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English translations of Homer facts for kids

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Translators and scholars have translated the main works attributed to Homer, the Iliad and Odyssey, from the Homeric Greek into English since the 16th and 17th centuries. Translations are ordered chronologically by date of first publication, with first lines provided to illustrate the style of the translation.

Not all translators translated both the Iliad and Odyssey; in addition to the complete translations listed here, numerous partial translations, ranging from several lines to complete books, have appeared in a variety of publications.

The "original" text cited below is that of "the Oxford Homer."

Iliad

16th and 17th centuries (1581–1700)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Hall, Arthur
of Grantham		 1539–1605,
M. P., courtier, translator		 1581 London, for Ralph Newberie
Rawlyns,
Roger		 1587 London, Orwin  
Colse,
Peter		   1596 London, H. Jackson  
Chapman,
George		 1559–1634,
dramatist, poet, classicist		 1611–15 London, Rich. Field for Nathaniell Butter
Grantham,
Thomas		 c. 1610–1664
 1659 London, T. Lock
Ogilby,
John		 1600–1676,
cartographer, publisher, translator		 1660 London, Roycroft
Hobbes,
Thomas		 1588–1679,
acclaimed philosopher, etc.		 1676 London, W. Crook
Dryden,
John		 1631–1700,
dramatist,
Poet Laureate		 1700 London, J. Tonson

Early 18th century (1701–1750)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Ozell, John d. 1743,
translator, accountant		 1712 London, Bernard Lintott    
Broome, William 1689–1745,
poet, translator
Oldisworth, William 1680–1734
Pope,
Alexander		 1688–1744,
poet		 1715 London, Bernard Lintot
Tickell,
Thomas		 1685–1740,
poet		 1715 London, Tickell
Fenton,
Elijah		 1683–1730,
poet, biographer, translator		 1717 London, printed for Bernard Lintot    
Cooke,
T.		   1729      
Fitz-Cotton,
H.		   1749 Dublin, George Faulkner    
Ashwick,
Samuel		   1750 London, printed for Brindley, Sheepey and Keith    

Late 18th century (1751–1800)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Scott,
J. N.		   1755 London, Osborne and Shipton    
Langley,
Samuel,		 1720–
1791
Rector of Checkley		 1767 London, Dodsley    
Macpherson,
James		 1736–1796,
poet, compiler of Scots Gaelic poems, politician		 1773 London, T. Becket
Cowper,
William		 1731–1800,
poet and hymnodist		 1791 London, J. Johnson
Tremenheere, William, 1757–
1838
Chaplain to the Royal Navy		 1792 London, Faulder?    
Geddes,
Alexander		 1737–1802,
Scots Roman Catholic theologian; scholar, poet		 1792 London: printed for J. Debrett    
Bak,
Joshua
(T. Bridges?)		   1797 London    

Early 19th century (1801–1850)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Williams, Peter?    
Bulmer, William
 1757–1830,
printer		 1807  
Cowper,
William (3rd edition)		 1731–1800,
poet and hymnodist		 1809  
Morrice,
Rev. James		   1809  
Cary,
Henry		 1772–1844,
author, translator		 1821 London, Munday and Slatter
Sotheby,
William		 1757–1833,
poet, translator		 1831 London, John Murray    
Anonymous

A Graduate Of The University

   1847 Dublin, Cumming and Ferguson  Sing, Goddess, the fatal resentment of Achilles, the son of Peleus, which caused innumerable woes to the Achaeans, and prematurely despatched many brave souls of heroes to Orcus, and made themselves (i.e. their bodies) a prey to dogs and all birds, (for the counsel of Jove was being accomplished,) from the time that Atrides, king of men, and the noble Achilles, first contending, were disunited.  
Munford,
William		 1775–1825,
American lawyer
 1846 Boston, Little Brown    
Brandreth,
Thomas Shaw		 1788–1873,
mathematician, inventor, classicist		 1846 London, W. Pickering

