Dr. E.V. Rieu— in full Emile Victor Rieu (1887–1972)— is best known for his lucid translations of Homer, as editor of Penguin Classics, and for a modern translation of the Gospels, which evolved from his role as editor of a projected Penguin translation of the Bible. His translation of the Odyssey, 1946, was the opener of the Penguin Classics, a series that he edited from 1944 to 1964. He also translated Virgil. Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. For other uses, see Virgil (disambiguation). ...

Patrick Kavanagh evoked the translations' crisp and readable character in a poem "On Looking into E. V. Rieu's Homer" Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 - 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet. ...

"In stubble fields the ghosts of corn are

The important spirits the imagination heeds.

Nothing dies; there are no empty

Spaces in the cleanest-reaped fields." ^[1]

The genial and witty Rieu was a friend and editorial mentor of the science fiction writer Olaf Stapledon. His son, D.C.H. Rieu, has revised his translations. William Olaf Stapledon (1886 – 1950) was a British philosopher and author of several influential works of science fiction. ...

The sole contemporary rival to his prose translation of the Iliad was the verse translation of Richmond Lattimore. The Iliad (Ancient Greek , Ilias) is, together with the Odyssey, one of the two principal ancient Greek epic poems. ... Richmond Alexander Lattimore (May 6, 1906 - February 26, 1984) was an American poet and translator known for his translations of the Greek classics, especially his versions of the Iliad and Odyssey. ...

Notes

1. ^ The implied comparison is with Keats' "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"

John Keats John Keats (October 31, 1795 – February 23, 1821) was one of the principal poets of the English Romantic movement. ... On First Looking into Chapmans Homer is a sonnet by English Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821), written in October 1816. ...

References

• "Translating the Gospels: A Discussion Between Dr. E.V. Rieu and the Rev. J.B. Phillips". Interview of 3 December 1953.
• E.V. Rieu, "Hall and Knight" A hilarious account of the production of the textbook, Hall and Knight's Elementary Algebra for Schools, first published in Rieu's collected verse, Cuckoo Calling (London:Methuen) 1933)