MAP

OF THE ISLANDS OF

PIL Æ A G L A & F F FLAGA.

TWO MAPS WILL BE GIVEN WITH THE 2ND VOLUME.

TO PYLOS

& MYCENE)

21

EC

THE

ODYSSEY OF HOMER:

TRANSLATED INTO BLANK VERSE, BY

GEORGE WILLIAM EDGINTON,

LICENTIATE IN MEDICINE:

With Illustrative Notes and Three Maps.

DEDICATED (BY PERMISSION) TO EDWARD, EARL OF DERBY,

In Two Volumes-Vol. i.

"The Odyssey, of all poems, is the poem of the Sea, all the fine moderns who
have sung of 'the sea, the sea,' have never in one point equalled the grandeur and freshness
of the old bard. Vandevelde and Claude have approached the nearest. Look at the
glorious sun reflected in the twinkling waves; in fragments thickening and lessening as
you follow them further off, till they blend and become a pillar of golden light. But what
is all this to Homer? Reader! this is the greatest work of human genius.”

DEAN ALFORD on the Poets of Ancient Greece.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, GREEN, READER, & DYER.
READING:-BARCHAM & BEECROFT.

1869.

293. e. 47.

"Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, et audes
Personam formare novam; servetur ad imum,
Qualis ab incepto processerit, et sibi constet.
Difficile est proprie communia dicere; tuque
Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus,
Quam si proferres ignota indictaque primus.

Nec sic incipies, ut scriptor Cyclicus olim: "Fortunam Priami cantabo et nobile bellum." Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu? Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus: Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte; "Dic mihi, Musa, virum, captae post tempora Troiae "Qui mores hominum multorum vidit et urbes." Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat, Antiphaten Scyllamque et cum Cyclope Charybdin; Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri, Nec gemino bellum Troianum orditur ab ovo; Semper ad eventum festinat et in medias res, Non secus ac notas, auditorem rapit, et quae Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit, Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet, Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.”

Q. Horatii Flacci, de Arte Poetica.

TO THE

Right Hon. the Earl of Derby, K.G.,

CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, &c., &c.

My Lord,

I dedicate my Translation to you, because your distinguished patronage is of sterling value to its recipient: inasmuch as having yourself consumed the midnight oil in the severe study of the prototype of poets, you are able to appreciate my merits and to mark my faults.

Your Lordship's elevated station and brilliant talents shed a lustre on the literary profession. The aspirant to literary fame feels proud of your Lordship's name in the roll of noble Authors.

This dedication affords me an opportunity for acknowledging your kindness and courtesy towards myself; and for thanking you for the interest you have taken in the success of my book.

I subscribe myself,

Your Lordship's humble and devoted Servant,

THE AUTHOR.

READING, 1868.