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Thread: Possible Oldest Fragment of Homer's 'Odyssey' Discovered

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    United States Avalon Member Skywizard's Avatar
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    Default Possible Oldest Fragment of Homer's 'Odyssey' Discovered


    The newfound clay slab may hold the first 13 verses of Homer's "Odyssey."



    In an ancient heap of Roman rubble, archaeologists in Greece discovered a clay tablet that may contain one of the oldest known written fragments of Homer's "Odyssey."

    The Greek Ministry of Culture announced on July 10 that a terra-cotta slab scrawled with 13 lines of the epic poem had been unearthed by archaeologists in Olympia, home to one of the most important religious sanctuaries of ancient Greece, and the site of the original Olympics.

    From 2015 to 2017, the Greek Ministry of Culture and several German researchers had been conducting a survey and geo-archaeological research project to investigate the area surrounding the religious temples and buildings that make up the Sanctuary of Olympia.

    The terra-cotta slab was found in a pile of tiles and bricks, stones and other remains of the Roman period, not far from the Sanctuary of Olympia, said Erophili Kollia, an archaeologist with the Greek Ministry of Culture and the director of the project. Scholars are still working on an interpretation of the slab and its purpose, though they believe it was created before the third century A.D.


    This clay slab was found in a pile of rubble near the Sanctuary of Olympia in Greece.



    "The slab cannot be directly connected with the sanctuary, at least for the time being, as it was not found within its limits," Kollia told Live Science in an email. "Moreover, there is no parallel of a similar offering from the Olympia sanctuary."

    The inscription contains the first 13 verses of the 14th rhapsody, or book, of "The Odyssey,"and it represents the oldest known text with the verses 1 to 8, Kollia said. The newly discovered text has some slight differences from later versions, Kollia said, "but we cannot refer to them in detail, as the study of the inscription is in progress."

    In the 14th book of "The Odyssey," Odysseus has reached his home, Ithaca, after a 10-year journey following his participation in the Trojan War, and he addresses his loyal servant Eumaeus, who doesn't recognize him.

    One of the oldest existing works of Western literature, "The Odyssey" was believed to have been composed by Homer in the eighth century B.C. The epic poem was relayed through oral tradition until its 12,000 lines were written down.

    Original article on Live Science.





    Source: https://www.livescience.com/63051-ol...r-odyssey.html



    peace...
    ~~ One foot in the Ancient World and the other in the Now ~~

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    Moderator (on Sabbatical) Joe from the Carolinas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Oldest Fragment of Homer's 'Odyssey' Discovered

    Hey Skywizard, thanks for the thread, it looks like a real humdinger.

    As this is a discussion forum, the moderation team has had some feedback from folks lately that would like us to encourage those copy & pasting articles from other websites to make it more unique to Avalon, and add their own analysis and opinion.

    In light of the feedback from members, we would love to hear your personal opinions, analysis, and/or research on the details you've copied from the article, (other than "peace..." of course ), particularly in light of Bill's post here (please do read the entire post):

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan
    Thread-starters are always appreciated here, but they should also always do a little work for themselves: don't just copy stuff like a bot and leave all the work to others.

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    United States Avalon Member Jad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Oldest Fragment of Homer's 'Odyssey' Discovered

    Quote Posted by Joe from the Carolinas (here)
    Hey Skywizard, thanks for the thread, it looks like a real humdinger.

    As this is a discussion forum, the moderation team has had some feedback from folks lately that would like us to encourage those copy & pasting articles from other websites to make it more unique to Avalon, and add their own analysis and opinion.

    In light of the feedback from members, we would love to hear your personal opinions, analysis, and/or research on the details you've copied from the article, (other than "peace..." of course ), particularly in light of Bill's post here (please do read the entire post):

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan
    Thread-starters are always appreciated here, but they should also always do a little work for themselves: don't just copy stuff like a bot and leave all the work to others.
    I always enjoyed Skywizard’s and Uzn’s articles and pictures. If anything I like the fact that they copy the whole article here so I don’t have to go to another website to read them. Not every thread needs a deep analysis or a debate you know.. can we add a section for interesting articles from the web?

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    Australia Avalon Member Violet3's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Oldest Fragment of Homer's 'Odyssey' Discovered

    I agree with Jad - I always read the ancient archaeology info and look at the images, which add to our growing picture of just how amazing the earth's ancient history really is and how much information about it has been suppressed. Unearthing and sharing it is a service in itself and I don't feel analysis is additionally required. Keep digging this stuff up Skywizard!

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