Lectures: New Greek Texts from Oxyrhynchus

BRITISH ACADEMY PRESENTATION EVENING
New Greek Texts from Oxyrhynchus

Wednesday 24 June 2009, 7.00 pm - 8.30 pm
The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH
Tickets: No tickets will be issued for this event - please see below*
Convenors: Professor Eric Handley, University of Cambridge, and Dr Dirk Obbink, University of Oxford
Speakers: Dr Dirk Obbink, Professor Peter Parsons, University of Oxford, and Dr Dorothy Thompson, University of
Cambridge

Just over a hundred years ago, on a site some 100 miles south of Cairo, two Oxford scholars, on behalf of the Egypt
Exploration Fund, excavated some 50,000 pieces of ancient books and documents that had been discarded in the city
dump, and had survived the centuries in the dry climate.
The excavators were Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt. They devoted successive seasons to their task between 1897
and 1907, and gave more years still to publishing some of their significant discoveries. The site in question is modern
Bahnasa, ancient Oxyrhynchus or ’The City of the Sharp-nosed Fish’, as Peter Parsons calls it in the title of a much-
admired book that appeared in 2007. More than seventy volumes of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri have so far been published.
They include texts of Greek literature otherwise lost to the modern world, together with fragments of Christian gospels,
technical treatises, tax returns, petitions to the authorities, private letters, wills and a host of other documents that give
a unique insight into the life of the city and the Graeco-Roman civilization of which it was part.
The presentation evening offers an opportunity to consider such questions as did Euripides write two versions of his
play Medea? How do modern methods of image-making work to recover an unknown classical text? How much can a
personal letter reveal of the world about the writer? There will also be an opportunity to hear something of the present
state and future prospects of the Oxyrhynchus Project as a whole. A compact display of papyri, photographs, and other
relevant material will also be on view.
* Please note the registration and seating policy:
1. This event is organised by the British Academy but EES members are warmly invited to attend. The event is free of
charge, there is no advance registration for this event and no tickets will be issued.
2. The rooms for the event will be open from 6.30pm onwards - please do not arrive at the Academy before this time.
3. The first 100 audience members arriving at the Academy will be offered a seat in the Lecture Room where this event
will take place. The next 50 people to arrive will be offered a seat in the Overflow Room which has a video and audio
link to the Lecture Room.
For further information please contact the British Academy Events Office: 020 7969 5246, email: events@britac.ac.ukBRITISH ACADEMY PRESENTATION EVENING
New Greek Texts from Oxyrhynchus