Symposium on the Derveni Papyrus : Foreword

This volume has both a history and a future. The conference in July 2008 that produced the papers appearing here was a consequence of the permission granted to the Center for Hellenic Studies in 2006 by Leo S. Olschki Editore in Florence to publish online the text of the Derveni Papyrus as presented in its editio princeps by Kouremenos, Parássoglou, and Tsantsanoglou and published in that same year. The online publication of this edition was the result of the good offices of several institutions, including the Università degli Studi di Genova, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

Since 2006, the Center has developed a new digital form for the text within the framework of the CHS–iMouseion Project, which offers the possibility of a “multiversion Derveni Papyrus.” Because of the number of unplaced fragments, this exceptionally challenging document is still in the process of being pieced together. New reconstructions can be displayed side by side, offering a simultaneous view of the different proposed versions of each column. We have thus updated the presentation of the papyrus on the Derveni Project site to include Franco Ferrari’s edition of the papyrus (cols. I–VI) and to enable comparison between it and the editio princeps. The two versions can be viewed at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:Derveni_Papyrus_FerrariF_ed_2012.

The conference papers were published in earlier versions as Issue 5 of the Center’s online journal, Classics@, where they are still accessible; that edition includes video supplements (see http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_Classicsat). Many of these papers have been significantly updated for the pre-sent publication.

In the spring of 2014, the Center will publish the current volume online on a new website that allows for moderated interaction and response. The study of the Derveni Papyrus is a vital, ongoing process that we wish to foster. That process may well result in new online-only editions of the research published here.

- Leonard Muellner, Brandeis University. Center for Hellenic Studies

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