Ancient ‘Odyssey’ Fragment Found Hidden Inside Dutch University Library Book

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A tiny fragment of Homer’s “Odyssey”, believed to have come from a pocket-sized edition produced in Egypt around 1,700 years ago, has been identified in a Dutch university library.

The remarkable discovery was made at Utrecht University, where Greek literature specialist Mark de Kreij of Radboud University was examining early Christian manuscripts acquired by the university during the mid-20th century.

The parchment fragment measures just 6.6 by 7.7 centimetres, yet it preserves verses from Book 12 of the “Odyssey”, including the dramatic aftermath of Odysseus’ crew slaughtering and eating the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios.

In Homer’s epic, Odysseus and his men reach the island of Helios after surviving the dangers of Scylla and Charybdis.

They have been warned not to harm the god’s cattle. But after becoming desperately hungry, the crew ignores the warning and kills the animals for food.

Helios demands punishment, and Zeus ultimately destroys their ship. Odysseus is left as the only survivor.

A pocket edition from ancient Egypt

Researchers believe the parchment once formed part of a small codex produced in Egypt’s Fayum oasis during the third or fourth century AD.

Utrecht University says only around 30 comparable fragments are currently known, making the tiny piece an unusually valuable survival from the ancient literary world.

De Kreij has suggested that the fragment may have survived precisely because of where it was positioned within the original book.

Located towards the middle of the codex, it would have been surrounded and protected by other pages, helping shield the parchment from damage over the centuries.

Discovered in 2024

The fragment was actually identified in 2024, but details of the discovery have only now been made public.

De Kreij has been studying Utrecht University’s collection of Greco Roman Egyptian texts, with his research expected to appear in a forthcoming book.

The discovery provides another glimpse into how Homer’s works were read and circulated long after the ancient Greek world had changed.

It is also the second unexpected Homeric discovery reported in 2026.

Earlier this year, fragments of Homer’s “Iliad” were identified inside a Roman era mummy in Egypt, offering another extraordinary link between the surviving remains of ancient Egypt and the works of one of Greece’s greatest poets.

More than two millennia after Homer’s epics were composed, even fragments no larger than a hand can still reveal new chapters in the story of how his words survived through the ages.

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