The printed Homer: a 3,000 year publishing and translation history of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Abstract

The Greek poet Homer was one of the greatest and most influential poets of all time. His epic Iliad and Odyssey were the foundation of Greek education and culture in the classical age (Our earliest infancy was entrusted to the care of Homer, said Heraclitus 2500 years ago) and are widely read today. Nothing is known of Homer's life (some even doubt his existence) or of the composition of the two epics but we can assume that the texts that survive are not as they were originally formed in oral tradition. This is a publishing and translation history of the written forms of the Iliad and the Odyssey. It first considers who Homer might have been and then explores the when and how of the creation of the written forms of the works. The Homeric text in classical times and in medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire, and the Homeric text, the printing press and Renaissance humanism are next taken up. The successes and failures of the many who attempted to translate the works are analyzed critically and then - a major portion of the book - all the known texts, editions and translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey from 1470 to 2000 are listed. Finally, the author considers the future of the Homeric texts and the Poet's relevance to this and future generations. Seven valuable appendices (e.g., Modernizing of Latin City Names; First Printings in Vernacular Languages), a bibliography, and an index complete the work.