Archilochian

Archilochian or archilochean is a term used to describe several metres of Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The name is derived from Archilochus, whose poetry first uses the rhythms.

In the analysis of Archaic and Classical Greek poetry, archilochian or archllochean usually describes the following length:

(where "–" indicates a longum, "u" a breve, and "x" an anceps syllable). The alternative name erasmonideus or erasmonidean comes from Archilochus' fr. 168 (West):

As indicated, a caesura is observed before the ithyphallic (– u – u – –) ending of the verse. (Because of this, the name erasmonideus has sometimes been used to refer only to the colon x – u u – u u – x preceding the ithyphallic.)

The verse is also used stichically in Old Comedy, for example in Aristophanes, Wasps 1518-1537 (with irregular responsion) and in Cratinus fr. 360 (Kassel-Austin), where, as Hephaestion notes, no caesura is observed before the ithyphallic ending:

The verse also occurs in the choral lyric of tragedy and comedy, with the same caesura as in the example from Archilochus, as a rule, for example in Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 756-7 ~ 764-5, Sophocles, Oedipus Rex 196-7 ~ 209-10, Euripides, Medea 989-90 ~ 996-7, Iphigenia in Tauris 403 ~ 417, and Aristophanes, Assemblywomen 580-1.

The Byzantine metrician Trichas used the name archilocheion for the trochaic trimeter catalectic:

This is seen in Archilochus, fr. 197 (West), and is used stichically by Callimachus, fr. 202 (Pfeiffer).