Nonnos of Panopolis

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The Dionysiacs of Nonnos in the manuscript Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut, written in 1280. 32,16, fol. 92r

Nonnos of Panopolis (Greek Νόννος) was a Byzantine poet of the fifth century.

Nonnos seems to come from Achmim (Egypt), as his name suggests, but little else is known about his person. He is considered to be the author of the Dionysiacs (Διονυσιακά), the last great epic of antiquity. The work describes in 48 chants and almost 21,300 hexameters the triumphal march of Dionysus to India . A work called Gigantomachia is lost. There is also a poetic paraphrase ( metabole ) of the Gospel of John under Nonnos' name . It was believed that Nonnos converted to Christianity, which would make the paraphrase a later work. However, there is no evidence to support this assumption. Mythological scholia have also come down to us under Nonnos' name .

literature

For literature on the Dionysiacs see there.

Web links

Wikisource: Nonnos of Panopolis  - Sources and full texts