Alexander Pope, Iliad

David William Hopkins (University of Bristol)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1715 - 1720

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Epic
Translation

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Alexander Pope’s translation of Homer’s

Iliad

was published in six volumes between 1715 and 1720. His version of the

Odyssey

, for which he enlisted the assistance of William Broome and Elijah Fenton, followed in 1725–6. The two translations occupied Pope for sixteen years in the prime of his creative life. They gave him financial independence, and consolidated his status as the foremost English poet of his time.

Pope’s Iliad (the main focus of the present entry) was described by Samuel Johnson as “a poetical wonder … a performance which no age or nation can pretend to equal” and as “the noblest version of poetry which the world has ever seen”. In our own day, George Steiner has described Pope’s Homer as “the principal ‘epic act’ after Milton in the [English]

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2473 words

Citation: Hopkins, David William. "Iliad". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 January 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4534, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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