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This chapter tackles the class of iambic metres, represented in non-dramatic Latin verse by the iambic trimeter, ‘limping’ iambic and the epodic systems used by Horace in the Epodes. After a consideration of the continuing prominence of the choliambic or ‘limping’ iambic, the discussion turns to the peculiarly Roman development represented by the ‘pure’ iambic trimeter, which offers a salient illustration of the interpenetration of academic theory and poetic practice in Roman metrical usage. The argument focuses on the parody of Catullus 4 attributed to Virgil, Catalepton 10, but there is also close analysis of Horace's theoretical commentary on iambics and later contributions from the Latin metricians. After a rehearsal of recent work on Horace's meaningful deployment of metres in the Epodes, the chapter concludes by reading Epode 16, a combination of hexameters and pure trimeters, in the light of the understanding gained into pure iambics earlier in the chapter.

This chapter examines ancient evidence for a connection of iambos and music. It suggests that a similar term (iambos) was used for rhythm, melody and poetry, and -iamb- appears in names of musical instruments and melodies. Although the conceptual link is not enough to prove that iambos was in practice a melic genre, it certainly presents the possibility that given the connection of iambos with several aspects of music such as rhythm, musical nomoi, and musical instruments, some iamboi at least, were occasionally sung or performed with musical accompaniment.

We propose that the acoustic correlates of prominence at the level of the phonological phrase can guide the infant to the appropriate word order within a phrase. Our proposal relies on perceptual capacities well‐attested in the pre‐lingual infant, and thus provide a plausible psychological account for early acquisition of syntax.

This chapter focuses on the Fragments, which is part of Herodas' Mimiamb 8. It presents Hippônax, who criticizes Herodas' poetry for crossing the form of the genre of comic drama and the metre of the genre of iambic invective. Herodas pleads guilty as charged, but none the less defends and maintains his procedure. This he does by invoking the sanction of the god of poetry, noting the signs of humility present in his closing comment that he will sing choliambic poetry after Hippônax. The chapter discusses the 'crossing of genres' as a well known and understood characteristic of Hellenistic poetry, in which the Hellenistic poets cross the form of the 'grand' genres, especially the hexameter of epic. It also mentions the humorous clash of content and form in Theokritos' fourth and fifth Idylls, where country folk pass the time of day or obscenely abuse one another in grand hexameters.

As often happens with ancient literary genres, most divergences on iambos in contemporary scholarship are due to a basic disagreement on what literary genres are. This chapter presents a view of literary genres that derives from studies on categorization that the cognitive sciences have developed in the fields of psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and the growing field of cognitive poetics. It discusses approaches to the genre and corpus of iambos.

This chapter surveys the poets that may be included in a corpus of iambic poetry. It proposes to view both canon and corpus as a gradient structured by core and periphery, referred to as the ‘received iambos’. It presents the ‘received iambos’ by a graded diagram where the canonical poets (in three degrees) are in the centre, minor iambic poets next, followed by poets who composed iamboi as a minor part of their work, then by a fuzzy area of works with an equal claim to belong to parody and, outside the circle, poets linked to iamboi by virtue of a salient feature of their work that was shared by the iamboi genre.

What is the place of iambos in Aristotle's history of poetry? How does the genre of iambos relate to psogos? What does Aristotle really mean by the expression iambike idea? Ancient and modern perceptions of the nature and function of ancient Greek iambos have been largely shaped by Aristotle's statements in the Poetics. This chapter looks afresh at those statements and offers a reconstruction of Aristotle's conceptualization of iambos.

This chapter looks at some of metrical characteristics of the iambic trimeter, concentrating on the line break, the strongest rhythmical boundary available to the poets. The interaction between clause and line is most evident at the line break, but similar phenomena can be observed at the midpoint of the line. The chapter illustrates the major ways in which Sophocles exploits the line break as a ‘chunking device’, to use the terminology introduced to Greek literature by Slings (1997).

This chapter examines those scenes in the plays of Euripides which consist of a duet or dialogue conducted partly in excited lyric metres (predominantly dochmiac) and partly in iambic trimeters similar to the spoken iambics of dialogue. First, it classifies certain ‘licences’ — that is, divergences, real or apparent, from the strict distinction of complete iambic trimeters on the one hand and lyric metres on the other — and maintains that these licences do not constitute exceptions to the general distinction. Second, it examines, scene by scene, the surviving exceptions to the distinction, and attempts to show that each of them either has a motive or is to be removed by the correction of a false ascription in the manuscripts or the current texts.

This chapter contends that, previous to the categorization of iambos as invective, it was Archilochus who was first of all conceptualized as a representative par excellence of blame poetry. It examines the types of content associated with Archilochus before the Hellenistic period. Such early testimonies provide information on the reception of Archilochus at a stage when invective emerged as the dominant feature of his work. They also suggest awareness regarding other aspects of his poetry. Thus, although Archilochus begins to function in the 5th century BCE as prototype of invective poetry, he is not simply reduced to that. Archilochus' reputation was a matter of ideological contestation, and whoever praises or blames him usually has ulterior motives.

This chapter reconsiders the old problem of the relationship between iambus and comedy. By comparing three possible hypotheses of dependence, it rejects the view that Cratinus introduced into Attic comedy certain iambic features which then continued to live there throughout the epoch of Old Comedy. The chapter underlines the substantial differences between iambus and comedy on the macroscopic level of discourse parameters such as length, audience, performers and mode of performance, and presence of narrative. It also stresses that Aristotle in the Poetics did not suggest a genetic link between iambus and comedy. Where there are similarities, they should be regarded as the natural, independent developments of two verbal genres in which a mixed tradition of narrative and abuse was endowed with a social or political function.

Words of more than two syllables tend toward moraic balance, while even those are subject to the acceleration processes that yield triplet formation. Triplets tend to shorten to disyllables, which in Ancient Greek, where all disyllables are stable, acquire duple timing when not inhibited by semantic or morphological considerations. This mora‐preference hierarchy is applied to the solution of problems in sound change, particularly in Latin, Greek, and Germanic. Stressed open syllable lengthening can be ranked higher than disyllabism. Different rankings follow from the instability engendered by competing processes. This unified account sheds light on problems as diverse as word localization in poetry, syncope, iambic shortening, monosyllabic lengthening, trisyllabic contraction, and even some consonantal changes, such as assibilation in Ancient Greek, Hittite, and Finnish. Finally, implications are adduced for optimality of the trochaic foot.

This chapter examines Aristophanes' lyrics. It discusses that in his lyric writing, his words have their own impressiveness — and yet his achievement here is strikingly uneven. It adds that his use of language is diverse wherein the level of the language varies from low to high and that, in some degree, the distinctions involved correspond with metrical differentiae, so that iambic dialogue tends to be lower than sung lyric. It clarifies that Aristophanes' mobility means that such correlations are not all consistent.

This chapter considers Fragment 23 IEG and the Cologne Epode (196a IEG) of Archilochus. Fragment 23 is the end of an iambic poem preserved in P.Oxy. 2310 (vol. 22, 1954), first edited by Mr Edgar Lobel. From where it becomes comprehensible, at the end of line 7 of the surviving text, the speaker of the verses, ostensibly the poet representing himself, gives his reply to a woman whose words he has just finished quoting. He sets out to turn aside the bad things that she has heard people say. In the Cologne Epode (196a IEG), first published by Merkelbach and West (1974), again presents the latter part of a conversation between the speaker, ostensibly the poet, and a woman on whom, after an initial rebuff, he is once again exercising his arts of persuasion. In reply to his advances, she reminds him that there is someone else at home that he should think of.

This chapter provides the commentary for Aeschylus' play the Suppliant Women. It explains the major musical and metrical shifts of the play that gave an instant understanding of the play's formal progress. It also compares the Suppliant Women with the prologues of the three plays of Oresteia, Persae, and a few other plays that do not begin with iambic trimeters. The chapter looks at the anapaestic opening that used to be part of the argument about the Suppliant Women being an early play. It discusses the plight of the Danaids as the play's main theme and assesses how it contains the vital facts by which the audience can identify the place and myth of the play and its immediate speakers.