What is it about?
This paper examines how Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey were translated and read in Italy from Dante to the sixteenth century. It shows that early Italian humanists greatly admired Homer but struggled to access and reproduce his poetry. Beginning with Dante and Petrarch, the study traces how writers used the authority of St. Jerome to argue that Homer’s poetic power could not survive translation. Despite these doubts, a long tradition of Latin prose translations emerged, starting with Leontius Pilatus and continuing with Lorenzo Valla, Francesco Griffolini, and especially Andreas Divus. These “supplementary” prose versions, meant as simple aids to reading the Greek text, became far more successful than the many attempts to recreate Homer in Latin or Italian verse. The paper also explores the largely forgotten vernacular translations of the sixteenth century, showing why they failed to gain readers, while prose translations remained dominant. Through examples from editors, poets, and scholars, the study argues that Italian readers consistently preferred a “blurred portrait” of Homer in prose to more ambitious but less faithful poetic rewritings.
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Why is it important?
This paper offers a perspective that has long been missing in studies of Homer’s reception in Italy. By following the thread from Dante to the late Renaissance, it brings together voices, texts, and translation practices that are usually examined separately, revealing a coherent and previously overlooked narrative. It shows how literal Latin prose versions—often considered minor or merely utilitarian—played a decisive role in shaping how Italian readers approached Homer, overshadowing the more ambitious poetic attempts. The study also uncovers forgotten translators, neglected manuscript traditions, and the unexpected longevity of “supplementary” prose renderings. At a moment when discussions about translation, accessibility, and fidelity are once again central in the humanities, this reconstruction of earlier debates offers a fresh contribution and speaks directly to concerns shared by scholars today.
Perspectives
I hope this article helps to shift some established perspectives on Antiquity and the Renaissance by showing how much of Homer’s survival depended not on lofty statements about fidelity, but on the everyday tools and habits that truly shaped his transmission. This enduring tension between what scholars declared, what the canon seemed to demand, and how texts were actually read and used has long fascinated me in my work on the reception of ancient authors.
Valentina Prosperi
Universita degli Studi di Sassari
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This page is a summary of: The Blurred Face of a Distant Beloved: Translations of Homer in Italy from Dante to the Sixteenth Century, November 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004750791_008.
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