On Translating Homer

1861 book of lectures by Matthew Arnold

Caricature from Punch, 1881: "Admit that Homer sometimes nods, That poets do write trash, Our Bard has written "Balder Dead," And also Balder-dash"

On Translating Homer, published in January 1861, was a printed version of the series of public lectures given by Matthew Arnold as Professor of Poetry at Oxford between 3 November and 18 December 1860.

Arnold's purpose was to discuss how his principles of literary criticism applied to the two Homeric epics and to the translation of a classical text. He comments with disapproval on John Ruskin's 1860 review article "The English translators of Homer" in the National Review. He gives much space to comparing and criticizing already-published translations of the epics, notably

* George Chapman’s Odyssey
* Alexander Pope’s Iliad
* William Cowper's Iliad
* Ichabod Charles Wright's Iliad (vol. 1, 1859; vol. 2 was to appear in 1865)
* Francis W. Newman's Iliad (1856)

He adds polite comments on William Maginn's Homeric Ballads (which first appeared in Fraser's Magazine, where Arnold intended to publish these lectures).

Arnold identifies four essential qualities of Homer the poet to which the translator must do justice:

> that he is eminently rapid; that he is eminently plain and direct both in the evolution of his thought and in the expression of it, that is, both in his syntax and in his words; that he is eminently plain and direct in the substance of his thought, that is, in his matter and ideas; and, finally, that he is eminently noble

After a discussion of the meters employed by previous translators, and in other existing English narrative poetry, he argues the need for a translation of the Iliad in hexameters in a poetical dialect, like the original. He notes the German translations of the Iliad and Odyssey into hexameters by Johann Heinrich Voss. He quotes English hexameter translations of short Homeric passages by himself and by E. C. Hawtrey and also surveys original English hexameter poetry, including

* Arthur Hugh Clough, The Bothie of Tober-na-Vuolich
* Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline

Arnold reserved much space for the criticism of the recently published translation of the Iliad into a ballad-like metre by Francis W. Newman. Newman took offence at Arnold's public criticism of his translation, and published a reply, Homeric Translation in Theory and Practice. To this Arnold in turn responded, with a last lecture, given at Oxford on 30 November 1861, afterwards separately published in March 1862 under the title On Translating Homer: last words.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Matthew Arnold, On the classical tradition ed. R. H. Super. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1960. [Text with commentary.]
* F. W. Newman, Homeric Translation in Theory and Practice: a reply to Matthew Arnold, Esq. London, 1861. (e-text from victorianprose.org)
* Ichabod Charles Wright, A Letter to the Dean of Canterbury on the Homeric Lectures of Matthew Arnold. London, 1864.

## External links

[edit]

* Matthew Arnold, On Translating Homer, e-text (PDF) from victorianprose.org
* On Translating Homer: Last Words (PDF)

* v
* t
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Matthew Arnold

Prose|

* On Translating Homer (1861)
* Culture and Anarchy (1869)
* Literature and Dogma (1873)

Poetry|

* "The Forsaken Merman" (1849)
* Tristram and Iseult (1852)
* Empedocles on Etna (1852)
* "To Marguerite: Continued" (1852)
* "The Scholar Gipsy" (1853)
* Sohrab and Rustum (1853)
* Balder Dead (1855)
* "Thyrsis" (1865)
* "Dover Beach" (1867)

Family|

* Tom Arnold (brother)
* Thomas Arnold (father)
* William Delafield Arnold (brother)

* v
* t
* e

Homer's Odyssey

Characters|

| House of Odysseus|

* Penelope (wife)
* Telemachus (son)
* Ctimene (sister)
* Anticlea (mother)
* Laertes (father)
* Autolycus (grandfather)
* Eurycleia (chief servant)
* Mentor (advisor)
* Phemius (musician)
* Eumaeus (swineherd)
* Philoetius (cowherd)
* Melanthius (goatherd)
* Melantho (maid)
* Medon (herald)
* Argos (pet dog)

|

Other monarchs
and royals

* Alcinous of Phaeacia
* Antiphates, king of the Laestrygones
* Aretus
* Arete of Phaeacia
* Deucalion of Crete
* Echetus
* Nestor of Pylos
* Echephron
* Perseus
* Stratichus
* Peisistratus
* Menelaus of Sparta
* Helen
* Princess Nausicaa of Phaeacia
* Laodamas
* Agamemnon of Mycenae
* Idomeneus
* Mentes
* Thrasymedes

Gods|

* Aeolus
* Athena
* Calypso
* Circe
* Helios
* Hermes
* Leucothea (Ino)
* Poseidon
* Zeus
* Oceanus
* Old Man of the Sea

Suitors|

* Agelaus
* Amphimedon
* Amphinomus
* Antinous
* Ctesippus
* Demoptolemus
* Eurymachus
* Leodes
* Perimedes

