3 ms·
The fragments may or may not be fake (consensus seems to be that the poem is probably genuine), but the provenance was certainly covered up. See https://eidolon
by hcayless 6y ago
The fragments may or may not be fake (consensus seems to be that the poem is probably genuine), but the provenance was certainly covered up. See https://eidolon.pub/the-murky-provenance-of-the-newest-sappho-aca671a6d52a https://eidolon.pub/the-murky-provenance-of-the-newest-sapph.... It's all quite scandalous and is connected to the theft and sale of biblical papyri to the Museum of the Bible. See also https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/09/a-scandal-in-oxford-the-curious-case-of-the-stolen-gospel https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/09/a-scandal-in-ox... and https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/16/oxford-professor-arrested-ancient-papyrus-bible-theft-dirk-obbink https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/16/oxford-profe...
- kergonath 6y agoYes, the guardian article is great. I went down that rabbit hole a while ago and I found convincing arguments that the Sappho poems were fakes (though the Bible fragments are genuine but stolen). I can’t find the source again. I thought the Atlantic article explained it, but they stop at the Turk who provided them to Obbink. So I’ll settle for “likely forgeries”.