Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 222
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 222 (P. Oxy. 222 or P. Oxy. II 222) is a list of ancient Olympic victors by an unknown author, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a roll. It is dated to the third century. Currently it is housed in the British Library (Department of Manuscripts, 1185) in London.[1]
Description
The document was written by an unknown copyist. The
It was discovered by
Significance
According to Grenfell and Hunt, "the number of interesting points upon which the papyrus throws new light is very considerable."
A few examples of these points are as follows: The manuscript allowed the dating of
This papyrus proved that Bacchylides was alive as late as 452 BC, when the latest previously known date was 468 BC. It showed that
The more general value of the papyrus lies in its bearing on the wider question of the credibility of early scholiasts and commentators on matters of fact of the sort discussed in the manuscript. Because it was found at a remote and relatively unimportant center of Hellenic culture, it shows that such information was widely diffused and easily accessible throughout the Hellenic world. Given such diffusion, false statements of fact by ancient authors would have been easily detected, which makes it very unlikely that such authors would risk exposure by making things up. Thus this manuscript supports an assumption of the trustworthiness of ancient tradition as a sound principle of modern textual criticism.
See also
References
- ^ P. Oxy. 222 at the Oxyrhynchus Online
- ^ a b Grenfell, B. P.; Hunt, A. S. (1898). Oxyrhynchus Papyri II. London: Egypt Exploration Fund. pp. 85–95.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: B. P. Grenfell; A. S. Hunt (1899). Oxyrhynchus Papyri II. London: Egypt Exploration Fund.