ABSTRACT
Ogilby's translation of the Greek epics also had another crucial effect on Alexander Pope. Homer himself became his hero, from whom he caught 'the itch of poetry'. Educational psychologists can often identify a particular occasion when talented individuals fall in love with a particular subject. Apparently Edith herself did not play any part in Alexander's education and so, compared with her husband, she remains a shadowy figure. Clever and imaginative, enthusiastic about literature and used to individual attention, Alexander became discontented with his pedestrian ushers who, subscribing to the educational theory of their day, concentrated on grammatical analysis when they taught the classics. Alexander devised his own syllabus, designed to give him the education of an eighteenth-century gentleman and a vocational training in the craft of poetry. Alexander Pope, even as a child, revealed he had the psychological makeup of creative individuals who go on to fulfil their potential.