Late middle 19th century (1851–1875)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Buckley,
Theodore Alois		 1825–1856,
translator		 1851 London, H. G. Bohn
Hamilton,
Sidney G.		   1855–58 Philadelphia    
Clark, Thomas  
Newman,
Francis William		 1807–1893,
classics professor		 1856 London, Walton & Maberly
Wright,
Ichabod Charles		 1795–1871,
translator, poet, accountant		 1858–65 Cambridge, Macmillan    
Arnold,
Matthew		 1822–1888,
critic, social commentator, poet		 1861      
Giles, Rev. Dr. J. A.
[John Allen]		 1808–1884,
headmaster, scholar, prolific author, clergyman		 1861–82  
Dart, J. Henry 1817–1887,
East India Company counsel		 1862 London, Longmans Green
Barter, William G. T 1808–1871,
barrister
 1864 London, Longman, Brown, and Green
Norgate, T. S.
[Thomas Starling, Jr.]		 1807–1893,
clergyman		 1864 London, Williams and Norgate
Derby,
14th Earl of
Smith-Stanley, Edward
14th Earl of derby		 1799–1869,
Prime Minister		 1864
Simcox,
Edwin W.		   1865 London, Jackson, Walford and Hodder    
Worsley, Philip Stanhope 1835–1866,
poet		 1865 Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood and Sons
Conington, John 1825–1869,
classics professor
Blackie,
John Stuart		 1809–1895,
Scots professor of classics		 1866 Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas
Calverley,
Charles Stuart		 1831–1884,
poet, wit		 1866  
Herschel,
Sir John		 1792–1871,
scientist		 1866 London & Cambridge, Macmillan
Omega 1866 London: Hatchard and Co.
Cochrane,
James Inglis		   1867 Edinburgh
Merivale,
Charles,
Dean of Ely		 1808–1893,
clergyman, historian		 1868 London, Strahan
Gilchrist,
James		   1869  
Bryant,
William Cullen		 1794–1878,
American poet, Evening Post editor		 1870 Boston, Houghton, Fields Osgood
Caldcleugh,
W. G.		 1812–1872,
American lawyer		 1870 Philadelphia, Lippincott
Rose,
John Benson		   1874 London, privately printed    

Late 19th century (1876–1900)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Barnard,
Mordaunt Roger		 1828–1906,
clergyman, translator		 1876 London, Williams and Margate    
Cayley, C. B.
[Charles Bagot]		 1823–1883,
translator		 1877 London, Longmans
Mongan,
Roscoe		   1879 London, James Cornish & Sons    
Hailstone,
Herbert		 Cambridge classicist, poet 1882 London, Relfe Brothers
Lang, Andrew 1844–1912,
Scots poet, historian, critic, folk tales collector, etc.		 1882 London, Macmillan
Leaf, Walter 1852–1927,
banker, scholar
Myers, Ernest 1844–1921,
poet, classicist
Green,
W.C.		   1884  
Way,
Arthur Sanders (Avia)		 1847–1930,
Australian classicist, headmaster		 1886–8 London, S. Low
Howland,
G. [George]		 1824–1892,
American educator, author, translator		 1889
Cordery,
John Graham		 1833–1900,
civil servant, British Raj		 1890 London
Garnett,
Richard		   1890  
Purves,
John		   1891 London, Percival
Bateman,
C. W.		   c. 1895 London, J. Cornish
Mongan, R.   c. 1895      
Butler,
Samuel		 1835–1902,
novelist, essayist, critic		 1898 London, Longmans, Green

Early 20th century (1901–1925)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Tibbetts,
E. A.		   1907 Boston, R.G. Badges    
Blakeney,
E. H.		 1869–1955,
educator, classicist, poet		 1909–13 London, G. Bell and Sons
Lewis,
Arthur Garner		   1911 New York, Baker & Taylor    
Murray,
Augustus Taber		 1866–1940,
American professor of classics		 1924–5 Cambridge & London, Harvard & Heinemann

