Direct speech in Nonnus' Dionysiaca : narrative and rhetorical functions of the characters' "varied" and "many-faceted" words / by Berenice Verhelst.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Verhelst, Berenice, 1987- author.

Series:

Mnemosyne, Supplements 397.

Mnemosyne supplements. Late antique literature, 2214-5621 ; volume 397

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Direct discourse in literature.

Rhetoric, Ancient.

Nonnus, of Panopolis. Dionysiaca.

Nonnus.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (342 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2017]

Summary:

Direct Speech in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca is the first more extensive study of the use and functions of direct speech in Nonnus’ Dionysiaca (5th century AD). Its long soliloquies and scarcity of dialogues have often been pointed out as striking characteristics of Nonnus’ epic style, but nonetheless this fascinating subject received relatively little attention. Berenice Verhelst aims to reveal the poem’s constant interplay between the epic tradition and the late antique literary context with its clear rhetorical stamp. She focusses on the changed functions of direct speech and their implications for the presentation of the mythological story. Organized around six case studies, this book presents an in-depth analysis of a representative part of the vast corpus of the Dionysiaca’s 305 speeches. The digital appendix to this book ( Database of Direct Speech in Greek Epic Poetry ) can be consulted online at www.dsgep.ugent.be .

Contents:

Front Matter

Introduction

Imitation and Transformation: From Troy to India and from Medea to Morrheus

Types of Epic Speech: The Battle Exhortation

Speeches within Speeches

The Rhetoric of Deception: Persuasive Strategies

Ecphrastic Ethopoeae and the Perspective of the Text-Internal Observer

Rhetoric of Seduction and Failure of Communication in the Beroe Episode

Conclusion

Appendix

Bibliography

Indexes.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-33465-3

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004334656 DOI