Homer
Iliad
Translated by George Chapman
London 1611
[Sample
from the Opening of the Poem]
Achilles’ bane full wrath resound,
O Goddesse, that imposd
Infinite sorrowes on the Greekes,
and many brave soules losd
From breasts Heroique—sent them farre,
to that invisible cave
That no light comforts; and their lims to dogs and
vultures gave.
To all which Jove’s will gave effect; from whom first strife begunne
Betwixt Atrides, king of men, and Thetis’ godlike Sonne.
What God gave Eris their command, and op’t that
fighting veine?
Jove’s and Latona’s Sonne,
who, fir’d against the king of men
For contumelie showne his Priest, infectious sickness sent
To plague the armie; and to death, by troopes, the souldiers
went. 10
Occasiond thus: Chryses,
the Priest, came to the fleete to buy,
For presents of unvalued price, his daughter’s libertie—
The golden scepter and the crowne of Phœbus in his hands
Proposing—and made suite to all, but most to the Commands
Of both th’ Atrides, who
most ruled. ’Grat Atreus’
sonnes,’ said he, 15
‘And all ye wel-griev’d Greekes,
the Gods, whose habitations be
In heavenly houses, grace your powers with Priam’s
razed towne,
And grant ye happy conduct home! To winne which wisht renowne
Of Jove, by honouring his sonne (farre-shooting
Phœbus), daine
For these fit presents to dissolve the ransomeable chaine 20
Of my lov’d daughter’s servitude.’ The
Greekes entirely gave
Glad acclamations, for signe
that their desires would have
The grave Priest reverenc’d, and his gifts of so much
price embrac’d.
The Generall yet bore no such mind, but viciously disgrac’d
With violent termes the
Priest, and said: ‘Doterd, avoid our fleete, 25
Where lingring be not found by me, nor thy returning feete
Let ever visite us againe,
lest nor thy Godhead’s crowne
Nor scepter save thee. Her thou seekst I still will hold mine owne
Till age defloure her. In
our court at Argos (farre transferd
From her lov’d countrie) she shall plie her web,
and see prepared 30
(With all fit ornaments) my bed. Incense me then no
more,
But (if thou wilt be safe) be gone.’ This said, the sea-beate shore
(Obeying his high will) the Priest trod off with haste and feare.
And, walking silent till he left farre off his enemie’s eare,
Phœbus (faire-haird Latona’s sonne) he stird up with a vow 35
To this sterne purpose: ‘Heare,
thou God that bear’st the silver bow,
That Chrysa guard’st, rulest Tenedos with strong hand,
and the round
Of Cilla most divine dost walke! O
Smintheus, if crownd
With thankfull offerings thy
rich Phane I ever saw, or fir’d
Fat thighs of oxen and of goates to thee, this grace desir’d 40
Vouchsafe to me: paines for my teares
let these rude Greekes repay.
Forc’d with thy arrows.’ Thus
he praid, and Phœbus heard
him pray
And, vext at heart, downe
from the tops of steepe heaven stoopt:
his bow,
And quiver coverd round, his hands did on his
shoulders throw,
And of the angrie deitie
the arrowes as he mov’d 45
Ratl’d about him. Like
the night he rang’d the host and rov’d
(Athwart the fleete set) terribly; with his
hard-loosing hand
His silver bow twang’d, and his shafts did first the
Mules command,
And swift hounds; then the Greekes themselves his
deadly arrows shot.
The fires of death went never out. . . .
Chapman’s translation, the first
full text of an Iliad published
in English, has been much praised and much criticized. It is, thanks to Keats’
famous poem, among English students of literature the most famous edition ever
to appear (other than that of Alexander Pope). Chapman belonged to a
tradition which encouraged the translator to add rhetorical flourishes of his
own rather than staying closely faithful to the original, and he used that
liberty to add all sorts of Elizabethan phrases, sometimes entire lines, a
habit that does not sit well with those who insist upon scrupulous fidelity to
Homer’s Greek. His basic verse form is a line with fourteen syllables and
rhyming couplets, but the poem is not unduly heavy; it is, as Matthew Arnold
notes, “plain-spoken, fresh, vigorous, and to a certain degree, rapid.” Chapman’s Iliad remains
popular today (and in print), justly so, and not merely because he was the
first in a long tradition. The translation is a delight to read (or at least
to browse through), even if it is not one’s first choice for a new reader of
Homer.
Of Chapman’s translation, a
judicious nineteenth century critic had this to say: “His exterior is coarse
and repelling; he speaks with a harsh though powerful voice, and his gait is
none of the gentlest. They, however, who will have patience, and bear with him
for a time, will find him prove a most valuable acquaintance. The rugged husk
conceals a most sweet kernel. In the guise of a rude and unlettered clown, there
lurks the spirit and fire of a hero, which, ever and anon, show themselves in a
speech of true nobleness, or act of dignified demeanour.” Restrospective Review (1821).
For
a link to the full text of Chapman’s Iliad, please use the following link:
Chapman, Iliad and Odyssey.
For a
preview of a relatively recent edition of Chapman’s Iliad, please use the following link: Chapman
Iliad. This edition has a
very useful introduction, and no reader should forgo the delight of reading
Chapman’s introductory poem “To the Reader” in which the vigour of his
aggressive assault on the fashionable poetry of his own age is wonderfully
presented:
So, in this world of weeds you worldlings taste
Your most lov’d dainties, with such warre buy peace,
Hunger
for torment, virtue kicke for vice;
Cares for your states do with your states increase,
And,
though ye dreame ye feast in Paradise,
Yet Reason’s Day-light shews ye at your meate—
Asses
at Thistles, bleeding as ye eate.
For a modern review of Chapman, use
the following links: Guardian; London Review of
Books.
Keats, incidentally, was not the
first English poet to celebrate Chapman’s translations of Homer:
ON MR. CHAPMAN’S INCOMPARABLE TRANSLATION OF
HOMER’S WORKES.
What none before
durst ever venture on
Unto our wonder
is by Chapman done,
Who by his skill
hath made Great Homer’s song
To vaile its bonnet to our English tongue,
So that the
learned well may question it
Whether in Greek
or English Homer writ?
O happy Homer,
such an able pen
To have for thy
translator, happier then
Ovid or Virgil, who beyond
their strength
Are stretched,
each sentence neare a mile in length.
But our renowned
Chapman, worthy praise,
And meriting the
never-blasted bayes,
Hath rendered
Homer in a genuine sence,
Yea, and hath
added to his eloquence:
And in his
comments his true sence doth show,
Telling Spondanus what he ought to know.
Eustathius, and all that on them take
Great Homer’s misticke meaning plain to make,
Yeeld him more dark with farr-fetcht
allegories,
Sometimes
mistaking clean his learned stories:
As ’bout the flie Menelaus did inspire,
Juno’s retreate, Achilles’ strange desire;
But he to his own sence
doth him restore,
And comments on
him better than before
Any could do,
for which (with Homer) wee
Will yeeld all honour to his memory.
(Samuel Sheppard, Six Bookes of Epigrams, London 1651)
[List of
Published English Translations of Homer’s Iliad
and Odyssey]