Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used in the Iliad , Odyssey , and Homeric Hymns . It is a literary dialect of Ancient Greek consisting mainly of an archaic form of Ionic , with some Aeolic forms, a few from Arcadocypriot , and a written form influenced by Attic . It was later named Epic Greek because it was used as the language of epic poetry , typically in dactylic hexameter , by poets such as Hesiod and Theognis of Megara . Some compositions in Epic Greek date from as late as the 5th century CE , and it only fell out of use by the end of classical antiquity .
23-576: In the following description, only forms that differ from those of later Greek are discussed. Omitted forms can usually be predicted from patterns seen in Ionic Greek. Homeric Greek is like Ionic Greek , and unlike Classical Attic , in shifting almost all cases of long ᾱ to η . Exceptions include nouns like θεᾱ́ ("a goddess"), and the genitive plural of first-declension nouns and the genitive singular of masculine first-declension nouns. For example θεᾱ́ων ("of goddesses"), and Ἀτρεΐδᾱο ("of
46-721: A high social group that everywhere spoke the same kind of "civilized Ionic". However, local speech by the "man in the street" must have shown differences. An inkling of this may be witnessed in the language of Ephesian "beggar poet" Hipponax , who often used local slang (νικύρτας, σάβαυνις: terms of abuse; χλούνης, thief ; κασωρικός, whorish ) and Lydian loanwords (πάλμυς, king ). Proto-Greek ā > Ionic ē ; in Doric , Aeolic , ā remains; in Attic , ā after e, i, r , but ē elsewhere. Proto-Greek e, o > East/Central Ionic ei, ou : compensatory lengthening after loss of w in
69-733: Is a style of Ancient Greek pottery led by Athens and produced, in Attica and Central Greece , between roughly 1025 and 900 BCE, during the Greek Dark Ages . It was succeeded by the Early Geometric period . Earlier studies considered the beginning of this style around 1050 BCE. After the collapse of the Mycenaean - Minoan Palace culture and the ensuing Greek Dark Ages, the Protogeometric style emerged around
92-503: Is generally divided into two major time periods, Old Ionic (or Old Ionian) and New Ionic (or New Ionian). The transition between the two is not clearly defined, but 600 BC is a good approximation. The works of Homer ( The Iliad , The Odyssey , and the Homeric Hymns ) and of Hesiod were written in a literary dialect called Homeric Greek or Epic Greek , which largely comprises Old Ionic, but with some admixture from
115-511: The Archaic and Classical periods, both in poetry and prose. The works of Homer and Hesiod are among the most popular poetic works that were written in a literary form of the Ionic dialect, known as Epic or Homeric Greek . The oldest Greek prose , including that of Heraclitus , Herodotus , Democritus , and Hippocrates , was also written in Ionic. By the end of the 5th century BC, Ionic
138-580: The Lucianic or Pseudo-Lucianic On the Syrian Goddess . Ionic acquired prestige among Greek speakers because of its association with the language used by both Homer and Herodotus and the close linguistic relationship with the Attic dialect as spoken in Athens. This was further enhanced by the writing reform implemented in Athens in 403 BC, whereby the old Attic alphabet was replaced by
161-617: The Odyssey has 868". Others have defined the term differently, however, and count as few as 303 in the Iliad and 191 in the Odyssey . The Iliad , lines 1–7 Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε, πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν οἰωνοῖσί τε δαῖτα· Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή· ἐξ οὗ δὴ τὰ πρῶτα διαστήτην ἐρίσαντε Ἀτρεΐδης τε ἄναξ ἀνδρῶν καὶ δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς. Theodore Alois Buckley (1860): Sing, O goddess,
184-583: The 5th century BC, the central west coast of Asia Minor , along with the islands of Chios and Samos , formed the heartland of Ionia proper. The Ionic dialect was also spoken on islands across the central Aegean and on the large island of Euboea north of Athens. The dialect was soon spread by Ionian colonization to areas in the northern Aegean, the Black Sea , and the western Mediterranean, including Magna Graecia in Sicily and Italy . The Ionic dialect
207-604: The Dorian Tyrtaeus , composing elegies in a form of Ionic. This ability of poets to switch between dialects would eventually temper regional differences, while contributing to the awareness of the Greekness that all dialects had in common. The poet Archilochus wrote in late Old Ionic. The most famous New Ionic authors are Anacreon , Theognis , Herodotus , Hippocrates , and, in Roman times, Aretaeus , Arrian , and
230-594: The Greeks learnt to control this variation, the path to their distinctive three-phase firing technique opened. Some of the innovations included some new Mycenean influenced shapes, such as the belly-handled amphora , the neck handled amphora, the krater , and the lekythos . Attic artists redesigned these vessels using the fast wheel to increase the height and therefore the area available for decoration. Based on Radiocarbon datings and Bayesian models to Lefkandi , Kalapodi and Corinth , Toffolo et al. (2013) placed
253-556: The Ionic alphabet, as used by the city of Miletus . This alphabet eventually became the standard Greek alphabet, its use becoming uniform during the Koine era. It was also the alphabet used in the Christian Gospels and the book of Acts . On the basis of inscriptions, three subdialects of Ionic may be discerned: 1. Western Ionic, the dialect of Euboea and parts of Attica , like Oropos ; 2. Central or Cycladic Ionic,
