- Dactylic Hexameter was considered by the Ancient Greeks and Romans to be the foremost method of recounting classical Epic Poetry.
- In Dactylic Hexameter each foot contains three syllables, with six feet altogether, giving a total of eighteen syllables per line.
Works written in Dactylic Hexameter
Dactyl and Anapest
- A dactyl consists of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
- The opposite of Dactyl is Anapest, which consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable
Dactylic Pentameter
- Each foot contains three syllables, with five feet altogether, giving a total of fifteen syllables per line.
Double Dactylic
- Each foot has three syllables, with two feet altogether, giving six syllables per line.
- Three lines of this are followed by a fourth line, where each foot has two syllables, with two feet giving four syllables per line.
- These four lines form a quatrain, which is then followed by another quatrain.
Iambic Pentameter
- Used in traditional English poetry and drama, for example by William Shakespeare in his Plays.
- An iamb has one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable, with five iambs giving ten syllables per line.