An ancient plaque was found in Olympia that may be the oldest surviving written passage of the Homeric Epics

An exceptional discovery has been unearthed during excavations in ancient Olympia, which could potentially be the oldest surviving written excerpt from the Homeric Epics.

The plaque, engraved with verses from the Odyssey rhapsody, was discovered during surface-geoarchaeological research. This forms part of a three-year study titled “The Multidimensional Site of Olympia”, conducted at various sites around the sanctuary.

The dig is led by Dr. Erofilis-Irida Kolia, Head of the EAF Ilia, in collaboration with Professors Franziska Lang, Birgitta Eder, Andreas Vött, and Hans-Joachim Gehrke from the German Archaeological Institute and the Universities of Darmstadt, Tübingen, and Frankfurt am Mainz.

Specifically, a clay slab bearing an inscribed passage was discovered near the Olympia sanctuary among remains from the Roman era.

After recent conservation work at the Epha Elis laboratory, it was revealed that the slab preserves 13 verses from Rhapsody ξ of the Odyssey (Odysseus’ speech to Eumaeus). Our initial assessment suggests it can be dated to the Roman period, likely prior to the 3rd century AD.

The research team emphasizes that if this preliminary dating is confirmed through a systematic study of the inscription, which has already commenced, the clay slab may hold the oldest surviving written segment of the Homeric Epics yet discovered.

This suggests that, beyond its unique nature, the slab is a significant archaeological, epigraphic, literary, and historical artifact.