The present translation of the Iliad will, it is hoped, be found to
convey, more accurately than any which has preceded it, the words and
thoughts of the original. It is based upon a careful examination of
whatever has been contributed by scholars of every age towards the
elucidation of the text, including the ancient scholiasts and
lexicographers, the exegetical labours of Barnes and Clarke, and the
elaborate criticisms of Heyne, Wolf, and their successors.
The necessary brevity of the notes has prevented the full discussion of
many passages where there is great room for difference of opinion, and
hence several interpretations are adopted without question, which, had
the editor’s object been to write a critical commentary, would have
undergone a more lengthened examination. The same reason has compelled
him, in many instances, to substitute references for extracts,
indicating rather than quoting those storehouses of information, from
whose abundant contents he would gladly have drawn more copious
supplies. Among the numerous works to which he has had recourse, the
following deserve particular mention-Alberti’s invaluable edition of
Hesychius, the Commentary of Eustathius, and Buttmann’s Lexilogus.
In the succeeding volume, the Odyssey, Hymns, and minor poems will be
produced in a similar manner.
THEODORE ALOIS BUCKLEY,
_Ch. Ch., Oxford._