On Translating Homer

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).