The Metre of the Hittite Epic

Abstract

The scholar who works in two fields at the same time has a distinct advantage over those who work in only one, namely that he can bring to bear on a problem considerations which are new to the field to which it belongs but have been found to be valid in the other. In this way new light can be shed on hitherto unsolved problems, light which may in fact lead to their being solved. This, in fact, is the aim of the present discourse. The problem in question is the unsolved metre of the Hittite epic. The solution here offered is based on the writer's researches into possible influences—notably in the form—of this epic on the Greek epic tradition which lies behind the Homeric poems. The results of these researches will not be available in their entirety for some time, but the author is publishing in advance this individual conclusion which he feels may be of interest to classical scholars and, in particular, to orientalists.