Others|

* Achilles
* Ajax
* Anticlus
* Antiphus
* Cyclopes
* Polyphemus
* Demodocus
* Dolius
* Elpenor
* Eupeithes
* Euryalus
* Eurylochus
* Halitherses
* Heracles
* Irus
* Kikonians
* Laestrygones
* Mesaulius
* Polites
* Polydamna
* Scylla
* Charybdis
* Sirens
* Tiresias
* Theoclymenus

Locations|

* Aeaea
* Aeolia
* Ismarus
* Ithaca
* Ogygia
* Scheria
* Telepylos
* Thrinacia

Study|

* Homeric scholarship
* Homeric Laughter
* Homeric Question
* Chorizontes
* Jørgensen's law
* Historicity of the Iliad
* Odysseus Unbound
* Homer's Ithaca
* On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey
* Rediscovering Homer
* Hermoniakos' Iliad
* Hysteron proteron
* Epithets in Homer
* Dactylic hexameter

Translations|

* On Translating Homer
* Chapman (1614–1615)
* Pope (1725–1726)
* Lattimore (1967)
* Fagles (1996)
* Wilson (2017)

Phrases|

* In medias res
* Between Scylla and Charybdis

Films|

* L'Odissea (1911)
* Ulysses (1954)
* The Return of Ringo (1965)
* Nostos: The Return (1989)
* Ulysses' Gaze (1995 Greek)
* Sans plomb (2000)
* O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
* Keyhole (2012)
* The Return (2024)
* The Odyssey (2026)

Television|

* The Odyssey (1968)
* Ulysses 31 (1981)
* The Odyssey (1997)
* Mission Odyssey (2002–2003)
* Odysseus and the Isle of the Mists (2007)
* Star Trek: Odyssey (2007)

Prose fiction|

* A True Story (2nd century AD)
* Les Aventures de Télémaque (1699)
* The World's Desire (1890)
* Ulysses (1922)
* The Human Comedy (1943)
* Return to Ithaca (1946)
* Homer's Daughter (1955)
* Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions (1998)
* The Penelopiad (2005)
* The Lost Books of the Odyssey (2010)
* Circe (2018)

Poems|

* "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" (1816)
* "Ulysses" (1842)
* "Ithaca" (1911)
* The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)
* The Cantos (1962)
* Pagan Operetta (1998)

Stage|

* Current Nobody (play)
* Cyclops (play)
* Ithaka (play)
* Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (opera)
* The Golden Apple (musical)
* Glam Slam Ulysses (musical)
* Home Sweet Homer (musical)
* Odysseus, Verbrecher (play)
* Penelope (play)

Music|

* Epic: The Musical (album series)
* "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (song)
* The Odyssey (album)

Paintings|

* Jar with Odysseus and Elpenor (c. 440 B.C.)
* Odysseus on the Island of the Phaecians (c. 1635)
* Telemachus and the Nymphs of Calypso (1782)
* The Sorrow of Telemachus (1783)
* Odysseus at the Court of Alcinous (1816)
* The Apotheosis of Homer (1827)
* Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (1829)
* The Sirens and Ulysses (1837)
* Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses (1891)
* Ulysses and the Sirens (1891)
* Odysseus and Polyphemus (1896)
* Ulysses and the Sirens (1909)

Video games|

* Odyssey: The Search for Ulysses
* Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey

Related|

* Apotheosis of Homer
* Iliad
* Nekyia
* Nostos
* Outis
* Returns from Troy
* Telemachy
* Trojan Horse

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Homer's Iliad

Characters|

| Achaeans|

* Acamas
* Achilles
* Agamemnon (king of Mycenae)
* Agapenor
* Ajax the Greater (king of Salamis)
* Ajax the Lesser
* Alcimus
* Anticlus
* Antilochus
* Arcesilaus
* Ascalaphus
* Automedon
* Balius and Xanthus
* Bias
* Calchas (prophet)
* Diomedes (king of Argos)
* Elephenor
* Epeius
* Eudoros
* Euryalus
* Eurybates
* Eurydamas
* Eurypylus
* Guneus
* Helen (queen of Sparta)
* Ialmenus
* Idomeneus (king of Crete)
* Iphigenia (princess of Mycenae)
* Leitus
* Leonteus
* Lycomedes
* Machaon
* Medon
* Meges
* Menelaus (king of Sparta)
* Menestheus
* Meriones
* Neoptolemus
* Nestor (king of Pylos)
* Nireus
* Odysseus (king of Ithaca)
* Palamedes
* Patroclus
* Peneleos
* Philoctetes
* Phoenix
* Podalirius
* Podarces
* Polites
* Polypoetes
* Promachus
* Protesilaus
* Prothoenor
* Schedius
* Sinon
* Stentor
* Sthenelus
* Talthybius
* Teucer
* Thersites
* Thoas
* Thrasymedes
* Tlepolemus

