Nonnus of Panopolis (, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century AD) was the most notable

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian

Thebaid The Thebaid or Thebais (, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nome (Egypt), nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos, Egypt, Abydos to Aswan. Pharaonic history The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximit ...

and probably lived in the 5th century AD. He is known as the composer of the '' Dionysiaca'', an epic tale of the god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

, and of the ''Metabole'', a paraphrase of the ''

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

''. The epic ''Dionysiaca'' describes the life of Dionysus, his expedition to India, and his triumphant return. It was written in

Homeric Greek Homeric Greek is the form of the Greek language that was used in the ''Iliad'', ''Odyssey'', and ''Homeric Hymns''. It is a literary dialect of Ancient Greek consisting mainly of an archaic form of Ionic, with some Aeolic forms, a few from Ar ...

and in

dactylic hexameter Dactylic hexameter is a form of meter used in Ancient Greek epic and didactic poetry as well as in epic, didactic, satirical, and pastoral Latin poetry. Its name is derived from Greek (, "finger") and (, "six"). Dactylic hexameter consists o ...

, and it consists of 48 books at 20,426 lines.

Life

There is almost no evidence for the life of Nonnus. It is known that he was a native of Panopolis (

Akhmim Akhmim (, ; Akhmimic , ; Sahidic/Bohairic ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis or Chemmis () and Panopolis (), it is located on the east bank of the Nile, to the northeast of Sohag. ...

) in

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

from his naming in manuscripts and the reference in epigram 9.198 of the '' Palatine Anthology''. Scholars have generally dated him from the end of the 4th to the central years of the 5th century AD. He must have lived after the composition of Claudian's Greek ''Gigantomachy'' (i.e., after 394–397) as he appears to be familiar with that work. Agathias Scholasticus seems to have followed him, with a mid-6th-century reference to him as a "recent author". He is sometimes conflated with St Nonnus from the hagiographies of St Pelagia and with Nonnus, the

bishop of Edessa Below is a list of bishops of Edessa. Early bishops The following list is based on the records of the ''Chronicle of Edessa'' (to ''c''.540) and the ''Chronicle of Zuqnin''. Jacobite (Syriac) bishops These bishops belonged to the Syriac Orthodo ...

who attended the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

, both of whom seem to have been roughly contemporary, but these associations are probably mistaken.

The ''Dionysiaca''

Nonnus's principal work is the 48-book

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

''Dionysiaca'', the longest surviving poem from

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

. It has 20,426 lines composed in

and

s, the main subject of which is the life of

, his expedition to India, and his triumphant return. The poem is to be dated to the 5th century. It used to be considered of poor literary quality, but a mass of recent writing (most notably in the Budé edition and commentary on the poem in 18 volumes) has demonstrated that it shows consummate literary skill, even if its distinctly baroque extravagance is an acquired taste for a modern reader. His versification invites attention: writing in hexameters he uses a higher proportion of dactyls and less elision than earlier poets; this plus his subtle use of alliteration and assonance gives his verse a unique musicality.

The ''Paraphrase of John''

His ''Paraphrase of John'' (''Metabolḕ toû katà Iōánnēn Euaggelíou'') also survives. Its timing is a debated point: textual analysis seems to suggest that it preceded the ''Dionysiaca'' while some scholars feel it unlikely that a converted Christian would have gone on to devote so much work to the ''Dionysiaca''’s pagan themes. The terminus post quem for its composition is the commentary on the Gospel of John written by

Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria (; or ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ; 376–444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire ...

(i.e. 425–428), since the theological layer of Nonnus' ''Paraphrase'' is clearly dependent on it. A more difficult issue is to determine the terminus ante quem. Perhaps it is the time of the composition of Pseudo-Apollinaris' ''Metaphrase of the Psalms'' (c. 460), which seems to refer to Nonnus' poem.

Works

A complete and updated bibliography of Nonnus scholarship may be found at Hellenistic Bibliography's page at Google Sites.. Editions and translations of the ''Dionysiaca'' include: * Bilingual Greek-English edition (initial introduction, some explanatory notes): W. H. D. Rouse (1940), Nonnos, Dionysiaca, With an English Translation by W. H. D. Rouse, Mythological Introduction and Notes by H. J. Rose, Notes on Text Criticism by L. R. Lind, 3 vols., Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge (Ma.) * Bilingual Greek-French edition (with introduction to the individual books and notes): F. Vian (general ed.) (1976–2006), Nonnos de Panopolis, Les Dionysiaques, 19 volumes, Paris * Bilingual Greek-Italian edition (with introductions and notes): D. Gigli Piccardi (general ed.) (2003–4), Nonno di Panopoli, Le Dionisiache, BUR, Milano * Nonno di Panopoli, Le Dionisiache, a cura di D. del Corno, traduzione di M. Maletta, note de F. Tissoni, 2 vols, Milano 1997. * F. Tissoni, Nonno di Panopoli, I Canti di Penteo (Dionisiache 44–46). Commento, Firenze 1998 Editions and translations of the ''Paraphrase'' include: * Translation into English: Sherry, L.F., The Hexameter Paraphrase of St. John Attributed to Nonnus of Panopolis: Prolegomenon and Translation (Ph.D. dissertation; Columbia University, 1991). * Translation in English: Prost, Mark Anthony. Nonnos of Panopolis, The Paraphrase of the Gospel of John. Translated from the Greek by M.A.P. Ventura, CA: The Writing Shop Press, 2006 * The last complete edition of the Greek text: Nonni Panopolitani Paraphrasis S. Evangelii Joannei edidit Augustinus Scheindler, accedit S. Evangelii textus et index verborum, Lipsiae in aedibus Teubneri 1881 A team of (mainly Italian) scholars are now re-editing the text, book by book, with ample introductions and notes. Published so far: * C. De Stefani (2002), Nonno di Panopoli: Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto I, Bologna * E. Livrea (2000), Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto B, Bologna * M. Caprara (2006), Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto IV, Pisa * G. Agosti (2003), Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto V, Firenze * R. Franchi (2013), Nonno di Panopoli. Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni: canto sesto, Bologna * K. Spanoudakis (2014), Nonnus of Panopolis. Paraphrase of the Gospel of John XI, Oxford * C. Greco (2004), Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, canto XIII, Alessandria * E. Livrea (1989), Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto XVIII, Napoli * D. Accorinti (1996), Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto XX, Pisa

Notes

References

Bibliography

* .

External links

*
Nonnus Bibliography

* ttp://topostext.org/work.php?work_id=529 Online English translation of Dionysiaca, bks 1-48 by W.H.D. Rouse, with place mentions mapped, i
ToposText

R.F. Newbold summarizes his work on ''Dionysiaca''

* [https://archive.today/20121221080222/http://nonniana.uksw.edu.pl/?lang=en Studia Nonniana Interretica: News from the world of Nonnian scholarship and an up-to-date bibliography of Polish studies on Nonnus]
Nonnus's paraphrase of the Gospel of John - Metaphrasis Evangelii Ioannei
{{Authority control Ancient Greek epic poets 5th-century Greek poets 5th-century Byzantine writers 5th-century Christians Byzantine poets Dionysus Roman-era Greeks Asia in Greek mythology Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 5th-century Egyptian people