Family Name: Pope
First Name: Alexander
Birth Date: Wed, May 19, 1688
Birth Place: London
Death Date: Thu, May 28, 1744
Death Place: Twickenham
Main places of activity:
Place From To
London 1686 1698
Place From To
Popeswood (Berkshire) 1698 1714
Place From To
London 1714 1717
Personal info:
Education
After he was taught to read and write by his aunt Elizabeth Turner, Pope completed his early education at the Catholic school of Twyford, Hampshire (1698-1699), where he was taught Latin and Greek grammar by the priest James Taverner. Pope then attended two other Catholic schools in London.


Being barred from universities due to his faith, Pope continued his education by himself in the small family estate in Berkshire, reading classics, studying and translating poetry into English.

After five years, he moved to London to learn Italian and French.
Career

Pope published his first work in 1709, and increasingly gained fame from that moment onwards. He became the greatest English poet of his age.
Financial Situation

For his translation of the Iliad, Pope earned £1275, while according to Pope himself the Odyssey brought him £600. His fortune was considerable, as in 1737 he wrote 'But (thanks to Homer) since I live and thrive,/Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive'.

At his death, Pope's wealth has been calculated between £5000 and £6000 in money and bonds.
Translations Other Works

translations activities

One way Pope learned languages as an autodidact was by translating literary works, both ancient and modern.

His fascination for Homer led him to produce a new verse translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

secondary bibliography references

L. Damrosch, The Imaginative World of Alexander Pope, Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1987.

P. Rogers, The Cambridge Companion to Alexander Pope, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007.

H. Erskine-Hill, 'Pope, Alexander (1688–1744), poet', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, January 2008.

N. M. Goldsmith, Alexander Pope: The Evolution of a Poet, London, Routeledge, 2017.

Translations

  • Iliad

  • Translation Title: The Iliad of Homer
  • Original Author: Homer
  • Original title: Iliad
  • Publ. Year From: -0001 to:
  • lang: Greek
  • Translation: The Iliad of Homer
  • Publisher: Bernard Lintot
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Date: 1714
  • Lang: English
  • Note:

    Pope translated the twenty-four books of the poem alone and the editorial project was modelled on Dryden's Virgil.

    The result was a great success, although some critiques remarked the very free translation Pope had arranged.

  • Odyssey

  • Translation Title: The Odyssey of Homer
  • Original Author: Homer
  • Original title: Odyssey
  • Publ. Year From: -0001 to:
  • lang: Greek
  • Translation: The Odyssey of Homer
  • Publisher: Bernard Lintot
  • Pub. Place: London
  • Pub. Date: 1725
  • Lang: English
  • Note:

    Pope only translated twelve of the twenty-five books (3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13-15, 17, 21-22, 24-25).

calamaio

By:

  • Giovanni Lista