Oxyrhynchus Papyrus Fragment with a Poem by Archilochus
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus Fragment with a Poem by Archilochus
Place of OriginEgypt
Datelate 2nd century CE
Dimensionsmaximum: 1 7/16 × 1 1/4 in. (3.7 × 3.2 cm)
MediumIndia ink on papyrus
ClassificationManuscripts
Credit LineGift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number
1915.23
Not on View
DescriptionThe papyrus (P. Oxy VI, 854, XXX 2507), written in Greek on both sides, contains a fragment of the work of the poet Archilochus.
Label TextThis rare papyrus scrap preserves the only known lines of a lost poem by Archilochus, a 7th-century BCE Greek lyric poet. Known as one of the first Western poets to write about his own experience, Archilochus revolutionized Greek poetry by moving away from Homeric epics and instead reaching for witty and personal themes. In a translation by Willis Barnstone (Sappho and the Greek Lyric Poets, Schocken Books, 1988), the fragment reads: “Go take your cup and walk along the timber deck of our roaming ship; drain the hollow casks of all their red wine. How can we stay sober on the watch when all the rest are drunk?” The survival of this fragment is remarkable, especially as this scrap was found in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, among thousands of discarded texts preserved by the dry climate.Published ReferencesGrenfell, Bernard P. and Arthur S.Hunt, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, London, 1908, vol. VI, pp. 149-150, no. 854, Pl.I. Gerber, Douglas E. “Archilochus, Fr. 4 West: A Commentary.” Illinois Classical Studies 6, no. 1 (1981): 1–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23061968. Giuseppetti, Massimo. “The Ship, The Watch, And the Symposium: Archilochus’ Fragments 2 and 4 W.2.” Rheinisches Museum Für Philologie 161, no. 3/4 (2018): 242–74, p. 245, n. 10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45174362
late 2nd century CE
late 3rd century CE
late 3rd century CE
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