Early middle 20th century (1926–1950)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Murison,
A. F.		 1847–1934,
Professor of Roman Law, translator, classicist		 1933 London, Longmans Green
Marris,
Sir William S.		 1873–1945,
governor, British Raj		 1934 Oxford    
Rouse,
W. H. D.		 1863–1950,
Pedagogist of classical studies		 1938 London, T. Nelson & Sons
Smith, R.
[James Robinson]		 1888–1964,
Classicist, translator, poet		 1938 London, Grafton    
Smith, William Benjamin 1850–1934,
American professor of mathematics		 1944 New York, Macmillan    
Miller, Walter 1864–1949,
American professor of classics, archaeologist
Rieu, E. V. 1887–1972,
classicist, publisher, poet		 1950 Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin  
Chase, Alsten Hurd 1906–1994,
American chairman of preparatory school classics department		 1950 Boston, Little Brown
Perry, William G. 1913–1998,
Psychologist, professor of education, classicist

Late middle 20th century (1951–1975)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Lattimore,
Richmond		 1906–1984,
poet, translator		 1951 Chicago, University Chicago Press
Andrew, S. O. [Samuel Ogden] 1868–1952,
headmaster, classicist
 1955 London, J. M. Dent & Sons
Oakley, Michael J.
Graves,
Robert		 1895–1985,
Professor of Poetry, translator, novelist		 1959 New York, Doubleday and London, Cassell
Rees,
Ennis		 1925–2009,
American Professor of English, poet, translator		 1963 New York, Random House
Fitzgerald,
Robert		 1910–1985,
American Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, poet, critic, translator		 1974 New York, Doubleday

Late 20th century (1976–2000)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Hull,
Denison Bingham		 1897–1988,
American classicist		 1982  
Hammond,
Martin		 born 1944,
Headmaster, classicist		 1987 Harmondsworth Middlesex, Penguin
Fagles,
Robert		 1933–2008,
American professor of English, poet		 1990 New York, Viking/Penguin
Reck,
Michael		 1928–1993,
Poet, classicist, orientalist		 1990 New York, Harper Collins
Lombardo,
Stanley		 born 1943,
American Professor of Classics		 1997 Indianapolis, Hackett

21st century

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Johnston,
Ian		 Canadian academic 2002
Rieu, E. V.
(posthumously revised by Rieu, D. C. H. and Jones, Peter)		 1887–1972,
classicist, publisher, poet		 2003 Penguin Books
Merrill,
Rodney		 American classicist 2007 University of Michigan Press
Jordan,
Herbert		 born 1938,
American lawyer, translator		 2008 University of Oklahoma Press
Kline, Anthony S. born 1947,
translator		 2009
Mitchell,
Stephen		 born 1943,
American poet, translator		 2011 Simon & Schuster
Verity,
Anthony		 born 1939,
classical scholar		 2011 Oxford University Press
McCrorie, Edward born 1936, American poet and classicist 2012 The Johns Hopkins University Press
Oswald,
Alice		 born 1966 British poet, won T. S. Eliot Prize in 2002 2012 W. W. Norton & Company  
Whitaker, Richard born 1951,
South African classicist, professor of classics		 2012 New Voices
Powell,
Barry B.		 born 1942,
American poet, classicist, translator		 2013 Oxford University Press
Alexander, Caroline born 1956, American classicist 2015 Ecco Press
Blakely, Ralph E. 2015 Forge Books
Green, Peter born 1924, British classicist 2015 University of California Press
Wilson, Emily born 1971, classicist 2023 W. W. Norton & Company

Odyssey

17th century (1615–1700)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Chapman,
George		 1559–1634,
dramatist, poet, classicist		 1615 London, Rich. Field for Nathaniell Butter
Ogilby,
John		 1600–1676,
cartographer, publisher, translator		 1665 London, Roycroft
Hobbes,
Thomas		 1588–1679,
acclaimed philosopher, etc.		 1675 London, W. Crook

Early 18th century (1701–1750)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Alexander Pope
(with William Broome and Elijah Fenton)		 1688–1744,
poet		 1725 London, Bernard Lintot

