Arsis and thesis

Note grouping. A=Arsis, T=Thesis.[1] Playⓘ
Binary and ternary rhythms and meter are said to originate in human movement.[1] Inh.=Inhalation, Exh.=Exhalation.

In music and prosody, arsis (/ˈɑːrsɪs/; plural arses, /ˈɑːrsiːz/) and thesis (/ˈθiːsɪs/; plural theses, /ˈθiːsiːz/)[2] are respectively the stronger and weaker parts of a musical measure or poetic foot. However, because of contradictions in the original definitions, writers use these words in different ways. In music, arsis is an unaccented note (upbeat), while the thesis is the downbeat.[3] However, in discussions of Latin and modern poetry the word arsis is generally used to mean the stressed syllable of the foot, that is, the ictus.[4]

Since the words are used in contradictory ways, the authority on Greek metre Martin West[5] recommends abandoning them and using substitutes such as ictus for the downbeat when discussing ancient poetry.[6] However, the use of the word ictus itself is very controversial.[7]

  1. ^ a b Thurmond, James Morgan (1982). Note Grouping, p.29. ISBN 0-942782-00-3.
  2. ^ Plural arses: New Oxford English Dictionary (1998); cf. Google ngrams ("arseis" is not found on ngrams, though used by Lynch (2016)).
  3. ^ "arsis". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster..
  4. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (1989), s.v. Arsis.
  5. ^ West, M.L. (1982) Greek Metre (Oxford).
  6. ^ Martin Drury (1986 [1985]), in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 1 part 2, p. 203.
  7. ^ See e.g. Beare (1953); Bennett (1898).