative plural.
Thanks for the explanation- have to scan Homer for an Ancient Greek exam, and was feeling lost until I watched this!
I love the excerpts that you read. Know a place where I could find longer samples of Latin poetry? Thanks, Kirby
Catullus
Could you make a video on hendecasyllabic meter?
I learned more in this video than in this year of Latin...
great work!!
This method makes sense but presumably if you're doing the scansion of Latin poetry, you know a little Latin as well and you'd know that ab has a short vowel and that the second a in aspirate is definitely long
Thank you 😭✨
I’m french but this video is better than french videos 😂
that was incredibly helpful.
A fantastic video there, Thank you for this. One question, though-- at 4:03 you said "a vowel before another vowel is usually short, make sure it's not a diphthong" and then you proceeded to mark the 'e' in 'meis' as a short vowel, when 'ei' is a diphthong! Made me a bit confused there.
well, youtube has everything now, thanks for posting this
Thanks for the vid, but did it have to be in latin? :P
so helpful thank you!!!
could you pleaseee make metric on aeneid virgil?
arma virumque cano......
(i need book 1,2 and 7) i can't find it anywhere here on youtube and since you are soo good at this, i'd love to see a video... if it's too complicated then just the pronounciation of the dactylic exameter of this epic .
thank you again:)
so if we're reading a translation, such as E V Rieu's translation of the Iliad, would this still apply? as it's translated so the syllables etc are different. I'm trying to write a short poem about Charon in the style of Homer.
Probably not. Most translations in English are in a verse form that is much more natural to English. Dactylic hexameter is really a Greek meter forced into Latin and relatively ill suited to the standard patterns of English. Lots of translations utilize iambic pentameter, which involves variations of stressed and unstressed syllables (rather than syllable length, like here).
thank you!! that's brilliant, I was getting so confused about how I couldn't find solid examples of dactylic hexameter in my books.
It is quite interesting you talk about this. Some translators actually did try to force Latin dactylic hexameter into their native English, most notably Richard Stanyhurst (albeit an Irish) in his translation of Aeneid 1-4 (first published in 1582). Despite the heroic efforts, the result is, as one would expect, ludicrous. That being said, it is an important step for the formation of Modern English poetry.
Could you recommend me some textbook that teaches poetry meter? Preferably through examples of classical English verse, etc?
This and other videos on youtube have already given me a good first hold of it, but I want to go deeper on the practices of the tradition.
@fizzle1234561 You elide with an m at the end of the word, not at the beginning (as in meis). So something like "perdendum est" would be elide.
any good websites about determing quanities of letters and syllables.. Great syllable... the sad thing is Im taking latin at a school with a good classics program and this is more informative than the last 3 months have been,.
spondee is the term for a foot with two long syllables (- -), which is different from a dactyl, a foot with one long followed by two shorts (- ˘˘)
You say, it rarely ends with 2 spondies? Do you know when exactly?
Thanks for sharing.
thelatinlibrary(dot)com is a great place to find many pieces of Latin literature.
Thanks so much!
Wow, thanks! :D
Thank you,
Are you a teacher or something? With you i will have worked (sorry for my english)
shouldn't the "e" and "me" in "adpsirate meis" be allided?
Shouldn't "ei" in meis be long?
collegehumor intro? :D
cool video it helped me out :)
Wait isn't the "a" in nova in the ablative case and hence long? Sorry it's my first time in scansion territory.
bassionbean It’s a rule that abl sg. and some others are long by nature
It might be neuter accusative plural, I can’t tell cause the line isn’t the whole sentence
It will make it that much easier to understand, you can't just read it. You have to find the beat and rhythm first, then you have to understand what is really being said.
Awesome:D!
this is so dumb but you still taught it better than my teacher
If you're interested in the longs by nature, check out perseus.tufts.edu and their dictionary feature (it's the out of copyright Lewis and Short). If you have an Apple iOS device, you can buy Lexidium or SPQR - they both have the Lewis and Short which is a good reference for longs by nature.
@brj4 thanks - and thanks for telling me how to spell "elide"
2.42 Why should they be dactyles?
@anFRUITanCOasi meis is disyllabic, not monosyllabic. The "ei" there isn't a diphthong, but the e is part of the stem (me-) and the ī happens to be part of the ending (īs).
i still dont understand why anyone would break down a line of poetry like this? what is the purpose?
it is for us to understand how, for example, ovidius spoke. it also helps making wordgroups because it is poetry and this is how the romans made poem, they did not rhyme.
ok, thanks
When u understand it with that better than at school although it isn't your native language.
Nice technique but you forgot to add the caesura!
THANK YOU XD
The Phaistos disc is the oldest dactylic hexameter example in the world.
came here to look up the word dactylic and quickly learning this is a nightmare when you have dyslexia.
Ah my mistake, I thought it was a 1st Feminine. (Novum - how could I have missed that?) Thanks!
The ictus.
No, but if you're reading Homer in the original Greek, understanding this might make the experience different.
SMC Challenge, anyone?!
geez why on earth didn't you use an english line???
+Deborah Guzzi Because this is a Latin meter?
dumbass
🤐
I swear no English/ American person could ever SPEAK proper Latin. Great lesson on hexameters, too bad about your pronunciation. I assume you are fluent in Latin, why not take 2-3 lessons in spoken Italian and Romanian to see how you should actually pronounce Latin words? Both languages are far easier than Latin.
+Val D His pronunciation actually sounds pretty good to me and closer to that of a Romance language than many Latin teachers I've heard. I speak Spanish as well, and I therefore speak Latin with a definite Spanish accent. Italian and Romanian both did come from Latin, but they also have different accents from each other and other Romance languages, so it's logical to assume that Latin would have a unique accent unto itself as well. There will be similarities, but also differences. It may be best for the focus here to stay on what Mr. Johnson was trying to explain which was dactylic hexameter. In that, regardless of opinions about his Latin pronunciation, he was successful and helpful to his viewers.
Lol, even at it creation, classical Latin was spoken over a vast tract of land and pronunciations varied as with any language, despite the formation of the Latin language in that it seeks to create uniformity. To say that someone doesn't pronounce classical Latin "correctly" is uneducated.