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{{Tone|date=November 2023}}

The '''Milan Papyrus'''<ref>Now P. Mil. Vogl. VIII 309.</ref> is a [[papyrus]] [[scroll|roll]] inscribed in [[Alexandria]] in the late 3rd or early 2nd century BC during the rule of the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]]. 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 1992<ref>''Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists'' '''39''' (2002) p.165</ref> 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 tale of the discovery made ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110219085715/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/26/science/a-mummy-bequeaths-poems-from-a-master.html New York Times]</ref> and ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]].''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20021029150434/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1028_021028_mummyscroll.html National Geographic News]</ref>

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.<ref>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</ref> The edition included the complete transcription of the recto of the papyrus, with extensive{{According to whom|date=November 2023}} commentary, and high-quality facsimiles of the whole roll.

In 2002, Austin and Bastianini published a comprehensive, smaller edition,<ref>The ''editio minor''.</ref> ''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. This has been considered the authoritative edition of Posidippus' works ever since.{{By whom|date=November 2023}}

Scholars have rushed to mine this new trove of highly conscious literary productions at the most sophisticated level that were created in a major center of Hellenistic culture.<ref>[http://athena.leidenuniv.nl/letteren/opleiding/klassieketalen/index.php3?c=151 Leiden University: on-line bibliography of Posidippus]{{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}: see especially 2001 onwards</ref>{{When|date=November 2023}}

After a "standing-room only"<ref>[http://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/1341 Classics@1, issue 1]</ref> discussion at the [[American Philological Association]] annual meeting in January 2001,<ref>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).</ref> a seminar on the Milan Papyrus was held at Harvard's [[Center for Hellenic Studies]] in April 2002, and international conferences were held at Milan, Florence and Cincinnati,<ref>[http://www.uc.edu/news/posid.htm University of Cincinnati news release].</ref> in November 2002.<ref>[http://classics.uc.edu/posidippus/index.html "The New Posidippus"]</ref>

Scholarly work on the Milan Papyrus, on Posidippus, who is now revealed in a broader range of subjects, and on the Alexandrian literary epigram in general, was invigorated by the discovery and proceeds apace.<ref>The first issue of Harvard University's on-line classics journal, "Classics@" was devoted to Posidippus and the papyrus; it was updated March 2007. ([http://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/1341 Center for Hellenic studies: Classics@ Issue 1])</ref>{{When|date=November 2023}}

== Description & contents ==
Over six hundred previously unknown lines of [[Greek poetry]] are on the roll, representing about 112 brief poems, or [[epigram]]s. Two of these were already known and had been attributed by the 12th-century AD Byzantine scholar [[John Tzetzes]] to the [[Hellenistic]] [[epigram]]matist [[Posidippus (epigrammatic poet)|Posidippus of Pella]] (c. 310 – c. 240 BC), a Macedonian who spent his literary career in Alexandria.<ref>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. = ''[[Palatine Anthology|Anth. Pal.]]'' XVI 119 = 18 G.–P. (''HE'', ll. 3150–53).</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Ancient Lives |date=2013-01-31 |title=Posidippus: The Milan Papyrus |url=https://zooniverseancientlives.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/posidippus-the-milan-papyrus/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Ancient Lives |language=en}}</ref> Another says "All sixteen columns of P.Mil.Vogl. VIII 309 are written in a style dating back to ca. 220 BC".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ferrari |first=Franco |title=Posidippus, the Milan Papyrus, and Some Hellenistic Anthologies, in &quot;Classic@&quot; 1 (2004) |url=https://www.academia.edu/8284277}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of ancient Egyptian papyri]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==

=== Texts and sources ===
*Posidippus A.-B. = Austin, C. – Bastianini, G. (edd.), Posidippi Pellaei quae supersunt omnia [http://www.lededizioni.com/catalogo/austinposidippo.html], LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2002, {{ISBN|88-7916-193-8}}
*Bastianini, G. – Gallazzi, C. (edd.), Papiri dell’Università di Milano - Posidippo di Pella. Epigrammi, LED Edizioni Universitarie, Milano, 2001, {{ISBN|88-7916-165-2}}
*G.-P., ''HE'' = [[A. S. F. Gow|Gow, A. S. F.]] – [[Denys Page|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, {{ISBN|88-7916-199-7}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051218090959/http://www.chs.harvard.edu/publications.sec/classics.ssp/issue_i_posidippus.pg 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

[[Category:Ancient Greek poems]]
[[Category:Papyri from ancient Egypt]]
[[Category:Ptolemaic Greek inscriptions]]
[[Category:Greek-language papyri]]