Classical Works Rediscovered

The classical works of Sophocles, Euripides, Ovid and Aeschylus that were found in a garbage dump in Oxyrhynchus a century ago is being read for the first time in well over 2,000 years thanks to advances in satelite imagery. But how can satelite imagery be used to read hidden text? Well, the faded ink although it cant be seen in the visible light spectrum can be seen when its placed under infra-red light using the techniques of satelite imagery. Some of the new findings are lost parts of the tragedy Epigonoi, an epic by Archilochos describing events leading up to the Trojan War, and early Christain gospels. Below are the rediscovered words of a Greek tragedy.

Originally posted by Archilochos
Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.

Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle’s songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.

Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot’s rail.

Wow I don't know about you but for me this is very important news. Just imagine what discoveries in the next couple weeks will show. Im still in shock

Resources:
Scotsman
Independent
Oxyrhynchus

Can't wait...amazing isn't it, that something like this goes barely reported, but something like Britney Spears being pregnant from her white trash absent father, adultering hubby is shouted from the rooftops....

This is great. I would be even more excited if we can find a collaborating story on Atlantis.

One question how in the world did these classicals ended in a the trash, I find that very disturbing.

And now one century later they will be unveiled, I wonder how much can you trust modern translation of ancient test.

Still I can not wait to see what is hidden in them, that prompted somebody to trash them, at least they were not burned like many others.

Originally posted by marg6043
One question how in the world did these classicals ended in a the trash, I find that very disturbing.

They were digging through the "garbage dumps" of the ancient cities. These are scrolls that came from someone's library (several someone's libraries) and got old/tattered/were thrown out when someone died/changed religion.

These weren't in some museum and were hauled off to the dump.

And now one century later they will be unveiled, I wonder how much can you trust modern translation of ancient test.

Quite well. They're translated by teams and they're checked by other knowledgeable people. It's not someone staring at a fragment and "channeling" the text.

Still I can not wait to see what is hidden in them, that prompted somebody to trash them, at least they were not burned like many others.

Some, I think, were burned and the ashes dumped. This is an exciting find, though.

Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.

Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle’s songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.

Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot’s rail.

Errr......

I don't know if its because I just read that 'Ancient Pronography" thread, but uhmmm, has there been a slight mistranslation here? Gobbling iron, purple helmets, gluing.

Dang, maybe I'm just a weirdo.

This is really excellent news. The only trouble is that it will probably be years before we actually get the translations of these things done, that sort of thing always seems to go really slowly. I look forward to seeing the results, though.

Incidentally, if anyone wants a laugh, check out the Oxyrhynchus that Vegemite posted. The myth of Oxyrhynchus and Osiris cracks me up, hehe. Go to the 2nd paragraph in the link and read that. Poor Osiris...

Originally posted by Nygdan

Speaker A: . . . gobbling the whole, sharpening the flashing iron.

Speaker B: And the helmets are shaking their purple-dyed crests, and for the wearers of breast-plates the weavers are striking up the wise shuttle’s songs, that wakes up those who are asleep.

Speaker A: And he is gluing together the chariot’s rail.

Errr......

I don't know if its because I just read that 'Ancient Pronography" thread, but uhmmm, has there been a slight mistranslation here? Gobbling iron, purple helmets, gluing.

Dang, maybe I'm just a weirdo.

Nah. You just haven't been reading enough Homer or Hesiod. And they're sharpening the flashing iron, not gobbling it. And it's the horsehair plumes that they're dyeing purple.

See? Ya just gotta quit contaminating yourself with reruns of "Survivor" and "American Idol" and go contaminate yourself with Sappho and the like.

I think people often do underestimate just how dirty some of those old poems and whatnot are. From what I've heard some of the graffiti that you can find is pretty raunchy. And sappho? Thats part of that whole thing too no? Haven't read much of it specifically tho. Guess I shouldn't be thinking that the actual translators are unaware of those kinds of things tho!