P.Mich.inv. 4953 / Verso
Viewer
About this Item
Related Views
back | summary (1 items)
Record Details
- Inventory Number
- P.Mich.inv. 4953
- Processing Number
- 2353
- Section/Side
- Verso
- Image Side
- Verso
Background and Physical Properties
- Publ./Side
- Verso; Recto contains a now nearly illegible account written along the fibers.
- Connections
- -
- Material
- Pap
- Size
- 11.5 x 9.3 cm.
- Items
- 1
- Lines
- 1-6
- Mounted
- no
- Negative
- Yes
- Conservation Status
- This medium to dark brown papyrus is broken off to the right, but the text can be easily reconstructed.
- Palaeographic Description
- The schoolmaster's hand is a moderately skilled semi-cursive characteristic of the middle or late third century A.D; cp. P. Flor. II 148 (= Schubart, Gr. Pal., pl. 50) of 266/267 A.D. Euychides' hand (hd. 2) falters noticeably as he attempts to reproduce these letter forms. By comparison, his signature, which is written in uncial letters, is neat and confident. The style changes much as does that of a "slow writer" when his model changes. It would seem that, in contrast to the semi-cursive before him, Eutychides had in his mind's eye, as a model for his signature, the basic letter forms he had first learned in school. He had now reached that stage in his writing lessons when he was supposed to change the model and proceed from block letters to cursive. The text is written along the fibers.
- Status
- published
- Library
- Ann Arbor
Contents
- Date
- III century A.D.
- Origin
- unknown
- Provenance
- unknown
- Acquisition
- purchased in 1928
- Language
- Greek
- Genre
- literary
- Author
- Euthychides, son of Kalopos
- Type of Text/Title of Work
- School poem on mythology
- Content
- The papyrus preserves part of a poem which was put to use as a writing exercise. The format is familiar: a teacher supplies a writing model and a pupil's copy follows. Here the pupil fails to finish his assignment. He stops writing before quite completing to copy the first verse in line 5.
- Each of the three complete hexameters in the writing model deals with a different mythological event. The lines are arranged so as to form an alphabetical acrostic. We know of numerous such abecadaria designed to aid in the teaching of various subjects, and one of them closely resembles our text in that it deals with mythological subjects as well. It is recorded in the 'Notebook of Papnouthion", lines 18-37. Formally, it differs from the present poem in three ways. First, it is written in iambic trimeters, rather than hexameters; second, the alphabetic pattern is alpha omega, beta psi, gamma chi etc.; and finally, these pairs of verses, rather than individual hexameters, each treat an incident in myth or legend.
- Subject Headings
- Greek language--Writing--Study and teaching.
- Greek language--Writing|vProblems, exercises, etc.
- Mythology, Greek.
- Iambic trimeter.
- Persons
- Althaia,
- Meleagros,
- Polydeukes,
- Amykos,
- Perseus
- Euthychides, son of Kalopos
- Geographica
- -
- Translation
- Lines 1-3: "Althaia killed Meleagros with the pitiless firebrand. Polydeukes prevailed over Amykos, the chief of the Bebrykes. Perseus lopped off the head of the direful Gorgon."
- Papyri.info Link
- https://papyri.info/apis/michigan.apis.3983
Information on Publications
- Publications
-
Series and Volume Editor Year Pg/Nr Photo SB Preferred Citation Corrections Diss Daniel RW 1981 100-3 Pl Ic Daniel RW, Diss, 100-3, 1981, Pl Ic ZPE 49 Daniel RW 1982 43-4 Pl Ic Daniel RW, ZPE 49, 43-4, 1982, Pl Ic
Information on Publications--Further Republications
- Further Republications
- Cribiore R, Writing, Teachers, and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt, 1996, p. 206; Here also, she has corrected the ed. princ.'s note that the "text written across the fibers on the back of a fragment" having put the sign -> rightly for both sides.
Information on Publications--Bibliography
- Bibliography
- LDAB 5338
Cataloging
- Cataloger
- TC/NL
- Year Begin
- 200
- Year End
- 299
Technical Details
- Image Size
- 3827 x 4089
- File Size
- 2 MB
- Record
- 2353
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-2353/4953v.tif
Rights and Permissions
The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials are in the public domain. If you have questions about the collection, please contact APIS Help. If you would like to request high-resolution images, please contact the Papyrology Collection. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact Library Information Technology.
No Copyright. This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/apis:2353:4953V.TIF
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"P.Mich.inv. 4953; Verso." In the digital collection Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS UM). https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-2353/4953v.tif. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 02, 2024.