|

Trojans|

* Aeneas (royal demigod)
* Aesepus
* Agenor
* Alcathous
* Amphimachus
* Anchises
* Andromache
* Antenor (king's brother-in-law)
* Antiphates
* Antiphus
* Archelochus
* Asius
* Asteropaios
* Astyanax
* Atymnius
* Axylus
* Briseis
* Calesius
* Caletor
* Cassandra (princess of Troy)
* Chryseis
* Chryses (priest of Apollo)
* Clytius
* Coön
* Dares Phrygius
* Deiphobus (prince of Troy)
* Dolon
* Epistrophus
* Euphemus
* Euphorbus
* Glaucus
* Gorgythion
* Hector (prince of Troy)
* Hecuba (queen of Troy)
* Helenus
* Hyperenor
* Hypsenor
* Iamenus
* Ilioneus
* Imbrius
* Iphidamas
* Kebriones
* Laocoön
* Lycaon (prince of Troy)
* Melanippus
* Memnon (King of Ethiopia)
* Mentes
* Mydon
* Mygdon of Phrygia
* Othryoneus
* Pandarus
* Panthous
* Paris (prince of Troy)
* Pedasus
* Peirous
* Penthesilea (Queen of the Amazons)
* Phorcys
* Podes
* Polites
* Polydamas
* Polybus
* Polydorus (prince of Troy)
* Polyxena (princess of Troy)
* Priam (king of Troy)
* Pylaemenes
* Pylaeus
* Pyraechmes
* Rhesus of Thrace
* Sarpedon (king of Lycia)
* Scamandrius
* Theano
* Ucalegon

Gods|

* Aphrodite
* Apollo
* Ares
* Artemis
* Athena
* Dionysus
* Eris
* Hades
* Helios
* Hephaestus
* Hera
* Hermes
* Hypnos
* Iris
* Leto
* Poseidon
* Scamander
* Thanatos
* Thetis
* Zeus

Major deities|

* Aphrodite
* Apollo
* Ares
* Artemis
* Athena
* Hades
* Hephaestus
* Hera
* Hermes
* Poseidon
* Zeus

Minor deities|

* Deimos
* Eris
* Iris
* Leto
* Phobos
* Proteus
* Scamander
* Thetis

Sections|

* Catalogue of Ships
* Deception of Zeus
* Judgment of Paris
* Trojan Battle Order
* Trojan Horse

Study|

* Dactylic hexameter
* Homeric scholarship
* Homeric Laughter
* Homeric Question
* Chorizontes
* Jørgensen's law
* Historicity of the Iliad
* "The Iliad or the Poem of Force" (1939 essay)
* Interpretation of Achilles' and Patroclus' relationship
* Milawata letter
* Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
* Rediscovering Homer

Manuscripts|

* Ambrosian Iliad
* Codex Nitriensis
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 20
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 21
* Uncial 098
* Venetus A
* Venetus B

Alternate versions|

* Ilias Latina (60–70 CE)
* Dictys Cretensis Ephemeridos belli Trojani (c. 4th century)
* Daretis Phrygii de excidio Trojae historia (5th century)
* Hermoniakos' Iliad (14th century)
* Men in Aida (1983)

Translation|

* English translations of Homer
* "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
* On Translating Homer

Literature|

| Verse|

* Aeneid (19 BCE)
* Priapea 68 (c. 100)
* Roman de Troie (1155)
* De bello Troiano (1183)
* Troilus and Criseyde (c. 1380s)
* The Rape of the Lock (1712)
* The Shield of Achilles (1952)
* War Music (1959)
* Omeros (1990)

|

Novels|

* The Firebrand (1987)
* Black Ships Before Troy (1993)
* Troy (2000)
* Ilium (2003)
* Ransom (2009)
* The Song of Achilles (2011)
* Starcrossed (2011)
* The Silence of the Girls (2018)

Stage|

* Rhesus (5th century BC play)
* Troilus and Cressida (1602)
* The Trojan War Will Not Take Place (1935)
* The Golden Apple (1954 musical)

Films|

* Helena (1924)
* Helen of Troy (1956)
* The Trojan Horse (1961)
* Troy (2004)

Television|

* The Myth Makers (1965)
* In Search of the Trojan War (1985)
* Helen of Troy (2003 miniseries)
* Troy: Fall of a City (2018 miniseries)

Music|

* King Priam (1961 Tippett opera)
* The Triumph of Steel (1992 album)
* "And Then There Was Silence" (2001 song)

Art|

* Tabulae Iliacae
* Achilles and Briseis
* Andromache Mourning Hector
* The Anger of Achilles
* The Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the tent of Achilles
* The Apotheosis of Homer
* Jupiter and Thetis
* The Loves of Paris and Helen
* Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus
* Orestes Pursued by the Furies
* The Revelers Vase
* Thetis Receiving the Weapons of Achilles from Hephaestus
* Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Phrases|

* "Achilles' heel"
* "Ever to Excel"
* "Hold your horses"
* "In medias res"
* "Noblesse oblige"

Other|

* Age of Bronze (comics)
* Blood rain
* Heraclitus
* The Iliad Bookshop
* Sortes Homericae
* Warriors: Legends of Troy (video game)
* Weighing of souls
* Where Troy Once Stood

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