Dochmiac


Dochmiac is a poetic meter that is characteristically used in Greek tragedy, expressing extreme agitation or distress. They appear in every extant tragedy—N.C. Conomis counted a total of 1,985 in the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides —, but there are also examples in satyric drama and Aristophanes, where they are often paratragic in tone and impassioned.

Metrical scheme

The base metrical scheme is: ‿ — — ‿ —, although any of the long syllables may be resolved and either of the two shorts may be replaced by a long. Thus, in theory, 32 variants are possible, ranging from five longs — — — — — to eight shorts, ‿ ‿‿ ‿‿ ‿ ‿‿. The ones occurring most often are

Examples

Here is an example from Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes, lines 697-700, where the chorus in vain tries to withhold Oedipus' son Eteocles from a fatal battle with his brother Polynices. The first three lines here are pairs of — ‿‿ — ‿ — dochmiacs. Long syllables have been underlined. Note that dochmiacs and even whole lines can start and end in the middle of a word:
An example of the simplest double drag form is when the chorus in Aeschylus' Suppliant Maidens, lines 892 and 901, twice sighs: