[864] It is so called because the second half of the fifth foot _plus_ the sixth will obviously have the metrical form –⏑–, which sequence of syllables, when it forms a single foot (as, of course, it does not in iambics), is called a cretic. The rule is therefore often thus stated: “When the final cretic extends over a whole word or whole words, it must be preceded by a short syllable”. [865] Iambics were adopted because nearer to the rhythm of everyday speech. It has been held, for instance by Dr. J. H. H. Schmidt, that iambics are nothing but trochaics with “anacrusis” (for this term see below, p. 342). So near is the iambic metre to ordinary talk that one now and again finds accidental “lines” in prose. Thus Demosthenes (_Olynth._, I, 5) writes δῆλον γάρ ἐστι τοῖς Ὀλυνθίοις ὅτι.... George Eliot, early in _Middlemarch_, actually produces two consecutive “lines”: “Obliged to get my coals by stratagem, and pray to heaven for my salad-oil”. [866] Euripides is much fonder of this metre than the other two masters. Sophocles in particular is very sparing of it. That passage (_Philoctetes_, 1222 _sqq._), where Odysseus and Neoptolemus hurry upon the scene in violent (iambic) altercation, would infallibly have been put into trochaics by Euripides. [867] From καταλήγω, “to stop short”. [868] The two instances given are, in fact, all that I have found. [869] διαίρεσις, “division”. [870] For example, the splendid poem by Anacreon beginning πῶλε Θρῃκίη is printed by some in long lines, by others in short, even though the first, third, etc., long lines are not catalectic. [871] The meaning of this term is uncertain. [872] I have, here and later, printed the readings and arrangement best suited to my purpose. [873] Greek συγκοπή, “coalescence”. But ⏗ need not fill a foot: for instance in a true _dactylic_ system we find (_Œd. Col._, 1082):— – ⏑ ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ – – ⏗ ⏑ ⏗ ⏑ – – αιθερι|ας νεφελ|ας κυρσ|αιμ αν|ωθ αγ|ωνων. Analogously to ⏗ as a trochee, dactyls admit ⏘ (= ⏑⏑⏑⏑) as a foot. – ⏑⏑ ⏘ ⏘ ⏗ ⏑ – – – ⏑ ⏑ ⏘ – θησεα | και | τας | διστολ|ους αδμ|ητας αδ|ελφ|αςꞈ̄(_Œd. Col._, 1055). [874] Before condemning this statement as a mere evasion, the student should reflect that all such poetry is written for music, which would in performance make the rhythm “come right”. [875] λογαοιδικός, “mingled of prose and verse”. [876] ἀνάκρουσις, “striking up”. [877] Not all, for the first short syllable may be part of a resolved foot. [878] The first syllable of πρυμνησίων in the second line, though long, is musically equivalent to a short. Such syllables are marked with the sign ˃, and the foot τοῑ πρυ͐μν- may be called an “accelerated spondee”. Syllables which carry a musical length different from their metrical length are named “irrational”.