Biceps (prosody) in the context of Prosody (Greek)

⭐ Core Definition: Biceps (prosody)

Biceps is a point in a metrical pattern where a pair of short syllables can freely be replaced by a long one. In Greek and Latin poetry, it is found in the dactylic hexameter and the first half of a dactylic pentameter, and also in anapaestic metres.

It is not to be confused with resolution, which is a phenomenon where a normally long syllable in a line is sometimes replaced by two shorts. Resolution is typically found in an iambic metre such as the iambic trimeter or a trochaic metre such as the trochaic septenarius.

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Biceps (prosody) in the context of Metron (poetry)

A metron /ˈmɛtrɒn/, /ˈmɛtrən/ (from ancient Greek μέτρον "measure"), plural metra, is a repeating section, 3 to 6 syllables long, of a poetic metre.

The word is particularly used in reference to ancient Greek. According to a definition by Paul Maas, usually a metron consists of two long elements and up to two other elements which can be short, anceps or biceps. Thus an iambic metron is x – ᴗ – (where "x" represents an anceps element), a trochaic metron is – ᴗ – x, an ionic metron is ᴗ ᴗ – –, an anapaestic metron is ᴗᴗ – ᴗᴗ –, a cretic metron – ᴗ –, a baccheus is ᴗ – –, and a spondee is – –.

View the full Wikipedia page for Metron (poetry)

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