Overview

Tales of Dionysus is the first English verse translation of one of the most extraordinary poems of the Greek literary tradition, the Dionysiaca of Nonnus of Panopolis. By any standard, the Dionysiaca is a formidable work. It is by far the longest poem surviving from the classical world, a massive mythological epic stretching to over 20,000 lines, written in the tradition of Homer, using Homer's verse, Homer's language, his narrative turns and motifs, and invoking his ancient Muses. But 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. Like its titular hero, Dionysus, with his fluidity of forms, names, and divine incarnations, the poem itself is continually shifting shape. Out of its formal epic frame spills a tumult of ancient literary types: tragedy, elegy, didactic, panegyric, pastoral idyll, and the novel are all parts of this gigantic enterprise, each genre coming to the fore one after the other. Tales of Dionysus brings together forty-two translators from a wide range of backgrounds, with different experiences and different potential relationships to the text of Nonnus' poem. All work in their own styles and with their own individual approaches to the poem, to translation, and to poetic form. This variety turns Tales of Dionysus into a showcase of the multiple possibilities open to classical translation in the contemporary world.

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9780472133116

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Reviews

This is an excellent project, one that may bring a long-deserved audience to one of the great poets of the Greek world. --Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, The Ohio State University -- Benjamin Acosta-Hughes

Nonnus and Dionysus have given new zest to my thoughts about Greek literature and ancient mythology. . . . To all involved - editors, contributors including Douglass Parker, publishers. . . - Bravo. --Penelope Wilson in Translation and Literature--Penelope Wilson Translation and Literature (3/1/2023 12:00:00 AM) This is an excellent project, one that may bring a long-deserved audience to one of the great poets of the Greek world. --Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, The Ohio State University -- Benjamin Acosta-Hughes

"""[T]he Dionysiaca is made of 48 books, written in a convoluted and constantly changing style, supercharged with long compound adjectives, most of which have no obvious equivalent in modern languages. Tales of Dionysus is therefore a welcome addition to our libraries, and an original one."" --Bryn Mawr Classical Review--Laura Miguélez-Cavero, Complutense University of Madrid ""Bryn Mawr Classical Review"" ""Levitan (Grand Valley State Univ.) and Lombardo (Univ. of Kansas) succeed in their aims of making the Dionysiaca more accessible and of illustrating the varied options available in modern translation practice."" --Choice--S. E. Goins, McNeese State University ""Choice"" (5/1/2023 12:00:00 AM) ""Nonnus and Dionysus have given new zest to my thoughts about Greek literature and ancient mythology. . . . To all involved - editors, contributors including Douglass Parker, publishers. . . - Bravo."" --Penelope Wilson in Translation and Literature--Penelope Wilson ""Translation and Literature"" (3/1/2023 12:00:00 AM) ""This is an excellent project, one that may bring a long-deserved audience to one of the great poets of the Greek world."" --Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, The Ohio State University -- ""Benjamin Acosta-Hughes"""

Author Information

William Levitan is Professor of Classics Emeritus at Grand Valley State University. Stanley Lombardo is Professor Emeritus of Classics at The University of Kansas.

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