Book contents
- Frontmatter
- NOTE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- I THE LIFE OF BACCHYLIDES
- II THE PLACE OF BACCHYLIDES IN THE HISTORY OF GREEK LYRIC POETRY
- III CHARACTERISTICS OF BACCHYLIDES AS A POET
- IV DIALECT AND GRAMMAR
- V METRES
- VI THE PAPYRUS
- AUTOTYPE PLATES
- VII THE TEXT OF THE PAPYRUS
- INTRODUCTIONS TO THE ODES
- TEXT, NOTES, AND TRANSLATION
- FRAGMENTS
- APPENDIX
- VOCABULARY
- INDEX
- Plate section
VI - THE PAPYRUS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
- Frontmatter
- NOTE
- PREFACE
- Contents
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- I THE LIFE OF BACCHYLIDES
- II THE PLACE OF BACCHYLIDES IN THE HISTORY OF GREEK LYRIC POETRY
- III CHARACTERISTICS OF BACCHYLIDES AS A POET
- IV DIALECT AND GRAMMAR
- V METRES
- VI THE PAPYRUS
- AUTOTYPE PLATES
- VII THE TEXT OF THE PAPYRUS
- INTRODUCTIONS TO THE ODES
- TEXT, NOTES, AND TRANSLATION
- FRAGMENTS
- APPENDIX
- VOCABULARY
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
The papyrus of Bacchylides (Brit. Mus. Pap. DCCXXXIII) was found in Egypt by natives; the place of discovery is uncertain. It was brought to the British Museum towards the end of 1896, in the condition which Dr F. G. Kenyon thus describes:—
‘When it reached England the manuscript consisted of about 200 torn fragments. The largest of these measured 20 inches in length, and contained four and a half columns of writing; there were fourteen pieces of some considerable size, containing one or more columns; while the rest were small fragments ranging from pieces measuring a few inches in either direction to scraps containing barely one or two letters. For the most part the fractures were recent, and were probably due to the Egyptian discoverers; but in a few places the completely different colours of adjoining fragments show that the fracture must be of old standing. If the manuscript was deposited in a tomb (as is a priori probable, though no authentic information on the point is forthcoming), this might be due to ancient plunderers in search of treasure; but the matter is not one of great importance, except as indicating that the modern discoverers are not solely to blame for the present condition of this precious manuscript.’
That the poems were those of Bacchylides, appeared from the occurrence in the papyrus of some verses known to be his.
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- Information
- Bacchylides: The Poems and Fragments , pp. 121 - 142Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1905