The Greek etymology for this foot may mean “beaten back,” reflecting their original use in marching rhymes that later evolved into dramatic choruses. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name this triple poetic foot that in Classical verse is two short syllables followed by one long syllable, making it the reverse of the dactyl. As a mnemonic, the name of this foot can itself be pronounced as one.
ANSWER: anapests
[10h] Greek tragedy and comedy choruses in anapestic tetrameter usually used this device on alternating lines. In regularly metered lines using this device, the last expected syllable in the meter is dropped, making it the opposite of headlessness.
ANSWER: catalexis [or catalectic verse or poetry]
[10m] This playwright used catalectic iambic tetrameter recited to aulos accompaniment for one scene in a play in which Sostratos saves the curmudgeonly Knemon from a well.
ANSWER: Menander [or Ménandros] (The play is Dyskolos.)
<TH, European Literature>