You Can Now See One of the Oldest Surviving Copies of ‘The Odyssey’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The papyrus fragment contains three lines that don’t appear in standard modern-day translations of Homer’s epic poem
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This summer, as one of the world’s oldest poems—Homer’s Odyssey—resurfaces in the public imagination via the silver screen, a rare artifact related to the epic is returning to the spotlight, too.
The object in question is a papyrus fragment dated to the early Ptolemaic period. The first of its kind ever discovered by archaeologists, the Odyssey excerpt recently went back on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where it’s displayed alongside six other artifacts that “bring this famous Greek story to life in dynamic and surprising ways,” per the cultural institution’s website.
The roughly 2,300-year-old fragment is from one of the oldest surviving copies of The Odyssey. Experts say that it was written in Egypt between about 285 and 250 B.C.E. Lines from the poem were inscribed on the papyrus with a stylus that may have been crafted from a sharpened reed. The black ink was likely made from a mixture of water and a carbon soot known as lampblack.
At the Met, the object is on view in a vertical glass display that allows visitors to see its blank reverse and the weaving pattern used to create the ancient material.
Did you know? Ptolemaic Egypt
- The Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty ruled over Egypt between 305 and 30 B.C.E.
- Greek literature was highly regarded in Ptolemaic Egypt, where Greek was widely used by the ruling class, and scholars collected and studied works by famous Greek authors.
The fragment comes from Book 20 of the epic poem. In this section, Odysseus, who is finally back in Ithaca after a ten-year journey home, endures a fitful night as he prepares for the difficult task of fighting the many suitors hoping to win the hand of his wife, Penelope. The goddess Athena arrives in a dream to reassure Odysseus, and the god Zeus issues a clap of thunder as a good omen for the king’s impending battle.
Interestingly, the Met’s copy contains three lines that are missing from the standard text of The Odyssey used today.
“We know that there were many versions of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad,” Sean Hemingway, the curator in charge of the Met’s Greek and Roman art department, says in a video posted on the museum’s Instagram page. “They were oral poems that were recited by bards across the land, and they would occasionally embellish and have different versions of these stories.”
As Ellen Wexler wrote for Smithsonian magazine in July, papyrus fragments like the one housed at the Met preserve the earliest known renditions of The Odyssey and The Iliad. These copies “are fairly similar to the version today’s readers are familiar with,” Wexler explained. “But because they feature small differences, they’re sometimes described as ‘wild’ or ‘eccentric’ versions of the texts. Some include lines that aren’t present in later established versions, while others omit lines that are. None alter the plot in significant ways.”
At the time of the Met fragment’s creation, The Odyssey was already more than 500 years old. It’s possible that the book containing this piece of papyrus was once housed in the Library of Alexandria, which was founded around the same time that this copy was produced. The library was “the most important repository of Homeric texts in the Hellenistic world” and the “first comprehensive public library ever built,” according to a Met catalog listing.
In addition to the papyrus, the Met’s collection of Odyssey-inspired artifacts includes a 2,500-year-old carnelian scarab featuring a carving of the Trojan Horse; a 2,450-year-old terracotta jug depicting Odysseus with a bow and arrow; and a fresco from the first century B.C.E. that shows the cyclops Polyphemus sitting on a rock beside his livestock, gazing at the sea nymph Galatea.
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The Met is one of several museums that have unveiled new Odyssey-themed attractions to capitalize on the popularity of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film.
In July, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, released a new audio tour, complete with voice acting, that guides listeners through its displays of ancient Greek art.
In March, Chicago’s National Hellenic Museum reimagined the epic as a staged courtroom trial. A jury of local community leaders found Odysseus “not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of the suitors,” albeit by a narrow margin, per a statement. The museum is also preparing to open a new exhibition showcasing contemporary art inspired by the poem.
In Newcastle, England, meanwhile, the Great North Museum: Hancock debuted an Odyssey exhibition that runs through October and features, among other artifacts, a carved ostrich egg and a perfume pot crafted in the shape of a siren.
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