Earliest Known Fragment of Homer’s Odyssey Is on View at The Met

While Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film may have stolen entertainment headlines this summer, historians are enjoying a pivotal moment of their own as the oldest known fragment of Homer’s Odyssey is now on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The historic fragment, which dates from around 285-250 BC, contains three lines from Book 20 that do not exist in today’s standard text.

“This fragment is so interesting because three lines are different than the lines that we have today in Homer’s Odyssey. And we know that there were many versions of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad because they were epic poems,” said Séan Hemingway, The Met’s curator in charge, Greek and Roman Art. “They were oral poems that were recited by bards across the land, and they would occasionally embellish and have different versions of these stories.”

The fragment, which also shows how the papyrus was woven together, is part of a larger collection presented by The Met’s Department of Greek and Roman Art that revisited Odysseus’s famed journey. In addition to the papyrus fragment, the collection includes a scarab made of carnelian with the iconic scene of the Trojan Horse, a terracotta oinochoe that depicts Odysseus poised for attack, a fresco that depicts Polyphemus in a compassionate light, a terracotta calyx-krater that shows Odysseus in pursuit of Circe, a Roman marble head and torse of Athena, and a terracotta plaque that depicts one of Athena’s final interventions on his behalf.

“This fragment of Homer’s Odyssey has been off view for many years, and we’re pleased to put it back on view in the Greek and Roman galleries so that people can enjoy one of the earliest examples of Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey,” said Hemingway.