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#1732801043557276-629: The coast of Asia Minor and the islands of the Cyclades, around the beginning of the Protogeometric period (1075/1050 BC). Between the 11th and 9th century BC, the Ionians continued to spread around those areas. The linguistic affinity of Attic and Ionic is evident in several unique features, like the early loss of /w/, or the merger of /ā/ and /ē/, as seen in both dialects. By the end of Archaic Greece and early Classical Greece in
299-547: The destructive wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes upon the Greeks, and hurled many valiant souls of heroes down to Hades, and made themselves a prey to dogs and to all birds but the will of Jove was being accomplished, from the time when Atrides, king of men, and noble Achilles, first contending, were disunited. Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Ionic Greek Ionic or Ionian Greek ( Ancient Greek : Ἰωνική , romanized : Iōnikḗ )
322-862: The dialect of the Cycladic Islands ; 3. Eastern Ionic, the dialect of Samos , Chios , and the west coast of Asia Minor . Eastern Ionic stands apart from both other dialects because it lost at a very early time the /h/ sound ( psilosis ) ( Herodotos should therefore properly be called Erodotos). The /w/ sound ( digamma ) is also completely absent from Eastern Ionic, but was sometimes retained in Western and Cycladic Ionic. Also pronouns that begin with /hop-/ in Western and Cycladic Ionic (ὅπου where , ὅπως how ), begin with ok- (conventionally written hok-) in Eastern Ionic (ὅκου/ὄκου, ὅκως/ὄκως). Western Ionic differs from Cycladic and Eastern Ionic by
345-419: The late 11th century BCE, as the first expression of a reviving civilization. Following on from the development of a faster potter's wheel, vases of this period are markedly more technically accomplished than earlier Dark Age examples. From Athens the style spread to several other centres. The decoration of these pots is restricted to purely abstract elements and very often includes broad horizontal bands about
368-429: The neck and belly and concentric circles applied with compass and multiple brush. Many other simple motifs can be found, but unlike many pieces in the following Geometric style , typically much of the surface is left plain. Like many pieces, the example illustrated includes a colour change in the main band, arising from a firing fault. Both the red and black colour use the same clay, differently levigated and fired. As
391-506: The neighboring Aeolic dialect to the north, as well as with some Mycenean elements as a result of a long pre-Homeric epic tradition. This Epic Ionic was used in all later hexametric and elegiac poetry, not only by Ionians, but also by foreigners such as the Boeotian Hesiod . Ionic would become the conventional dialect used for specific poetical and literary genres. Ιt was used by many authors, regardless of their origin; like
414-751: The other Cycladic Islands this distinction was not made, Η and Ε were used there interchangeably. Within Eastern Ionic, Herodotus recognized four subgroups ( Histories , I.142), three of them apparently influenced by a neighbouring language: a. The dialect of Miletus , Myus , and Priene , and their colonies, influenced by Carian ; b. The Ionic of Ephesos , Kolophon , Lebedos , Teos , Klazomenai , and Phokaia , and their colonies, influenced by Lydian ; c. The dialect of Chios and Erythrai and their colonies, influenced by Aeolic Greek; d. The dialect of Samos and its colonies. Differences between these four groups are not clearly visible from inscriptions, probably because inscriptions were usually ordered by
437-606: The sequences enw-, erw-, onw-, orw- . In Attic and West Ionic, e, o are not lengthened. East Ionic generally removes initial aspiration (Proto-Greek h V - > Ionic V-). Ionic contracts less often than Attic. Proto-Greek *kʷ before o > Attic, West/Central Ionic p , some East Ionic k . Proto-Greek *ťť > East/Central Ionic ss , West Ionic, Attic tt . This feature of East and Central Ionic made it into Koine Greek. Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Protogeometric style The Protogeometric style (or Proto-Geometric )
460-506: The son of Atreus"). A note on nouns: ' In most circumstances, Homeric Greek did not have available a true definite article . Ὁ , ἡ , τό and their inflected forms do occur, but they are in origin and usually used as demonstrative pronouns . Homer (in the Iliad and the Odyssey ) uses about 9,000 words, of which 1,382 are proper names . Of the 7,618 remaining words 2,307 are hapax legomena . According to classical scholar Clyde Pharr , "the Iliad has 1097 hapax legomena , while
483-502: The sounds -tt- and -rr- where the other two have -ss- and -rs- (τέτταρες vs. τέσσαρες, four ; θάρρος vs. θάρσος, bravery ). Western Ionic also stands apart by using the form ξένος (xenos, foreigner, guest ), where the other two use ξεῖνος (xeinos). Cycladic Ionic may be further subdivided: Keos , Naxos , and Amorgos retained a difference between two /æ/ sounds, namely original /æ/ (written as Ε), and /æ/ evolved from /ā/ (written as Η); for example ΜΗΤΕΡ = μήτηρ < μάτηρ, mother . On
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#1732801043557506-605: Was a subdialect of the Eastern or Attic –Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek . The Ionic group traditionally comprises three dialectal varieties that were spoken in Euboea (West Ionic), the northern Cyclades (Central Ionic), and from c. 1000 BC onward in Asiatic Ionia (East Ionic), where Ionian colonists from Athens founded their cities. Ionic was the base of several literary language forms of
529-574: Was supplanted by Attic, which had become the dominant dialect of the Greek world. The Ionic dialect appears to have originally spread from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions , around the 11th century BC, during the early Greek Dark Ages . According to tradition, the ancestors of Ionians first set out from Athens, in a series of migrations, to establish their colonies on
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