John Conington

John Conington
John Conington (1825–1869) was a renowned British classical scholar and translator, best known for his translations of Latin literature. He is celebrated for his English translations of works like Virgil's "Aeneid" and Horace's "Odes", which helped make classical texts more accessible to English readers. Conington held the position of Professor of Latin at the University of Oxford, where he contributed significantly to the study of classical languages. His scholarly work also included insightful commentaries on Roman poets, combining rigorous analysis with a flair for literary interpretation.

Author's Books:


In venturing to follow up my translation of the Odes of Horace by a version of the Satires and Epistles, I feel that I am in no way entitled to refer to the former as a justification of my boldness in undertaking the latter. Both classes of works are doubtless explicable as products of the same original genius: but they differ so widely in many of their characteristics, that success in rendering the... more...

I scarcely know what excuse I can offer for making public this attempt to "translate the untranslatable." No one can be more convinced than I am that a really successful translator must be himself an original poet; and where the author translated happens to be one whose special characteristic is incommunicable grace of expression, the demand on the translator's powers would seem to be... more...