Homeric Greek
Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey and in the Homeric Hymns. It is a literary dialect of Ancient Greek consisting mainly of Ionic and Aeolic, with a few forms 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. Compositions in Epic Greek may date from as late as the 3rd century BC, though its decline was inevitable with the rise of Koine Greek.
Main features
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.Phonology
Homeric Greek is like Ionic Greek, and unlike Classical Attic, in shifting almost all cases of long ᾱ to η: thus, Homeric Τροίη, ὥρη, πύλῃσι for Attic Τροίᾱ, ὥρᾱ, πύλαις/πύλαισι "Troy", "hour", "gates ". Exceptions include nouns like θεᾱ́ "goddess", and the genitive plural of first-declension nouns and the genitive singular of masculine first-declension nouns: θεᾱ́ων, Ἀτρεΐδᾱο "of goddesses, of the son of Atreus".Nouns
; First declension; Second declension
; Third declension
A note on nouns:
- -σ- and -σσ- alternate in Homeric Greek. This can be of metrical use. For example, τόσος and τόσσος are equivalent; μέσος and μέσσος; ποσί and ποσσί.
- The ending -φι can be used for the dative singular and plural of nouns and adjectives. For example, βίηφι, δακρυόφιν, and ὄρεσφιν.
Pronouns
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | σύ, τύνη | σφῶϊ, σφώ | ὑμεῖς, ὔμμες |
| Genitive | σεῖο, σέο, σεῦ, σευ, σέθεν, τεοῖο | σφῶϊν, σφῷν | ὑμέων, ὑμείων |
| Dative | σοί, τοι, τεΐν | σφῶϊν, σφῷν | ὑμῖν, ὔμμι, ὗμιν |
| Accusative | σέ | σφῶϊ, σφώ | ὑμέας, ὔμμε |
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | — | σφωέ | σφεῖς |
| Genitive | οὗ, εἷο, ἕο, εὗ, ἕθεν | σφωΐν | σφείων, σφέων |
| Dative | ἑοῖ, οἱ | σφωΐν | σφι, σφίσι |
| Accusative | ἕ, ἑέ, μιν | σφωέ | σφε, σφέας, σφας |
- Third-person singular pronoun or rarely singular article : ὁ, ἡ, τό
- Third-person plural pronoun or rarely plural article : nominative οἰ, αἰ, τοί, ταί, dative τοῖς, τοῖσι, τῇς, τῇσι, ταῖς.
| Nominative | τίς |
| Accusative | τίνα |
| Genitive | τέο, τεῦ |
| Dative | τέῳ |
| Genitive | τέων |
Verbs
; Person endings; Tenses
; Subjunctive
; Infinitive
; Contracted verbs
Adverbs
; Adverbial suffixesParticles
; EmphaticsOther features
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 demonstrative pronouns.Vocabulary
Homer uses about 9,000 words, of which 1,382 are proper names. Of the 7,618 remaining words 2,307 are hapax legomena.Sample
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.
Robert Fitzgerald :
Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men—carrion
for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
Begin it when the two men first contending
broke with one another—
the Lord Marshal
Agamemnon, Atreus' son, and Prince Akhilleus.