Richmond Lattimore

American poet and translator

Also known as: Richmond Alexander Lattimore

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In full:: Richmond Alexander Lattimore

Born:: May 6, 1906, Paotingfu, China

Died:: Feb. 26, 1984, Rosemont, Pa., U.S. (aged 77)

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Richmond Lattimore (born May 6, 1906, Paotingfu, China—died Feb. 26, 1984, Rosemont, Pa., U.S.) was an American poet and translator renowned for his disciplined yet poetic translations of Greek classics.

Lattimore graduated from Dartmouth in 1926 and from the University of Oxford in 1932. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1935). While in college, Lattimore wrote poetry that touched on Greek, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse tradition. He later focused on composing lyric poetry: as a classical scholar, he would equate the process of writing lyrics with that of interpreting texts. His translations include Homer’s Iliad (1951) and Odyssey (1967), and The Four Gospels and the Revelation (1979); he coedited, with David Grene, Complete Greek Tragedies (1959). His translations of the works of Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Pindar were particularly highly praised. Lattimore’s version of the Iliad is widely regarded as the authoritative contemporary translation.

Lattimore was a professor of Greek at Bryn Mawr College from 1935 to 1971. A collection of his poetry, Poems from Three Decades, appeared in 1972. He also wrote criticism, such as Story Patterns in Greek Tragedy (1964).

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

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Classical literature

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Classical literature

ancient Greece and Rome

Also known as: classical literature

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Related Topics:: literature; Latin literature; Ancient Greek literature

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Classical literature, the literature of ancient Greece and Rome (see Greek literature; Latin literature). The term, usually spelled “classical,” is also used for the literature of any language in a period notable for the excellence and enduring quality of its writers’ works. In ancient Greece such a period extended from about 500 to 320 bce. The Golden Age of Rome ran from about 70 bce to 18 ce. French literature of the second half of the 17th century is considered classical, as is English literature of 1660–1714. The works produced and the critical standards that prevailed in both eras emulated those of the Classical periods in Greek and Latin, although this criterion is not an essential characteristic of a classical literature.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Brian Duignan.