Ancient Odyssey fragment discovered in university library

Mark de Kreij, a researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen, discovered a 1700-year-old fragment of Homer’s Odyssey while examining antique manuscripts at the University Library Utrecht in the Netherlands. De Kreij found the parchment piece two years ago during his research, but the University of Utrecht is only now announcing the discovery.

The fragment contains lines from Book 12 of the epic poem and details a moment when Odysseus’s crew disobey his warnings and consume the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios, leading to their ship’s destruction and their deaths. The University of Utrecht purchased the collection containing the fragment approximately seventy years ago from the heirs of German scientist Carl Schmidt.

While most manuscripts in the collection had been previously studied, a small portion remained largely untouched until De Kreij’s investigation. De Kreij noted the fragment is particularly remarkable because it remained unnoticed for so long, stating, “It was just somewhere in Utrecht, but nobody knew it.” Only a few dozen comparable fragments from this period are known to exist worldwide, and this text is among the oldest in the Utrecht collection.

The University connects the timing of the announcement to renewed interest in the Odyssey due to a recent film adaptation by director Christopher Nolan.