The Challenge of Epic

Allusive Engagement in the Dionysiaca of Nonnus
Erscheinungsjahr 2000
ISBN: 978-90-04-11795-2
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 210, 248 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 249 mm, Gewicht: 606 g

Reihe: Mnemosyne, Supplements

Nonnus once vied with Homer for popularity; today his Dionysiaca languishes in obscurity. The Challenge of Epic offers a literary critical rehabilitation of Nonnus' fifth-century AD poem. It argues that modern neglect stems from a failure to appreciate the central position of allusion in late-antique poetry.
Attention first focuses on intertextual allusion. It is argued that the poet draws on a plethora of allusions to the cycle of Greek mythology in order to imbue his specific narrative with a universal significance. Focus then shifts to metapoetic allusion: the way in which Nonnus alludes self-consciously to the process of writing, and develops parallels between himself and his subject, Dionysus.
Through an appreciation of Nonnus' alllusive strategies, the modern reader can again engage with the mind-bending challenge of the Dionysiaca.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Shorrock, Robert

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik

Über Autor(innen)

Robert Shorrock read Classics at University College, Durham and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1999. He now teaches at Eton College, Windsor and is currently at work on a monograph on word play in late Antiquity.