Leonardo Bruni’s Translation of the Speeches in Iliad 9

At the end of the thirties of the fifteenth century, Leonardo Bruni from Arezzo (1370-1444) translated into Latin prose three passages of the ninth book of the Iliad, that is, the verses containing Ulysses’ speech (222–305), Achilles’ reply (310–425), and Phoenix’ speech (435–605). He entitled this translation Orationes Homeri and explained in a preface (Prohemium) that the three speeches are supposed to be a model of perfection respectively in the three genres of oratory: “subtle,” “stately,” and “middle.” Exemplary of the humanistic translation method, the Orationes is based on precise aesthetic requirements and uses a typically Ciceronian language and style. It is therefore a work noticeably different from the previous Homeric translation of Leontius Pilatus. In the course of the fifteenth century, Bruni’s Orationes became an essential point of reference for other humanists who undertook the translation of Homeric poems (among them Pier Candido Decembrio and Lorenzo Valla).