Physical Lay-Out, Material Damage and the Reconstruction of Fragmentary Texts: Two Case Studies from Lyric Poetry

My aim in this paper is to draw attention to the implications of physical details in the preservation state of fragments and of their physical lay-out for the reconstruction of fragments of papyrus rolls. After providing a concise introduction to the issue, along with some bibliographical indications, I will focus on two lyric fragments, exploring the different ways in which clues offered by physical features can be exploited: 1) P.Oxy. XXI 2288 (with parts of Sappho fr. 1 Voigt), and 2) the portions of P.Oxy. V 841 with fragments of Pindar, Pae. VIII S-M.