The Iliad of Homer
by Alexander Pope
Since childhood, the Pope admired Homer and announced plans to publish a translation of the Iliad in 1713. The work will be available through subscription, with one volume appearing each year for six years. The Pope made a revolutionary deal with the publisher Bernard Linto, which gave him two hundred guinea finishes per volume, a huge sum at the time. A translation of the Iliad appeared between 1715 and 1720. It was considered by Samuel Johnson to be "a performance that no age or nation can hope for equality" (although the classical scientist Richard Bentley wrote: "A beautiful poem, Mr. Pope, but you should not call it Homer.").
