Note 700 — PART THE THIRD. (continued 4)

Chapman claims the honour of being the first translator of the whole of the works of Homer. He was born in 1557, and was the contemporary of Shakspeare, Spenser, Jonson, &c. His version of the Iliad was dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales. He also translated Musæus and Hesiod, and was the author of many other works. He died in 1634, aged seventy-seven. His version of Homer is now obsolete, and rendered tedious by the protracted measure of fourteen syllables; though occasionally it exhibits much spirit. Waller, according to Dryden, could never read his version without emotion, and Pope found it worthy of his particular attention.