The Poet, the Bishop, and the Harlot
The Poet, the Bishop, and the Harlot
This chapter discusses the date and identity of the poet Nonnus. It rejects the theory of E. Livrea that he was Nonnus, bishop of Edessa, though it does attempt to answer the vexed question of whether Nonnus’s two principal surviving works, the Dionysiaca and the Paraphrase of St. John’s Gospel, represent a journey between paganism and Christianity and, if so, in which direction. Evidence of the relationship between biographical information and written work of several near contemporaries is brought to bear on the claims that have been made about Nonnus. The chapter also discusses the life of the transvestite nun Saint Pelagia, supposed by some to have been brought to repentance by Nonnus.
Keywords: Nonnus, Dionysiaca, Paraphrase of St. John’s Gospel, Saint Pelagia, Edessa
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
