Tales of Dionysus: The Dionysiaca of Nonnus of Panopolis

Tales of Dionysus is the first English verse translation of Nonnus of Panopolis' Dionysiaca, a monumental Greek literary work that spans over 20,000 lines and follows a Homeric model. It features forty-two translators with diverse backgrounds and approaches, showcasing the possibilities of classical translation in the contemporary world.

Format: Hardback
Length: 816 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2022
Publisher: The University of Michigan Press

Tales of Dionysus is the first English verse translation of the Dionysiaca of Nonnus of Panopolis, a formidable work that is the longest poem surviving from the classical world. It is a mythological epic that stretches to over 20,000 lines, written in the tradition of Homer, using Homers verse, language, narrative turns, and motifs, and invoking his ancient Muses. It is also the last ancient epic to follow a Homeric model, composed so late in fact that it stands as close in time to the Renaissance as it does to archaic Greece. The poem itself is continually shifting shape, with a tumult of ancient literary types spilling out of its formal epic frame, including tragedy, elegy, didactic, panegyric, pastoral idyll, and the novel. Tales of Dionysus brings together forty-two translators from a wide range of backgrounds, with different experiences and potential relationships to the text of Nonnus poem. Each translator works in their own style and with their own individual approaches to the poem, translation, and poetic form, making Tales of Dionysus a showcase of the multiple possibilities open to classical translation in the contemporary world.

Weight: 1432g
Dimension: 162 x 236 x 57 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780472133116