Graeme Bird examines a small group of early papyrus manuscripts of Homer's Iliad, known as the Ptolemaic papyri, which, although fragmentary, are the oldest surviving physical evidence of the text of the Iliad, dating from the third to the first centuries BCE. These papyri have been described as 'eccentric' or even 'wild' by some scholars. They differ significantly from the usual text of the Iliad, sometimes showing lines with different wording, at other times including so-called 'interpolated' lines that are completely absent from our more familiar version. Whereas some scholars denigrate these papyri because of their 'eccentricity', this book analyzes their unusual readings and shows that in fact they present authentic variations on the Homeric text, based on the variability characteristic of oral performance.

Book Information
ISBN 9780674053236
Author Graeme D. Bird
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint Harvard University, Center for Hellenic Studies
Publisher Harvard University, Center for Hellenic Studies