Virtually nothing is known of Nonnos of Panopolis, except the attribution to him of the 48 book Dionysiaca, and the 21 Book Paraphrase of the Gospel of John. Some experts dispute that the same person wrote both poems. However there are enough unique words which appear in the Paraphrasis which have parallel citations only in the Dionysiaca to make the transmitted provenance convincing.

     Any knowledge of Nonnus must come, then, from his product and his context. He was perhaps the most significant writer of his time in Egypt, which would place him in the middle of Alexandrian society. For convenience sake, I am operating with the following arbitrary dates:

Birth in 400 A.D.

Dionysiaca written 430 A.D.  

Paraphrasis written 450 A.D.

Death 476 A.D.

(NOTE: If any reader has any better information, please e-mail me.)

     It is within these dates that we must look for influences which would account for the writing of these two remarkable and remarkably different poems, and it from events within these dates that we must look for the reason for the disappearance of an important poem by an important poet. The date which I select to account for this is 451, and the event, the Council of Chalcedon.

Paraphrase of the Gospel of John by Nonnos of Panopolis

Translated from the Greek by M.A. Prost

tonyprost@aol.com

Copyright © M.A. Prost, 1999

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