The Iliad of Homer: translated by Alexander Pope - upload

460 Pages·2011·32.13 MB·English

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THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY
THE ILIAD OF HOMER
ALEXANDER POPE

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EDITOR'S NOTE
"It is certainly the noblest version of
poetry that the world has ever seen," said
. Dr. Johnson,"and itspublication mustthere-
> forebeconsideredasoneof the greatevents
i in the annals of Learning."
Pope was twenty-five when he began his
translations of the Iliad thirty when he
finished. Itliftedhimatoneboundtoaffluence
andpower. Itwasaremarkableexperimentin
publishing,andmany ofPope'sfriends shook
their heads at his temerityin attempting to
subscribe the work, almost single-handed, at
the unheard-of price of six guineas for six
quarto volumes, Butin face of thegreatest
difficulties not the least of which was the
increasinggibesof his politicalenemies the
poet succeeded triumphantly. The full
history of the book is givenby Dr.Johnson
in his Lives of the Poets,and deservestobe
reaGdibbbyoanllcwahlloedlitkheislitterraanrsylaptliuocnk."aportrait
endowedwitheverymerit savethat of faith
fulnesstotheoriginal." Therein spoke the
sticklerforclassicalaccuracy. Allthatneed
herebesaidisthatPope'sworkhassurvived
the test of popularity,andcertainly remains
to-day the best-known and most widely-
esteemedoftranslationsfromthe Greek.
Alexander Pope was born in 1688, and
died in 1744. His life was full of bitter
moments, for he contended with physic"al
disabilities, but of him a friend wrote: I
neverknew amanthathad so tenderaheart
for his particular friends, or more general
friendshipformankind."
THE
ILIAD
OF
HOMER
TRANSLATED BY
ALEXANDER POPE
CASSELL AND COMPANY. LTD.
LONDON M NEW YORK
TORONTO & MELBOURNE
MCMIX
978566