On Not Overlooking Ogilby’s Homer

Abstract: This article reconsiders John Ogilby’s 1660 translation of the Iliad by examining its relationships to the first English Homer, George Chapman’s, and one of the most famous, Alexander Pope’s. While not suggesting that Ogilby’s Iliad is a lost masterpiece, I argue that the work’s reputation has suffered because it fell on the wrong side of a generational divide. Measured against Chapman’s prolixity, Ogilby’s Iliad marks a notable advance in representing Homer’s “rapidity” in English translation. Meanwhile, Pope’s borrowings from Ogilby have not been fully appreciated by modern critics, though (this article shows) some earlier commentators made detailed studies of those debts. Pope, this article contends, was actually one of Ogilby’s closest readers.