Molossus (verse doctrine)

Molossus (plural Molossi ; Greek  μολοσσός molossós ; Latin molossus , extensipes or pes hippius ) is a simple three-part verse foot in ancient verse that consists of three lengths , so the metric scheme is

- - -

The foot of the verse is not independent, so it does not form rows and is only very rarely found in Greek poetry. The emergence of a Molossus can be explained by contraction, i.e. the contraction of a double shortening length from Choriambus (- ◡◡ -) or the Ionikus (◡◡— - or - —◡◡).

The name Molossus is derived from a common, but controversial etymology, from the Molossians in Epirus in north-west Greece .

literature

• Otto Knörrich: Lexicon of lyrical forms (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 479). 2nd, revised edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-520-47902-8 , p. 151.
• Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature. 8th edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-520-84601-3 , p. 528.

Web links

Wiktionary: Molossus  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations