Editing Odyssey (section)

=== Textual tradition ===
[[File:Demetrios Chalkokondyles - Detail of Angel Appearing to Zacharias by Domenico Ghirlandaio.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by the Italian painter [[Domenico Ghirlandaio]] of the Greek Renaissance scholar [[Demetrios Chalkokondyles]], who produced the first printed edition of the ''Odyssey'' in 1488]]

In the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, scholars affiliated with the [[Library of Alexandria]]—particularly [[Zenodotus]] and [[Aristarchus of Samothrace]]—edited the Homeric poems, wrote [[Scholia|commentaries]] on them, and helped establish them as canonical texts.<ref name="Haslam2012">{{Cite book |last=Haslam |first=Michael |title=The Homer Encyclopedia |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-4051-7768-9 |chapter=Text and Transmission |doi=10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe1413}}</ref> Alexandrian scholar [[Didymus the Blind|Didymus]]'s commentary divided ancient editions of the Homeric texts into ''city editions'' or ''individual editions''. City editions were likely created within the city (perhaps as "official" versions) while individual editions were independently prepared  by scholars.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=112}} He mentions individual versions owned by [[Antimachus]], [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]], and [[Sosigenes the Peripatetic|Sosigenes]]; there is a record of city editions existing in [[Marseille|Argos]], [[Chios]], [[Crete]], [[Cyprus]] and [[Marseille]].{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=112}} Many editions were stored in the Library of Alexandria.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=114}} Throughout antiquity, both ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' were widely copied and used as [[textbook|school texts]] in lands where the Greek language was spoken.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} They were probably a core part of the ancient Greek education system, certainly for the elite of [[Classical Athens]].{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|pp=411, 417}} 

Their influence in non-Greek territories fluctuated. The [[Roman Empire]] readily absorbed Homer into its own culture, spreading it east and west.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=411}} The subjects of both poems—[[Trojan War]] and its participants—were already critical historical and mythological references for Romans.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=417}} [[Alexander the Great]]'s conquests spread [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] cultural influence throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and it became read by every school child in the Greek world.{{Sfn|Pache|Dué|Lupack|Lamberton|2020|p=417}} 

During the [[Middle Ages]], the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'' remained widely studied; as with Classical Athens, they were used as school texts within the [[Byzantine Empire]].{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} The Byzantine scholar and archbishop [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathios of Thessalonike]] ({{Circa|1115|1195/6 AD}}) wrote exhaustive commentaries on both of the Homeric epics that were seen as authoritative by later generations;{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} his commentary on the ''Odyssey'' alone spans nearly 2,000 oversized pages in a twentieth-century edition.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}} The first printed edition of the ''Odyssey'', known as the ''[[editio princeps]]'', was [[List of editiones principes in Greek|produced in 1488]] by the Greek scholar [[Demetrios Chalkokondyles]], who had been born in Athens and had studied in Constantinople.{{sfn|Lamberton|2010|pp=449–452}}{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}} His edition was printed in [[Milan]] by a Greek printer named Antonios Damilas.{{sfn|Browning|1992|pp=134–148}}

Since the late 19th century, many papyri containing fragments of the ''Odyssey'' have been found in Egypt, some with content different from later medieval versions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Daley |first=Jason |date=11 July 2018 |title=Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-greek-fragment-homer-discovered-clay-tablet-180969602/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223253/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-greek-fragment-homer-discovered-clay-tablet-180969602/ |archive-date=23 January 2019 |access-date=29 July 2022 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref> In 2018, the [[Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)|Greek Cultural Ministry]] revealed  a clay tablet discovered near the [[Temple of Zeus, Olympia|Temple of Zeus]] at Olympia, containing 13 verses from the ''Odyssey''{{'s}} 14th book. While it was initially reported to date from the 3rd century AD, the date is unconfirmed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tagaris |first=Karolina |date=10 July 2018 |editor-last=Heavens |editor-first=Andrew |title='Oldest known extract' of Homer's Odyssey discovered in Greece |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-archaeology-odyssey/oldest-known-extract-of-homers-odyssey-discovered-in-greece-idUSKBN1K01QM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324125157/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-archaeology-odyssey/oldest-known-extract-of-homers-odyssey-discovered-in-greece-idUSKBN1K01QM |archive-date=24 March 2019 |work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 July 2018 |title=Homer Odyssey: Oldest extract discovered on clay tablet |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44779492 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901203416/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44779492 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>