The Heracles Papyrus (
Sackler Library,
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, Pap. Oxyrhynchus 2331) is a fragment of a 3rd-century
Greek manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
of a
poem
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
about the
Labours of Heracles. It contains three unframed colored line drawings of the first of the Labors, the killing of the
Nemean lion, set within the columns of
cursive
Cursive (also known as joined-up writing) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionality and m ...
text. It was found at
Oxyrhynchus
Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...
(Pap. 2331) and is one of the few surviving scraps of classical literary illustration on
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
. The fragment measures 235 by 106 mm.
External links
High resolution image (1264×739
pixels)
Images of the papyrus fro
Oxyrhynchus Onlinefro
Literary illuminated manuscripts
3rd-century illuminated manuscripts
2331
Sackler library manuscripts
Papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...
{{OxyrhynchusGR-stub