Proposta didattica per una lettura quantitativa senza ictus dell’esametro latino

The traditional ‘metrical reading’ of classical poetry, based on vocal ictus, although still widely practised in schools and universities as a way of conveying the specificity of verse texts, is philologically untenable and entails further pedagogical drawbacks. This paper proposes a method for teaching and learning a practice of reciting the Latin hexameter, that respects both quantitative distinctions and word accent. The approach builds on the recognition of differences in syllabic weight and vowel length that exist in Italian, and thus also provides an opportunity to explore the linguistic comparison between Latin and the national language, centred on the crucial distinction between ‘phonetics’ and ‘phonology’.