1.700-year-old Homer's Odyssey fragment discovered in Utrecht archive

A researcher at Radboud University has identified a 1.700-year-old fragment of Homer's Odyssey that sat mislabelled in the Utrecht University Library archives for seven decades. The overlooked parchment snippet turns out to be one of only a few dozen surviving third- or fourth-century codex fragments of the Greek epic in the world.

Homer's Odyssey fragment discovered in Utrecht

Utrecht University Library acquired the collection containing the piece around 70 years ago from the heirs of German Coptologist Carl Schmidt. While most Coptic texts (ancient Egyptian manuscripts written using the Greek alphabet) in the acquisition were thoroughly examined over the years, a small selection of Greek items sat largely untouched in the archives.

The discoloured piece of parchment was assumed to be an insignificant document from the seventh century for decades. That changed when papyrologist Mark de Kreij from Radboud University began sifting through the unstudied manuscripts and spotted Greek words that immediately reminded him of classical poetry.

De Kreij confirmed the text was actually a 1.700-year-old snippet from Book 12 of Homer's Odyssey. "It is actually very special: it was just lying there somewhere in Utrecht, but nobody knew," de Kreij told RTV Utrecht.

What does the newly discovered Odyssey fragment say?

Measuring just 6,6 by 7,7 centimetres, the damaged fragment is written on both sides and once formed part of a parchment codex. According to Utrecht University, the original bound book was roughly the size of a modern e-reader and likely originated from the Fayum Oasis in Egypt.

The preserved lines detail a dramatic turning point in Book 12 of the epic. Against Odysseus's explicit warnings, his hungry crew slaughters and eats the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios. Outraged, Helios demands retribution from Zeus, who hurls a bolt to destroy their ship and drown the entire crew.

De Kreij noted that finding this specific scene was somewhat poetic. Because ancient bound books wear down from the outside in, surviving fragments often come from the middle of a narrative, which in this case captured the epic's climax. "There are so many boring parts in the Odyssey," de Kreij said. "This happens to be a really fun part."

Hollywood hype prompts delayed announcement of fragment

Although de Kreij made the discovery roughly two years ago, Utrecht University held onto the news until now. The institution chose to time the announcement to capitalise on renewed public interest surrounding director Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of the epic.

While de Kreij noted that a 1.700-year-old document is "fairly young" compared to 2.700-year-old items in the university library, texts from this specific era remain exceptionally rare.

Worldwide, only a few dozen comparable literary parchment fragments from the third or fourth century are known to exist. That makes Utrecht's long-forgotten snippet a remarkably rare survivor of the ancient world.