Met Museum Displays Oldest Surviving Fragment of the Odyssey, Papyrus Reveals Three Lost Lines

A piece of papyrus, inked 2,300 years ago with a mixture of carbon and water, now rests in a display case in Gallery 162 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This is the section of the museum dedicated to Greek and Roman art, and the artifact has just returned to public view after a long absence.

According to the related description on the Met's official website, this is currently known as the earliest surviving Ptolemaic-era fragment of the Odyssey, dating to around 285–250 BCE and produced in Egypt. It was written with a reed pen dipped in ink made from carbon and water, on papyrus—one of the most common writing materials of the ancient world. The museum specifically notes that the fragment contains three lines of verse that do not appear in the standard text of the Odyssey used today.

In a video released on the Met's Instagram account, Sean Hemmingway, curator in the museum's Department of Greek and Roman Art, explained that these three "extra" lines came from the oral traditions of different bards. He described these storytellers as sometimes "embellishing" the tale, resulting in slightly different versions of the story. The video also showed both sides of the papyrus fragment.

In its description, the Met drew a parallel between this artifact and Odysseus's own journey, writing that the object serves as a reminder that the story of the Odyssey itself has undergone its own long journey throughout history.

The fragment's return to display coincides with the release of a big-budget summer film drawing on classical themes.