荷馬，傳說為古希臘盲詩人。生平和生卒年月不可考。相傳記述公元前12至前11世紀特洛伊戰爭及有關海上冒險故事的古希臘長篇敘事史詩《伊利亞特》和《奧德賽》，即是他根據民間流傳的短歌綜閤編寫而成。據此，他生活的年代，當在公元前10到前9、8世紀之間。

Homer's great epic describes the many adventures of Odysseus,Greek warrior,as the strives over many years to return to his home island of Ithaca after the Trojan War.Odysseus's quick-witted heroism,his colourful adventures,his endurance,his live for his wife and son have the same power to move and inspire readers today as they did in Archaic Greece,2800years age.

This poem has been translated many times over the years,but Chapman's sinewy,gorgeous rendering(1616)stands in a class of its own.Chapman believed himself inspired by the spirit of Homer himself,and matches the breadty and pwoer of the original with a complex and stunning idiom of his own.John Keats expressed his admiration for the resulting work in the famous sonne.‘On first looking into Chapman’s Homer':‘Much have I travelled in the realms of gold…’

This new Wordsworth edition of Chapaman's Homer contatins accessible annotation,and a detailed introduction that places his masterpiece in the context of his own day,and discusses its influences on later poets.