Rare 4th-Century Fragment of Homers Odyssey Discovered in Dutch Library
- A 1,700-year-old parchment fragment containing a passage from Homer's "Odyssey" has been discovered between the pages of an old book in a Dutch library, according to a September...
- The physical fragment measures approximately 2.6 by 3 inches, or 6.6 by 7.7 centimeters.
- According to the narrative in the epic, the goddess Circe warned Odysseus to steer clear of Thrinacia, the island belonging to Helios.
A 1,700-year-old parchment fragment containing a passage from Homer’s “Odyssey” has been discovered between the pages of an old book in a Dutch library, according to a September 14 statement from Utrecht University. Mark de Kreij, a Greek literature expert and professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands, found the rare artifact while studying early Christian manuscripts purchased by the Utrecht University library in the mid-20th century.
Discovery of the Odyssey Fragment at Utrecht University
The physical fragment measures approximately 2.6 by 3 inches, or 6.6 by 7.7 centimeters. It appears to originate from a pocket edition of the epic produced in Egypt around A.D. 300, according to university records. De Kreij spotted the small piece of parchment while reviewing a collection of Egyptian and Greek texts within the library holdings. “There are so many boring parts in the Odyssey,” de Kreij told RTV Utrecht, noting that this particular section offers a lively narrative. The text preserves verses from Book 12 of the epic poem. Specifically, the lines detail the dramatic episode when the sun god Helios discovers that Odysseus’ crew has killed and consumed his immortal cattle.
Context of the Book 12 Passage
According to the narrative in the epic, the goddess Circe warned Odysseus to steer clear of Thrinacia, the island belonging to Helios. Despite the warning, Odysseus and his men landed on the shore after successfully navigating past Scylla and Charybdis, a monstrous six-headed creature and a dangerous whirlpool. Eurylochus, who served as Odysseus’ right-hand man, pleaded for permission to make landfall and secure food for the exhausted crew. Odysseus consented on the strict condition that his men leave the sacred cattle unharmed. Severe storms trapped the crew on the island for a month, depleting their food supplies and driving Eurylochus and the men to slaughter the sacred animals. In response to the transgression, Helios appealed to the gods for retribution, prompting Zeus to destroy the ship and kill everyone on board except for Odysseus.
Historical Rarity and Prior Finds
The discovery marks the second time within a single year that a fragment of a Homeric epic has surfaced unexpectedly. Earlier in the spring, archaeologists working in Egypt uncovered papyrus fragments of the “Iliad” inside a Roman-era mummy. Both the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” were composed during the late eighth or early seventh century B.C., chronicling the Trojan War and the long voyage of the Greek hero Odysseus back to Ithaca. University researchers indicate that the newly identified fragment likely formed part of a parchment codex dating back to the third or fourth century A.D. from the Fayum oasis region in Egypt. Records show that only about 30 comparable fragments have ever been found. De Kreij explained to Dutch News that the artifact likely survived the centuries because it originated from the interior of a pocket-size book where surrounding pages shielded it from damage. How the item ultimately entered the broader Utrecht collection remains unknown. Although de Kreij initially identified the parchment in 2024, the complete academic documentation of the university library’s Greco-Roman collection from Egypt will appear in an upcoming book titled “Hieratic, Demotic, Greek, and Coptic Texts in the Utrecht University Collection.”