Late 18th century (1751–1800)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Cowper,
William		 1731–1800,
poet and hymnodist		 1791

Early 19th century (1801–1850)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Cary,
H. F.?
(“Graduate of Oxford”)		 1772–1844,
author, translator		 1823 London, Whittaker
Sotheby,
William		 1757–1833,
poet, translator		 1834 London, John Murray

Late middle 19th century (1851–1875)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Buckley,
Theodore Alois		 1825–1856,
translator		 1851 London, H. G. Bohn
Barter,
William G. T., Esq.		 1808–1871,
barrister
 1862,
in part		 London, Bell and Daldy
Alford,
Henry		 1810–1871,
theologian, textual critic, scholar, poet, hymnodist		 1861 London, Longman, Green, Longman, and Robert
Worsley,
Philip Stanhope		 1835–1866,
poet		 1861–2 Edinburgh, W. Blackwood & Sons
Giles,
Rev. Dr. J. A. [John Allen]		 1808–1884,
headmaster, scholar, prolific author, clergyman		 1862–77  
Norgate,
T. S. [Thomas Starling, Jr.]		 1807–1893,
clergyman		 1862 London, Williams and Margate


Musgrave,
George		 1798–1883,
clergyman, scholar, writer		 1865 London, Bell & Daldy
Bigge-Wither, Rev. Lovelace   1869 London, James Parker and Co.
Edginton,
G. W. [George William]		 Physician 1869 London, Longman, Green, Reader, and Dyer
Bryant,
William Cullen		 1794–1878,
American poet, Evening Post editor		 1871 Boston, Houghton, Fields Osgood

Late 19th century (1876–1900)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Barnard,
Mordaunt Roger		 1828–1906,
clergyman, translator		 1876 London, Williams and Margate
Merry, William Walter 1835–1918,
Oxford classicist and clergyman		 1876 Oxford, Clarendon
Riddell, James 1823–1866,
Oxford classicist
Mongan,
Roscoe		   1879–80 London, James Cornish & Sons
Butcher,
Samuel Henry		 1850–1910,
Anglo-Irish professor of classics		 1879 London, Macmillan
Lang, Andrew 1844–1912,
Scots poet, historian, critic, folk tales collector, etc.
Schomberg,
G. A.		 1821–1907,
British Raj army general		 1879–82 London, J. Murray
Du Cane,
Sir Charles		 1825–1889,
governor, M. P.		 1880 Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood and Sons
Way,
Arthur Sanders (Avia)		 1847–1930,
Australian classicist, headmaster		 1880 London, Macmillan
Hayman,
Henry		 1823–1904,
translator, clergyman		 1882 London
Hamilton,
Sidney G.		   1883 London, Macmillan
Palmer,
George Herbert		 1842–1933,
American professor, philosopher, author		 1884 Boston & New York, Houghton Mifflin
Morris,
William		 1834–1896,
poet, author, artist		 1887 London, Reeves & Turner
Howland,
G. [George]		 1824–1892,
American educator, author, translator		 1891 New York
Cordery,
John Graham		 1833–1900,
civil servant, British Raj		 1897 London, Methuen
>
Butler,
Samuel		 1835–1902,
novelist, essayist, critic		 1900 London, Longmans, Green

Early 20th century (1901–1925)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Monro,
David Binning		 1836–1905,
Scots anatomy professor, Homerist		 1901 Oxford, Clarendon
Mackail,
John William		 1859–1945,
Oxford Professor of Poetry		 1903–10 London, John Murray
Cotterill,
Henry Bernard		 1846–1924,
essayist, translator		 1911 Boston, D. Estes/Harrap
Murray,
Augustus Taber		 1866–1940,
American professor of classics		 1919 Cambridge & London, Harvard & Heinemann
Caulfeild,
Francis		   1921 London, G. Bell & Sons
On page viii, Caulfeild gives the scansion in Homer's "original metre" of the third line of his translation as:
Marris,
Sir William S.		 1873–1945,
governor, British Raj		 1925 London, England, and Mysore, India, Oxford University Press
 
