Repeated
references in previous reading material (e.g. The History of Alexander the Great and the Ephemerides of Alexander’s Expedition by CA Robinson and Xenophon, The Persian Expedition) and the historical
background of the papyri dump discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, led
me to pick up this book, Hellenica Oxyrhynchia with an introduction, translation and comments by P.J.
McKechnie and S.J. Kern (ISBN 0-85668-358-2).
The authors
have brought together the first publications by B.P. Grenfell and A.S. Hunt in
1908 with those made on later fragments. They are a collection of different
copies of the same document written by the same unknown author.
The most
recent fragments are being kept at the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo and these are also the oldest papyri
dating to the late first century AD. The so-called Florence Fragment was discovered in 1934 and is relatively small;
it is kept at the Istituto Papirologico
in the University
of Florence
and is dated to the late second century AD. The principal papyrus is the one
discovered by abovementioned British explorers in 1906, consisting at first of
about 230 fragments that are dated to late first or early second century AD. It
is however possible that further portions of this Hellenica Oxyrhynchia will be discovered and identified in
the future.
The fragments generally cover the history ofGreece between 409 and 407 BC on
one hand and 396 to 394 BC on the other. These papyri are a continuation of Thucydides’ history and pick up where Xenophon’s ‘Hellenica’ begins. A serious effort is made, thanks to the authors
of this edition, to clarify the endless wars between Athens
and Sparta about
politics and power, combined with the warring and bribing of the Persians who
were experts in setting up one party against the other. The tale is fragmentary
because the papyri are only fragments, but all the available Greek texts
(reproduced on the left page) are given with a parallel translation in English
(on the right hand page); these texts are further being commented upon in
details, including remarks and finding made in works of earlier authors.
The major question: i.e. the name of the author remains unanswered. Pros and cons are being discussed, ranging from Xenophon, Theopompus and Cratippus to Dionysus ofHalicarnassus , Daimachus of
Plataea and
Ephorus – to name only a few.
Captivating, highly interesting and making you want to dig out the subject further.
More information about the papyri of Oxyrhynchus can be found in my previous story “Get involved with Oxyrhynchus” and in my comments on Peter Parson’s book “City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish”.
The fragments generally cover the history of
The major question: i.e. the name of the author remains unanswered. Pros and cons are being discussed, ranging from Xenophon, Theopompus and Cratippus to Dionysus of
Captivating, highly interesting and making you want to dig out the subject further.
More information about the papyri of Oxyrhynchus can be found in my previous story “Get involved with Oxyrhynchus” and in my comments on Peter Parson’s book “City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish”.
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