Book
Direct Speech in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca
Narrative and rhetorical functions of the characters’ “varied” and “many-faceted” words
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Berenice Verhelst
Languages:
English, Latin
Published/Copyright:
2017
Purchasable on brill.com
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About this book
Direct Speech in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca is the first more extensive study of the use and functions of direct speech in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca (5th century AD). Its long soliloquies and scarcity of dialogues have often been pointed out as striking characteristics of Nonnus’ epic style, but nonetheless this fascinating subject received relatively little attention.
Berenice Verhelst aims to reveal the poem’s constant interplay between the epic tradition and the late antique literary context with its clear rhetorical stamp. She focusses on the changed functions of direct speech and their implications for the presentation of the mythological story. Organized around six case studies, this book presents an in-depth analysis of a representative part of the vast corpus of the Dionysiaca’s 305 speeches.
The digital appendix to this book (Database of Direct Speech in Greek Epic Poetry) can be consulted online at www.dsgep.ugent.be.
Berenice Verhelst aims to reveal the poem’s constant interplay between the epic tradition and the late antique literary context with its clear rhetorical stamp. She focusses on the changed functions of direct speech and their implications for the presentation of the mythological story. Organized around six case studies, this book presents an in-depth analysis of a representative part of the vast corpus of the Dionysiaca’s 305 speeches.
The digital appendix to this book (Database of Direct Speech in Greek Epic Poetry) can be consulted online at www.dsgep.ugent.be.
Author / Editor information
Berenice Verhelst, Ph.D. (2014), University of Ghent, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (FWO Flanders) at the University of Ghent. She works and publishes on late antique poetry (especially Nonnus and the so-called “epyllion” genre) and collaborates in several international projects in this area.
Reviews
‘Dans un contexte où les études consacrées à la poésie tardive et plus particulière ment aux hexamètres «homérisants» de Nonnos de Panopolis sont florissantes, l’ouvrage de Berenice Verehlst, issu d’une thèse soutenue en 2014, apporte sa pierre à un édifice dont la forme se dessine de plus en plus précisément.’ Halima Benchikh-Lehocine, in Aitia vol. 8.2 (2018)
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
November 1, 2016
eBook ISBN:
9789004334656
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
332
eBook ISBN:
9789004334656
Keywords for this book
poetry; epic; greek; literature; narrative; story; tradition; late antiquity; soliloquy; dialogue; monologue; Panopolois
Audience(s) for this book
All interested in late antique poetry, especially in Nonnus of Panopolis, as well as anyone interested more generally in the Greek epic tradition and the influence of rhetoric on narrative poetry.
