Cutting edge Classics

It's not often that classical literature, my old area of study makes the Sunday papers. But it has done so today.

Thousands of previously illegible manuscripts containing work by some of the greats of classical literature are being read for the first time using technology which experts believe will unlock the secrets of the ancient world.

The story refers to a collection of old scrolls and papyrus scraps found in Egypt a century or so ago that, thanks to modern scanning techniques, are finally being read. In the last couple of days brand new works by Sophocles, Euripides and Hesiod have been unveiled. Classical scholars are not known for their hubris, but some are calling it a second renaissance.

Read all about it at Oxyrhynchus Online.