The Milan PapyrusNow P. Mil. Vogl. VIII 309. is a papyrus roll inscribed in Alexandria in the late 3rd or early 2nd century BC during the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It contains examples of Greek poetry by Posidippus of Pella (c. 270 BC). It is currently held by the University of Milan (inventory no. 1295 R), and it is also known in scholarship under its label P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309.

History Originally discovered by anonymous tomb raiders as part of a mummy wrapping, it was purchased in the papyrus "grey market" in Europe in 1992Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 39 (2002) p.165 by the University of Milan.

As the earliest surviving example of a Greek poetry book as well as the largest addition to the corpus of classical Greek poetry in many years, the story of its discovery was covered by The New York TimesNew York Times, 26 November 2002, “A mummy bequeaths poems from a master” and National Geographic.National Geographic News, 1 October 2002, “Mummy scroll”

Labelled the "Milan Papyrus," it was published in a scholarly edition in 2001, edited by Guido Bastianini, Claudio Gallazzi, and Colin Austin, with contributions by other scholars.The editio princeps: Guido Bastianini, Claudio Gallazzi with Colin Austin. Posidippo di Pella. Epigrammi (P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309) (Milan: Edizioni Universitarie di Lettere Economia e Diritto) 2001 The edition included the complete transcription of the recto of the papyrus, with commentary and high-quality facsimiles of the whole roll.

In 2002, Austin and Bastianini published a comprehensive, smaller edition,The editio minor. Posidippi Pellaei quae supersunt omnia, "all the surviving works of Posidippus of Pella", including the epigrams of the papyrus, the epigrams known through Tzetzes and other epigrams transmitted by the Palatine Anthology, with Italian and English translations.

Scholars have been eager to examine this new literary source, created in a major center of Hellenistic culture.Leiden University: on-line bibliography of Posidippus: see especially 2001 onwards Academic discussion on the roll includes a "standing-room only"Harvard University, Classics@1, issue 1 discussion at the American Philological Association annual meeting in January 2001,Bing, Peter, "Posidippus on Stones. The First Section of the New Posidippus Papyrus (P. Mil. Vogl. VIII 309, Col. I-IV.6)", American Philological Association Panel on the New Epigrams of Posidippus, (Philadelphia 2001). a seminar on the Milan Papyrus at Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in April 2002, and international conferences at Milan, Florence and Cincinnati,University of Cincinnati news release in November 2002."The New Posidippus"

In 2007, Harvard University reported that scholarly work on the Milan Papyrus, on Posidippus, and on the Alexandrian literary epigram in general, was invigorated by the discovery.The first issue of Harvard University's on-line classics journal, "Classics@" was devoted to Posidippus and the papyrus; it was updated March 2007. (Center for Hellenic studies: Classics@ Issue 1)

Description & contents Over six hundred previously unknown lines of Greek poetry are on the roll, representing about 112 brief poems, or epigrams. Two of these were already known and had been attributed by the 12th-century AD Byzantine scholar John Tzetzes to the Hellenistic epigrammatist Posidippus of Pella (c. 310 – c. 240 BC), a Macedonian who spent his literary career in Alexandria.These are respectively P.Mil.Vogl. 309, cols. II 39 – III 7 = Posiduppus 15 A.-B. = 20 G.-P. (HE, ll. 3166–73), through Tzetzes, Chiliades VII 639–660 L. (an allusion to this epigram is in Chiliades VIII 636–640 L.); and P.Mil.Vogl. 309, X 30–33 = Posidippus 65 A.-B. = Anth. Pal. XVI 119 = 18 G.–P. (HE, ll. 3150–53). The initial reaction has been to attribute all the new lines to Posidippus, though Franco Ferrari suggests that there is evidence the manuscript is an anthology, in which Posidippus' epigrams predominated.

In addition to the epigrams, which are written on the recto (i.e., the inner surface of the roll), the papyrus also bears a mythological text in Greek, heavily damaged, which was written on the verso (the outer surface) and, as of 2023, is still unpublished.

In terms of the date, one source suggests that "One side contains approximately 600 lines of verse in a hand that has been dated to c. 230-200 BCE. The other side has some mythological material which dates to the early 2nd century BCE." Another says "All sixteen columns of P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309 are written in a style dating back to ca. 220 BC".

See also List of ancient Egyptian papyri

Notes

References

Texts and sources Posidippus A.-B. = Austin, C. – Bastianini, G. (edd.), Posidippi Pellaei quae supersunt omnia , LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2002, Bastianini, G. – Gallazzi, C. (edd.), Papiri dell’Università di Milano - Posidippo di Pella. Epigrammi, LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2001, G.-P., HE = Gow, A. S. F. – Page D. L., The Greek Anthology I: Hellenistic Epigrams, Cambridge 1965. Tzetzes, Chiliades L. = Leone, P. L. M. (ed.), Ioannis Tzetzae Historiae, Napoli 1968.

Secondary literature

Un Poeta Ritrovato. Posidippo di Pella. Giornata di studio - Milano 23 novembre 2001, LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2002,

External links New Epigrams Attributed to Posidippus of Pella at the Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University, including the Greek text of the poems and English translations