Literary Papyri

In ancient Greece, literary works were often inscribed on material derived from the papyrus plant.

Date: From the fourth century b. c.e.

Category: Science and technology; literature

Summary The modern rediscovery of the ancient papyri began in 1752, when hundreds of charred rolls were recovered from the so-called Villa of the Papyri in the ruins of Herculaneum (modern Ercolano, Italy), buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 c. e. Later papyrus finds have been particularly numerous in Egypt, whose dry climate is friendly to scraps of manuscript converted to other uses (such as mummy packaging) or discarded in trash heaps.

Though much papyrus writing is of a documentary or nonliterary kind— public documents, contracts, lists, letters, works of religion or magic—many literary and philosophical texts have also been found. These may be already familiar works, and in any event they are usually fragmentary, but from time to time an important lost work—such as Aristotle’s Athenaifn politeia (c. 335-323 b. c.e.; The Athenian Constitution, 1812), recognized in 1890, or Menander’s Dyskolos (317 b. c.e.; The Bad-Tempered Man, 1921), found in 1957—comes to light.

Classicists have learned much, however, even from the fragments. Mere handwriting can provide evidence for dating a text. Greek literary works have survived through a process of manuscript copying subject to many kinds of error. Critics’ conjectures about emendation are sometimes confirmed or refuted by textual alternatives found in papyri, and even undoubted errors may cast light on received readings. In addition, study of papyri clarifies the modes of transmission of classical texts, and it has become possible to gauge the influence on both author and reader of limitations in the medium—the continuous roll (eventually supplanted by the codex) making it onerous to check quotations, the narrow margins restricting commentary, the undivided words and absent or erratic punctuation offering easy occasions for misreading.

Texts found at Oxyrhynchus (modern el-Bahnasa, Egypt), one of the most famous venues for papyri, have been subject to reconstruction and reinterpretation since the end of the nineteenth century. In the late twentieth century, infrared imaging and multispectral analysis, scientific techniques pioneered in satellite monitoring, were brought to bear on making manuscripts at Oxyrhynchus and elsewhere readable.

Significance Modern understanding of the transmission of ancient Greek literary works to later generations continues to be affected by the discovery of literary papyri. In 2005, reclamation of unknown material from authors such as Archilochus, Sophocles, and Euripides generated fresh excitement and controversy. Though claims about a resulting “new Renaissance” are surely overstated, there is no doubt that modern methods facilitate in surprising ways the continuing impact of ancient Greek literature.

Further Reading

Bagnall, Roger S. Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History. New York: Routledge, 1995.

_, et al., eds. Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic, and

Coptic Papyri, Ostraca, and Tablets. 5th ed. Oakville, Conn.: David Brown/American Society of Papyrologists, 2001.

Johnson, William A. Bookrolls and Scribes in Oxyrhynchus. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.

Spooner, Joseph, ed. Nine Homeric Papyri from Oxyrhynchos. Florence, Italy: Istituto Papirologico G. Vitelli, 2002.

Turner, E. G. Greek Papyri: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.

Edward Johnson

See also: Archilochus of Paros; Euripides; Inscriptions; Language and Dialects; Linear B; Sophocles; Writing Systems.