Ancient Odyssey fragment found in Dutch library
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Mark de Kreij, a researcher at Radboud University, discovered a 1,700-year-old fragment of Homer’s Odyssey within the University of Utrecht library in the Netherlands.
The small piece of parchment once belonged to a book containing verses from the twelfth book of the epic poem. The fragment preserves a passage detailing the moment Helios, the sun god, learns that Odysseus’s men have slaughtered his sacred cattle, triggering Zeus’s wrath and the destruction of the ship.
University of Utrecht estimates that only around thirty comparable fragments of ancient texts are known worldwide. Scholars believe the fragment came from a compact, portable edition of the Odyssey produced around 300 AD in the Fayyum oasis of Egypt, and likely used by a single reader. The library acquired the fragment in the mid-20th century as part of a collection of paleochristian manuscripts purchased from the heirs of Carl Schmidt, a German scholar.
Initially cataloged as a modest seventh-century fragment, its true nature remained hidden for decades due to its damaged condition and small lettering. De Kreij identified the text as part of a larger project examining Greco-Roman texts held in the Utrecht University Collection, with findings scheduled for publication in September 2026. The fragment’s preservation of a key narrative turning point, a moment well-known to ancient readers, demonstrates the continued copying and value placed on the Odyssey centuries after its original composition.
