Nonnus of Panopolis (5th c. AD), the most important Greek poet of Late Antiquity, is best known for his Dionysiaca, a grand epic that gathers together all myths associated with Dionysus, god of wine and mysteries. The poet also authored the Paraphrase of St. John's Gospel which renders the Fourth Gospel into sophisticated hexameter verse. This volume, edited by Filip Doroszewski and Katarzyna Jazdzewska, brings together twenty-six essays by eminent scholars that discuss Nonnus' cultural and literary background, the literary techniques and motifs used by the poet, as well as the composition of the Dionysiaca and the exegetical principles applied in the Paraphrase. As such, the book will significantly deepen our understanding of literary culture and religion in Late Antiquity.

Nonnus' Paraphrasis, an epic rendition of the Fourth Gospel, offers a highly sophisticated interpretation of the Johannine text. An essential means to this end is extensive use of the imagery related to Greek, and especially Dionysiac, mysteries. Doroszewski successfully challenges the once predominant view that the mystery terminology in the poem is nothing more than rhetorical ornament. He convincingly argues for an important exegetical role Nonnus gives to the mystery terms. On the one hand, they refer to the Mystery of Christ. Jesus introduces his followers into the new dimension of life and worship that enables them to commune with God. This is portrayed as falling into Bacchic frenzy and being initiated into secret rites. On the other hand, the terminology has a polemical function, too, as Nonnus uses it to present the Judaic cult as bearing the hallmarks of pagan mysteries. As the book discusses the Paraphrasis against the background of the mystery metaphor development in antiquity, it serves as an excellent introduction to this key feature of the ancient mentality and will appeal to all interested in the culture of Imperial times, especially in Early Christianity, Patristics, Neoplatonism and Late Antique poetry.

This volume presents an essential but underestimated role that Dionysus played in Greek and Roman political thought. Written by an interdisciplinary team of scholars, the volume covers the period from archaic Greece to the late Roman Empire. The reader can observe how ideas and political themes rooted in Greek classical thought were continued, adapted and developed over the course of history. The authors (including four leading experts in the field: Cornelia Isler-Kerenyi, Jean-Marie Pailler, Richard Seaford andRichard Stoneman) reconstruct the political significance of Dionysus by examining different types of evidence: historiography, poetry, coins, epigraphy, art and philosophy. They discuss the place of the god in Greek city-state politics, explore the long tradition of imitating Dionysus that ancient leaders, from Alexander the Great to the Roman emperors, manifested in various ways, and shows how the political role of Dionysus was reflected in Orphism and Neoplatonist philosophy. Dionysus and Politics provides an excellent introduction to a fundamental feature of ancient political thought which until now has been largely neglected by mainstream academia. The book will be an invaluable resource to students and scholars interested in ancient politics and religion.