The Odyssey of Homer
With the
Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice
Literally Translated
By Theodore Alois Buckley
London 1851

[Sample from the Opening of the Poem]


BOOK I.

ARGUMENT.

In an assembly of the gods it is determined that Ulysses shall be sent to Ithaca, from the island of Calypso. Minerva then goes to Ithaca to Telemachus, assuming the figure of Mentes, king of the Taphians, an old friend of Ulysses. Entering into conversation with Telemachus, she advises him to go to Pylos, to Nestor, and to Menelaus, at Sparta, to make inquiries about his father, whether he is still alive; after which she departs, giving manifest proofs of her divinity. Telemachus rebukes his mother Penelope, and desires her to go up-stairs: and then, during a banquet, threatens the suitors that he will be revenged on them for their insolent conduct.

O MUSE, sing to me of the man full of resources, who wandered very much after he had destroyed the sacred city of Troy, and saw the cities of many men, and learned their manners. Many griefs also in his mind did he suffer on the sea, although seeking to preserve his own life, and the return of his companions; but not even thus, although anxious, did he extricate his companions : for they perished by their own infatuation, fools! who devoured the oxen of the Sun who journeys on high; but he deprived them of their return. O goddess, daughter of Jove, relate to us also some of these things.
   Now all the others, as many as had escaped from utter destruction, were at home, having escaped both the war and the sea. But him alone, anxious for a return [home], and for his wife, the venerable nymph Calypso, a divine one of the goddesses, detained in her hollow grot, desiring him to be her husband. But when, after revolving years, the time had now arrived, in which the gods destined him to return home to Ithaca, not even then was he freed from labours, although amongst his own friends. But all the gods pitied him except Neptune; but he was unceasingly angry with godlike Ulysses, before he arrived in his own land. But he [Neptune] had gone to the Æthiopians who dwell afar off, (the Æthiopians who are divided into two parts, the most distant of men, some at the setting of the sun, others at the rising,) in order to obtain a hecatomb of bulls and lambs. There sitting down he was delighted with a feast ; but the other [gods] were assembled together in the palace of Olympian Jove. And unto them the father of men and of gods began discourse ; for he remembered in his mind the noble Ægisthus, whom far-famed Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, slew : and remembering him, he spoke [these] words to the immortals.
   “Alas!  How, forsooth, do mortals reproach the gods!  For they say that their evils are from us: whereas they themselves, through their own infatuation, suffer griefs beyond what is destined. Thus even now Ægisthus, contrary to the decrees of fate, married the wedded wife of Atrides, and slew him on his return, although aware that utter destruction [awaited himself]; since we forewarned him, (having sent the trusty Mercury, the slayer of Argus,) neither to kill him, nor to woo his wife; for from Orestes revenge shall follow for Atrides, when he grows to man's estate, and longs for his country. Thus spoke Mercury: but although he gave good advice, he did not persuade the mind of Ægisthus ; but now has he at once atoned for all these things."
 
REVIEW COMMENT

Buckley’s translation is brisk and business like: he stays very close to Homer’s text, but the English is clear, if at times a little antiquated, and keeps the story moving along.  Buckley provides many footnotes; the numbers clutter the text somewhat, but the information in the notes is varied and stimulating, especially when Buckley explains the choices he has made.  This translation went through a number of printings, and one can understand its popularity, even if the modern reader is likely to be somewhat irritated at the Latin names.

The text includes an interesting Life of Homer (Attributed to Herodotus of Halicarnassus, translated by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie) “It is the earliest memory of the supposed author of the Iliad we possess, and, as such merits translation.”

Readers who would like to see the complete translation should use the following link: Buckley Odyssey.

List of Published English Translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey