Alcaic stanza

E481150

The Alcaic stanza is an ancient Greek lyrical verse form, later adopted by Latin poets like Horace, characterized by a specific quantitative metrical pattern traditionally used for serious or reflective themes.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Iambi 2

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf lyric verse form
metrical stanza form
adaptedInLanguage English
German
Italian
associatedWithGenre lyric poetry
associatedWithTheme moral reflection
philosophical meditation
political reflection
reflective themes
serious themes
belongsToTradition classical Greek poetry
classical Latin poetry
characterizedBy fixed syllable counts per line
quantitative meter
specific pattern of long and short syllables
contrastedWith Asclepiadean stanza
Sapphic stanza
hasFormStructure two longer lines followed by two shorter lines
hasFunction expressing personal emotion
public or civic commentary
hasOrigin Ancient Greece NERFINISHED
hasVariant Greek Alcaic stanza NERFINISHED
Latin Alcaic stanza NERFINISHED
influenced Alcaic stanza in modern European languages
line1SyllableCount 11
line2SyllableCount 11
line3SyllableCount 9
line4SyllableCount 10
metricalFootType combination of trochees and dactyls in classical usage
metricalSystem quantitative verse
namedAfter Alcaeus of Mytilene NERFINISHED
oftenImitatedAs accentual-syllabic pattern in modern languages
regionOfOrigin Lesbos NERFINISHED
requiresFeature quantity-based prosody in original form
studiedInField classical philology
metrics
prosody
timePeriodOfOrigin 7th century BCE
typicalNumberOfLines 4
usedByPoet Alcaeus of Mytilene NERFINISHED
Horace NERFINISHED
Quintus Horatius Flaccus NERFINISHED
Sappho NERFINISHED
usedInLanguage Ancient Greek
Latin NERFINISHED
usedInWork Odes of Horace NERFINISHED

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Epodes alsoKnownAs Alcaic stanza
this entity surface form: Iambi
Alcaeus of Mytilene hasEponym Alcaic stanza
Odes meter Alcaic stanza
Callimachus notableWork Alcaic stanza
this entity surface form: Iambi
Alcaeus of Mytilene poeticMetre Alcaic stanza