Thus the line most normally looks as follows (note that "—" marks a long syllable, "∪" a short syllable and " ∪ ∪ " either one long or two shorts): As in all classical verse-forms, the phenomenon of brevis in longo is observed, so the last syllable can actually be short or long.
Also, the line has a diaeresis, where a word boundary must occur, after the first half-line, here marked ||.
"Pentameter" may seem a slightly strange term for this meter, as it seems to have six parts, but the reason is that each half of the line has two and a half feet, the two together thus making up five.
Each half-line is called a hemiepes (half-epic), as resembling half a line of epic dactylic hexameter.
The pentameter is notable for its very tight structure, with substitutions allowed only in the first two feet.