In a significant development for the study of ancient Greek literature, two scholars from the University of Colorado Boulder have identified previously unknown fragments of works by the famed tragedian Euripides. These fragments, unearthed from a papyrus found at an ancient Egyptian site, represent the most important discovery of Euripidean texts in over half a century. The scholars, Assistant Professor Yvona Trnka-Amrhein and Professor John Gibert, believe these fragments are from two of Euripides’ largely lost plays, Polyidus and Ino.
The Discovery: A Rare Find in Classical Studies
The story began in November 2022 when Basem Gehad, an archaeologist with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, sent a photograph of a papyrus fragment to Trnka-Amrhein. The papyrus, excavated from the ancient site of Philadelphia in Egypt, contained 98 lines of Greek text. Trnka-Amrhein, with her expertise in classical studies, quickly recognized the text as belonging to the genre of tragedy. After consulting the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, a digital database of ancient Greek texts, she confirmed that the lines were previously unknown excerpts of Euripides’ work.
The papyri in situ in the northeast corner of the tomb. (Courtesy Basem Gehad/Artnet)
Realizing the potential significance of the find, Trnka-Amrhein enlisted the help of her colleague, Professor John Gibert, a specialist in Euripides fragments. Together, they spent months meticulously studying the 10.5-square-inch papyrus fragment,…