Hiller,
Robert H.		 1864–1944,
American professor of Greek		 1925 Philadelphia and Chicago, etc., John C. Winston

Early middle 20th century (1926–1950)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Bates,
Herbert		 1868–1929,
novelist, short-story writer		 1929 New York, McGraw Hill
Lawrence,
T. E.
(T. E. Shaw)		 1888–1935,
archaeological scholar, military strategist, author		 1932 London, Walker, Merton, Rogers; New York, Oxford University Press
Rouse,
William Henry Denham		 1863–1950,
pedogogist of classic studies		 1937 London, T. Nelson & Sons
Rieu,
E. V.		 1887–1972,
classicist, publisher, poet		 1945 London & Baltimore, Penguin


Andrew, S. O.
[Samuel Ogden]		 1868–1952,
headmaster
 1948 London, J. M. Dent & Sons

Late middle 20th century (1951–1975)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Lattimore,
Richmond		 1906–1984,
poet, translator		 1965 New York, Harper & Row
Rees,
Ennis		 1925–2009,
American Professor of English, poet, translator		 1960 New York, Random House

Fitzgerald,
Robert		 1910–1985,
American Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, poet, critic, translator		 1961 New York, Doubleday
Epps,
Preston H.		 1888–1982,
American professor		 1965 New York, Macmillan
Cook,
Albert		 1925–1998,
professor		 1967 New York, W. W. Norton

Late 20th century (1976–2000)

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Hull,
Denison Bingham		 1897–1988,
American classicist		 1979 Ohio University Press    
Shewring,
Walter		 1906–1990,
Professor of classics, poet		 1980 Oxford, Oxford University Press
Hammond,
Martin		 born 1944,
Headmaster, classicist		 2000 London, Duckworth
Mandelbaum,
Allen		 born 1926,
American professor of Italian literature and of humanities, poet, translator		 1990 Berkeley, University California Press
Rieu, Emile Victor 1887–1972,
classicist, publisher, poet		 1991 London, Penguin
posthumously revised by Rieu, D. C. H. 1916–2008,
Headmaster, classicist
posthumously revised by Jones, Peter V. Born 1942
Classicist, writer, journalist
Fagles,
Robert		 1933–2008,
American professor of English, poet		 1996 New York, Viking/Penguin
Kemball-Cook,
Brian		 1912–2002,
Headmaster, classicist		 1993 London, Calliope Press
Dawe,
R. D.		 Classicist, translator 1993 Sussex, The Book Guild
Reading,
Peter		 born 1946,
Poet		 1994      
Lombardo,
Stanley		 born 1943,
American Professor of Classics		 2000 Indianapolis, Hackett

21st century

Translator Publication Proemic verse R
Eickhoff,
R. L.		 translator, poet, playwright, novelist, classicist 2001 New York, T. Doherty  — Novel —
Johnston,
Ian		 Canadian academic 2006 Arlington, Richer Resources Publications


Merrill,
Rodney		 American classicist 2002 University of Michigan Press


Kline, Anthony S. born 1947,
translator		 2004
McCrorie,
Edward		 American professor of English, classicist 2004 Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press
Armitage,
Simon		 born 1963,
Poet, playwright, novelist		 2006 London, Faber and Faber Limited  — Verse-like radio dramatization —  
Stein,
Charles		 American poet, translator 2008 Berkeley, North Atlantic Books
Mitchell,
Stephen		 born 1943,
American poet and anthologist		 2013 Atria Paperback
Powell,
Barry B.		 born 1942,
American poet, classicist, translator		 2014 Oxford University Press
Verity,
Anthony		 born 1939
classical scholar		 2017 Oxford University Press
Whitaker,
Richard		 born 1951,
South African classicist, professor of classics		 2017 African Sun Press
Wilson, Emily born 1971, classicist 2017 W. W. Norton & Company
Green, Peter born 1924, British classicist 2018 University of California Press
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