There is almost no evidence for the life of Nonnus. It is known that he was a native of Panopolis in Upper Egypt from his naming in manuscripts and the reference in epigram 9.198 of the Palatine Anthology. Scholars have generally dated him from the end of the 4th to the central years of the 5th century. He must have lived after the composition of Claudian's Greek Gigantomachy as he appears to be familiar with that work. Agathias Scholasticus seems to have followed him, with a mid-6th-century reference to him as a "recent author". He is sometimes conflated with St Nonnus from the hagiographies of St Pelagia and with Nonnus, the bishop of Edessa who attended the Council of Chalcedon, both of whom seem to have been roughly contemporary, but these associations are probably mistaken.
The ''Dionysiaca''
Nonnus' principal work is the 48-book epic Dionysiaca, the longest surviving poem from antiquity. It has 20,426 lines composed in Homeric dialect and dactylic hexameters, the main subject of which is the life of Dionysus, his expedition to India, and his triumphant return to the west. The poem is thought to have been written in the early 5th century. The poem is traditionally regarded by scholars as being relatively inconsistent in literary quality, but it still has value due to its preservation of many myths about Dionysus that otherwise may not have been preserved.
The ''Paraphrase of John''
His Paraphrase of John also survives. Its timing is a debated point: textual analysis seems to suggest that it preceded the Dionysiaca while some scholars feel it unlikely that a converted Christian would have gone on to devote so much work to the Dionysiaca’s pagan themes. A team of Italian scholars is currently producing a full commentary of the poem, book by book, of which several parts have already been published. They have shown that Nonnus was as learned in Christian theology as in pagan myth.
Works
A complete and updated bibliography of Nonnus scholarship may be found at Hellenistic Bibliography's page at Google Sites. Editions and translations of the Dionysiaca include:
Bilingual Greek-English edition : W. H. D. Rouse, Nonnos, Dionysiaca, With an English Translation by W. H. D. Rouse, Mythological Introduction and Notes by H. J. Rose, Notes on Text Criticism by L. R. Lind, 3 vols., Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge
Bilingual Greek-French edition : F. Vian , Nonnos de Panopolis, Les Dionysiaques, 19 volumes, Paris
Bilingual Greek-Italian edition : D. Gigli Piccardi , Nonno di Panopoli, Le Dionisiache, BUR, Milano
Nonno di Panopoli, Le Dionisiache, a cura di D. del Corno, traduzione di M. Maletta, note de F. Tissoni, 2 vols, Milano 1997.
F. Tissoni, Nonno di Panopoli, I Canti di Penteo. Commento, Firenze 1998
Editions and translations of the Paraphrase include:
Translation into English: Sherry, L.F., The Hexameter Paraphrase of St. John Attributed to Nonnus of Panopolis: Prolegomenon and Translation.
Translation in English: Prost, Mark Anthony. Nonnos of Panopolis, The Paraphrase of the Gospel of John. Translated from the Greek by M.A.P. Ventura, CA: The Writing Shop Press, 2006
The last complete edition of the Greek text: Nonni Panopolitani Paraphrasis S. Evangelii Joannei edidit Augustinus Scheindler, accedit S. Evangelii textus et index verborum, Lipsiae in aedibus Teubneri 1881
A team of scholars are now re-editing the text, book by book, with ample introductions and notes. Published so far:
C. De Stefani, Nonno di Panopoli: Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto I, Bologna
E. Livrea, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto B, Bologna
M. Caprara, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto IV, Pisa
G. Agosti, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto V, Firenze
R. Franchi, Nonno di Panopoli. Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni: canto sesto, Bologna
K. Spanoudakis, Nonnus of Panopolis. Paraphrase of the Gospel of John XI, Oxford
C. Greco, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, canto XIII, Alessandria
E. Livrea, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto XVIII, Napoli
D. Accorinti, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto XX, Pisa
