Chapman's Homer: The OdysseyGeorge Chapman's translations of Homer are among the most famous in the English language. Keats immortalized the work of the Renaissance dramatist and poet in the sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer." Swinburne praised the translations for their "romantic and sometimes barbaric grandeur," their "freshness, strength, and inextinguishable fire." The great critic George Saintsbury (1845-1933) wrote: "For more than two centuries they were the resort of all who, unable to read Greek, wished to know what Greek was. Chapman is far nearer Homer than any modern translator in any modern language." This volume presents the original text of Chapman's translation of the Odyssey (1614-15), making only a small number of modifications to punctuation and wording where they might confuse the modern reader. The editor, Allardyce Nicoll, provides an introduction, textual notes, a glossary, and a commentary. Garry Wills's preface to the Odyssey explores how Chapman's less strained meter lets him achieve more delicate poetic effects as compared to the Iliad. Wills also examines Chapman's "fine touch" in translating "the warm and human sense of comedy" in the Odyssey. |
Contents
To the Earle of Somerset | xxv |
Certaine Ancient Greeke Epigrammes | 1 |
The First Booke | 3 |
The Second Booke | 20 |
The Third Booke | 35 |
The Fourth Booke | 52 |
The Fifth Booke | 80 |
The Sixth Booke | 97 |
The Fifteenth Booke | 251 |
The Sixteenth Booke | 269 |
The Seventeenth Booke | 285 |
The Eighteenth Booke | 304 |
The Nineteenth Booke | 319 |
The Twentieth Booke | 339 |
The TwentyFirst Booke | 353 |
The TwentySecond Booke | 367 |
The Seventh Booke | 110 |
The Eighth Booke | 122 |
The Ninth Booke | 142 |
The Tenth Booke | 161 |
The Eleventh Booke | 179 |
The Twelfth Booke | 200 |
The Thirteenth Booke | 217 |
The Fourteenth Booke | 233 |
The TwentyThird Booke | 383 |
The TwentyFourth Booke | 396 |
Final Verses | 413 |
Textual Notes | 415 |
Commentary | 453 |
Glossary | 463 |