Nonnus of Panopolis. Paraphrasis of the Gospel of John XI by Konstantinos Spanoudakis

Abstract

Reviewed by: Nonnus of Panopolis. Paraphrasis of the Gospel of John XI by Konstantinos Spanoudakis Filip Doroszewski Konstantinos Spanoudakis Nonnus of Panopolis. Paraphrasis of the Gospel of John XI Oxford Early Christian Texts Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014 Pp. 424. £120.00. The ambitious project aimed at providing a new commented edition of Nonnus's Paraphrase (Par.), which was launched over 25 years ago by Enrico Livrea, has recently moved one step nearer to completion. Spanoudakis's edition of Par. 11 is the 14th volume of the project and the first one to have been published in English. The book is divided into three main parts: the Introduction, Text and Translation, and Commentary. The Introduction starts with an overview of the current status quaestionis of Nonnus and his works (1–5) then continues with a detailed section on the poet's impressive literary inspirations that ranged from Homer to patristic writings, as well as on later poets that were inspired by Nonnus (5–22). Next Spanoudakis traces the passages of Par. 11 that carry Neoplatonist and theurgist overtones (30–40), following by a section juxtaposing Lazarus's resurrection as depicted in the Par. with the resurrection-like scenes in the Dionysiaca—with special attention paid to Tylus's revival (41–52). Spanoudakis then looks at the elements of Nonnus's contemporary world that are reflected in Par. 11, especially the late antique topography of Bethany and the visual arts of the period (52–68). The following pages shed light on the vast arsenal of interpretive and narrative techniques that were adopted by Nonnus to maximize the impact of his poetry (68–87). Subsequent sections prepare the reader for the rich variety of interpretations as offered by Nonnus for the Lazarus miracle (87–96), discuss the unclear question regarding John's text as followed by the poet (96–100), provide an in-depth overview of the meter in Par. 11 (100–107). The last three sections [End Page 475] of the Introduction deal with the transmission of the Par. and the lectiones that are not included in the edition's critical apparatus (107–13), an eighth-century prose paraphrase of the Par. (an edited Greek text of its chapter 11 is included; 113–119), and the rules Spanoudakis follows in his edition of Par. 11 (119–21). The central part of the book is a critical edition of Par. 11 (123–46). The apparatuses include fontes and similia, imitationes, and an apparatus criticus that is both positive and selective. The unlikely conjectures are gathered in an appendix at the end of the edition. The original text is accompanied by an English translation as well as by the Greek text of John. The last and longest part of the book contains the Commentary (147–358). The comments are two-fold and complement each other: one, which is more general, refers to whole line(s); the other refers to the specific part of the line. Since Spanoudakis's book is the first volume of the Livrea project that has been published in English, an important advantage of the Introduction is that it does not restrict itself solely to Par. 11 but may serve as a short yet comprehensive Einführung for all those taking their first steps in the world of Nonnus's biblical epic. The unquestionable highlights are the sections that allow the reader to look at Nonnus's verse through late antique eyes and thus make the poem truly accessible to modern minds. They show, on the one hand, how deeply Par. 11 was influenced by contemporary art, architecture, and spirituality and, on the other, how enormously it must have appealed to an audience that was well acquainted with these. Compared to Mark Prost and Lee Sherry, i.e. the authors of the two previous English translations of Par. 11, Spanoudakis as a translator is more accurate than the former author and less bombastic than the latter, thus providing the academic reader with the most balanced English rendition of the chapter so far. The Commentary skillfully guides the reader through the different aspects of Par. 11. It decodes intertextual references, as in line 22 in which the message to Jesus about...