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The papyrus fragment contains three lines from Book 20 of the epic that don’t appear in the modern text.
A papyrus fragment of Homer’s Odyssey on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (photo Rebecca Schear, all courtesy The Met)
Visiting the Upper East Side by subway is a straightforward journey compared to Odysseus’s legendary voyage across the Mediterranean, as long as the 6 train is operational. Those who make the trip will be rewarded with a rare glimpse of history: a 2,300-year-old papyrus fragment with excerpts from Homer’s Odyssey is now displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The museum revealed this week that the artifact would be shown publicly for the first time since August 5. Visitors can now view the fragment in Gallery 162.
Séan Hemingway, the curator overseeing Greek and Roman art, highlighted in a video released by The Met that this papyrus represents “the earliest preserved fragment of Homer’s Odyssey that we have today.”
