An Idiosyncratic Homer, Iliad A 361-391 (P.Yale I 4)

Abstract

A single sheet of papyrus with a 33-line column from the first book of the Iliad which was not fortunate in its scribe, because he often wrote an iota after the long vowels eta and omega, both mid-word as well as word-end. A second mishap occurred for the papyrus when the modern possessor, intent on enhancing the sheet's value, detached a seven-line patch with four to six letters per line from the left side of the papyrus and inserted this into empty space above and to the right, wreaking havoc with the Greek at A 366-372, Thetis' first visit to Achilles.