§ 43 — A. R. Benner Selections from Homer's Iliad 0

Synizesis. Allied to contraction is Synizesis (Greek συνίζησις, ‘settling together’). This occurs when two neighboring vowels, regularly pronounced separately, must be pronounced as one syllable, to suit the meter. E. g. A 1, -εω (of Πηληιάδεω) must be pronounced as one syllable (but cf. § 68). So too A 15, -έῳ (of χρῡσέῳ). A 18, θεοί. A 131, δὴ οὕτως. A 340, δὴ αὖτε. A 540, δὴ αὖ. For the last three examples the MSS. read, respectively, δ' οὕτως, δ' αὖτε, δ' αὖ, readings which perhaps had better be retained, if δ'=δέ=δή).