CHAPTER ONE

THE CHALLENGE OF EPIC

Introduction

Unreadable as narrative .... 1

The story of the Dionysiaca, as first described in the proem to Book 1 [1.1-44], is disarming in its simplicity: Nonnus will sing of • [1.12]: (h:tOO/-LEVOU ßtoVucrou-starting with his birth and moving on to his mature achievements. Nor does the poet fai1 to live up to the promise of the introduction: a basic sequence of episodes, what one might call the 'narrative' of Dionysus, can be followed through the forty-eight books of the epic: from the abduction of , via the wanderings of , the founding of Thebes, the birth of Dionysus, his strugg1e with Lycurgus, the Indian War, the tragedy of Pentheus and the madness of the Argive women through to the apotheosis of Dionysus. This arrangement of episodes follows very closely the 'ortho• dox' mytho1ogica1 narrative as supp1ied by Apollodorus' Bibliotheca for the house of ; and wou1d, no doubt, have been fami1iar to Nonnus' contemporary readers: 2

I Wiseman (1995) 47. 2 Whilst Nonnus no doubt had access to one or more handbook of mythology, it is not necessary to assurne that he had access to Apollodorus' Bibliotheca. Nonnus' narrative manipulates (the story of Actaion is placed before rather than after the birth of Dionysus) and expands (he is at his most expansive during his narrative of the Indian War: an episode which is described by Apollodorus in two brief sen• tences ranges over twenty-eight books of the Dionysiaca), but never goes far from this mythological sequence. Doubts have in fact been cast on Apollodorus' two brief references to the Indian War. In the first, at Bibi. 3.5.1, we read [Eltt 'Ivoou<;] oux 'tf\<; ep~KT\<; ~ltEiYE'tO (he hurried through Thrace against the Indians)-Frazer (1921) 1.326 n. 1 suggests that the words Eltt 'Ivoou<; are out of place: 'Wagner is probably right in thinking that we should either omit them (with Hereher) or insert after them, so as to give the meaning: "and after marching against the Indians he hastened through '''. In the second instance at Bibi. 3.5.2-0lEA.8wv OE ep~KT\V [Kat 't~v 'Ivol~V ältacrav, cr't~A.a<; EKEl cr't~cra<;] (having crossed Thrace and the whole ofIndia and set up pillars there)-Frazer (1921) 1.330 n. 1 follows Heyne in arguing that the words in square brackets are probably an interpolation. However, both references to India fit perfectly with Nonnus' narrative-namely that Dionysus journeys to India via Thrace, and not the other way around. This invites the 8 CHAPTER ONE

Abduction of Europa 3.1.1 [Book 1] Cadmus searches for Europa 3.1.1 [1-3] Cadmus in Delphi 3.4.1 [4] Founding of Thebes 3.4.1 [5] Marriage of Cadmus and 3.4.2 [5] Conception and Birth of Dionysus 3.4.3 [7-8] , Athamas and Melicertes 3.4.3 [9-10] Actaeon 3.4.4 [5] Dionysus discovers the vine (&J..l1tEAO~) 3.5.1 [11-12] Dionysus sets out against the Indians via Thrace [13-17] Lycurgus 3.5.1 [18, 20-21] India 3.5.2 [25-40] Thebes 3.5.2 [44-46] Argos 3.5.2 [47] Naxos 3.5.3 [47] Apotheosis 3.5.3 [48] The simplicity of this model is, however, deceptive. Nonnus' epic presents a daunting challenge to any reader, in terms both of its length and its high degree of elaboration. At forty-eight books and over 21,000 lines, the Dionysiaca is the longest poetic text to have come down to us from Antiquity. And far from restricting itself to the story of Dionysus, there appears to be no story that Nonnus' compendious poem does not attempt to tell. The adventures of and , Theseus, Achilles, Odysseus and Ajax (to name but a few) are all woven into the narrative; along with a host of his• torical and philosophical allusions and references covering every con• ceivable genre. As anyone who has attempted to read the Dionysiaca will know, the story of Dionysus very soon disappears into an appar• ent chaos of images and characters.

Over the past century, significant attempts have been made to come to terms with the chaotic form and content of Nonnus' epic. In the early decades of the twentieth century two critics, Keydell and Collart, set about the work of 'excavating', stabilising and restoring the text of the Dionysiaca. 3 The task was not an easy one: the natural prob- suggestion that Nonnus has based his narrative on a pre-existing model, and that the Apollodoran detail need not be spurious. 3 Keydell (1927, 1932a, 1936); Collart (1930); not to forget the important work of those who came before them, notably Ludwich (1909). Cf. Vian (1976) xxix~xli, esp. xxx; xxxvii: 'En essayant de retrouver les etats successifs des Dionysiaques, R. Keydell et P. Collart ont souvent fait fausse route par exd:s de logique et faute d'avoir te nu un compte suffisant de la technique epique de l'auteur'.