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I ran into this hexameter verse by Vergilius when researching for an answer to another question:

et vera incessu patuit dea. Ille ubi matrem
(Aeneis I.405)

The only way I can scan that verse is to leave a hiatus between dea and ille. Is this scansion correct? Is elision still possible across punctuation, or should it always be omitted?

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Joonas Ilmavirta
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1 Answers1

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It's a hiatus because it's located at the principle caesura:

et vera | inces|su patu|it dea. || Ille ubi | matrem

In fact, Lodge specifically references this line in the section on hiatus, as I'm sure do a few others.

Note that hiatus isn't impossible anywhere, but it's common specifically here. The grammars will typically say "most" or "usually", and I'm sure you can find exceptions.

cmw
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  • Thank you! And welcome back to the site; I haven't seen you for a while. – Joonas Ilmavirta Sep 20 '16 at 09:24
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    This isn't at a normal caesura point, which may come after IIa, IIIa, or IVa, but after IVb2. I usually interpret this specific instance as Vergilius saying rather forcefully that "the current sentence ends right here". – blagae Feb 27 '17 at 13:34