Posted on 08/19/2026 8:12:25 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Likely prompted by the runaway success of a certain classically oriented movie in theaters this summer, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has returned the oldest preserved fragment of The Odyssey to one of its galleries, where it can be seen and appreciated after a long time out of view. The relic is now on display in Gallery 162 in the museum’s section devoted to Greek and Roman Art.
In a round-up of Odyssey-related collection treasures on its website, the Met describes the relic as the first early Ptolemaic fragment of the text ever discovered and notes: “Dating from around 285–250 BCE and made in Egypt, this fragment is beautifully inscribed using a combination of charcoal and water via a stylus on papyrus—one of the most popular materials for writing in antiquity—and contains three lines that do not exist in today’s standard text.”
In a new video on the Met’s Instagram page, Sean Hemmingway, the curator in charge of the Met’s Department of Greek and Roman Art, attributes those three lines to oral recitations by disparate bards who were known to “occasionally embellish and have different versions of these stories.” He also shows how the papyrus fragment is viewable in frontal and back views.
Comparing the story to the legacy of Odysseus himself, the Met’s round-up reads: “Like the Greek warrior, this object reminds us that the telling of The Odyssey itself has taken its own distinct journey through history.”
Incredible find! Perhaps one day they’ll find something a few centuries older and closer to the time of “Homer” (assuming he even existed and composed the works).
You think it was written by AI?
It’s all Greek to me.
I assume it confirms that Helen of Troy was a black woman of middling beauty? And that Sinon was an exceptionally diminutive tranny?
Then maybe it was written by AI: Attican Individuals.
“runaway success”? Yeah, run away from this latest blob of woke garbage. Even the CCP rejected this junk as a perversion of history so that hack Nolan can go for an Oscar.
I expect that this exhibit will not last long because they want to keep it from light, so see it while you can. The Met brings out their copy of Houkusai’s the Great Wave (Off Kanagawa) not more often than one a decade to protect it.
The Greek and Roman galleries at the Met are on the1st Floor at the southern end. On the opposite northern end of the 1st Floor are the Egyptian galleries. The Met is typically open to 9 pm om Fridays, and one could easily spend the entire day going just between those two galleries.
What always impresses me in the Greek sections are the enormous Kouroses, compared to examples of Greek armor from ~ 500 BC. which look like they would fit a fifth grader.
In the Egyptian Galleries, I am struck by the tomb decorations, which were intended to aid the owner in the afterlife. They always depict ordinary domestic scenes. One has to conclude that the Egyptians were so satisfied with their lives that they could not imagine a better paradise than to continue along as they always had been.
Did you intend to respond to someone else? I never used the term “runaway success” in my post, nor did I say anything favorable about Christopher Nolan, who I think should stick to making movies based on comic books.
“They call me Ishmael...” Oops... Wrong book.
More likely Aegean Individuals.
I remember seeing a parchment with one of the original copes of the Magna Carta as part of a traveling exhibit about 10-12 years ago. Presumably they don’t want to expose those to too much light (especially UV) either, or else their ink will fade.
Looks a little skimpy on details................
Anatolian Individuals.............
Mr. Battaglia,
Its BC, not BCE.
...contains three lines that do not exist in today’s standard text.
📜 And yet there are those who claim such epics were passed down via perfect memorization, century after century, with absolutely no way to verify such a claim.
Not much got past the censors, looks like.
Similarly, and perhaps more ironically, Aesop himself, may have just been a fable.
That is worse than having just the last page torn out!
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