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Le voyage des légendes

 | 
Michel Tardieu
, 
Delphine Lauritzen

Partie II. Autour des légendes, dionysiaques et autres

The Resurrections of Tylus and Lazarus in Nonnus of Panopolis (Dion. XXV, 451-552 and Par. Λ)

Konstantinos Spanoudakis

Testo integrale

Shield Descriptions and Homeric Emulation

  • 1 N. B. * = in eadem sede. Verses of Dion. XXV are normally referred to by the verse-number alone, f (...)

1Right at the heart of the Dionysiaca, in Book XXV, Dionysus receives a shield fashioned by Hephaestus and delivered to him by Attis (336-338)1. The divine artefact elicits the admiration of its spectators and its decoration is more epico described in some detail. Four scenes are depicted: the foundation of Thebes by Amphion and Zethus (414-428); the rapture of Ganymedes by Zeus eagle (429-450); the resurrection of Tylus (451-552); the disgorgement of Cronus’children through a ploy of Rhea (553-562). By far the longest of these scenes is the story of Tylus.

  • 2 In a comment about the cosmic symbolism of Hermes’four-stringed lyre, Macrobius remarks, Sat. I, 1 (...)
  • 3 P. Stockmeier, Theologie und Kult des Kreutzes bei Johannes Chrysostomus, Trier 1966, 116: “Das Kr (...)
  • 4 E. Livrea, ΚΡΕCCΟΝΑ ΒΑCΚΑΝΙΗC. Quindici studi di poesia ellenistica, Firenze 1993, 203, 214. Cf. P (...)
  • 5 V. Stegemann, Astrologie und Universalgeschichte, Leipzig-Berlin 1930, 161. Cf. Nonnos de Panopoli (...)

2Yet, before Nonnus’Shield there was Homer’s Shield. Nonnus’literary program of emulating and surpassing Homer shows in the description of Dionysus’shield. In terms of length, Homer’s one hundred and thirty verses (Il. XVIII, 478-608) are expanded to Nonnus’one hundred and ninety two (380-572). Homer’s nine scenes, however, are in Nonnus significantly reduced to only four. This is probably because the number four becomes symbolically significant in Nonnus’descriptions. Four is a ‘total’ number, one expressing the unity of opposite extremes: there are four elements, four cardinal points, four seasons, four rivers flowing out of Eden, four canonical gospels2. In Christian symbolism, four is associated with notions of Weltbild through the cross (cf. already Plat., Tim. 36b-c), which has four ends (Nonnus’ τετράζυξ cross) and which the crucified Christ ‘embraces’3. Nonnus is well versed with such ideas. As Domenico Accorinti and Enrico Livrea have persuasively shown4, Nonn. Par. T, 74 (crucifixion) τετράζυγι δεσμῷ evokes the cosmic four elements. Besides Nonn., Dion. VII, 6 ἀνδρομέην μόρφωσε γονὴν τετράζυγι δεσμῷ and Dion. XLI, 54-55, following a widespread tradition harking back to Empedocles, four is associated with the creation of man. The tablets of Harmonia (Dion. XII, 29-117), described just before the discovery of epochmaking wine, are also four in number. As these expressly presage the history of the world (Dion. XII, 32-34), four is associated with a key concern of the poem, Universalgeschichte. Stegemann even advanced the suggestion that the tablets of Harmonia take on the shape of a cyclos, a sequence of images from the Old and New Testaments which appeared already in fourth century Christian churches5.

  • 6 Nonnus is well aware of Homeric allegory of the Heraclitan type, see F. Vian, “La théomachie de No (...)
  • 7 F. Vian, “Nonno ed Omero”, Koinonia 15 (1991), 5-18, p. 11 [= Vian, L’épopée posthomérique, op. ci (...)
  • 8 K. Spanoudakis, “The Shield of Salvation: Dionysus’Shield in Nonnus Dionysiaca 25.380-572”, in Id. (...)
  • 9 Heraclit., Quaest. Hom., 48, 5, Heraclitus. Homeric Problems, ed. D. A. Russell, D. Konstan, Atlant (...)

3An important point of emulation with Homer arises from the connection of the scenes on the respective shields with their recipients. Heraclitus (QH 48, 3-5) states that it was not Homer’s intention to recount μυθικῶς scenes relating to Achilles but to give his own account of the creation of the universe, following an allegory that saw in the making of the circular shield an allusion to the fashioning of the spherical globe6. The intentions of the artificer of Dionysus’shield are pointedly different, as Hephaestus fashions the very first scene, the mythic foundation of Thebes, expressly in order to please Dionysus, 414 χαριζόμενος.. Λυαίῳ. In recent scholarship, much attention has sensibly been paid to this7. Other scenes also have a link to Dionysus: Ganymedes is a protype of Dionysus’own apotheosis, and Cybele’s deception of Cronus safeguards Dionysus’father Zeus. The Tylus incident is placed in Lydia, which, as it is pointed out in 451, is the nourishing land of the god; it also treats a theme of death and resurrection, which was of interest to Dionysiasm. What is claimed by Heraclitus to be Homer’s main objective, to relate the creation of the world, is a concern to Nonnus too: as will be argued elsewhere8, Nonnus will reserve what was thought to be the theological quintessence of the Homeric description, i.e. the divine providence establishing order out of chaos9, for the first scene of his Shield, in which he offers his own highly allusive version of the creation of the universe. Compared to Nonnus’Weltbild in the Shield, Homer’s version would rather look primitive. So in the end Nonnus, surpassing Homer, achieves two things: he leaves us both with scenes relating to Dionysus, and with an updated version of the creation.

  • 10 There is a list of imitations in Les Dionysiaques, IX, éd. Vian, op. cit., 261-262.
  • 11 Cf. Schol. ex. Il. XVIII, 488b, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem, ed. H. Erbse, IV, Berlin 1975, 53 (...)
  • 12 Schol. Il. l. l. τῶν ἐμφανεστέρων μέμνηται; Eust., Comm. Il. 1155, 35, ed. Van Der Valk, op. cit., (...)

4In keeping with his practice of challenge and emulation, when Nonnus comes to describe the cosmos he begins with an uncanny allusion to the relevant passage of the Homeric Shield. Thus, lines 387-393 overtly echo Il. XVIII, 483-485. In the description of the celestial vault, Homer’s seven verses in Il. XVIII, 483-489 are expanded by Nonnus to twenty-five in 388-412. Much of Nonnus’ augmentatio is covered by lines (398-401, 402-412) in which Nonnus visibly paraphrases Aratus10. Now, ancient scholia on the relevant Iliadic lines take Aratus as a guide to interpret and supplement Homer’s concise description of the celestial firmament11. They add that Homer does not detail all constellations12. Pseudo-Plutarch (De Hom. 106) claims that Homer’s knowledge of astronomy is not inferior to Aratus’or to his source Eudoxus but rather that his poem serves a different goal. It seems that Nonnus here relies on what scholarly criticism on Achilles’shield pointed out as deficient from Homer’s description of the constellations. It is by legitimisation from this line of interpretation that Nonnus ‘supplements’ Homer by paraphrasing Aratus in his own poem.

  • 13 Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 33; Id., “Nonno ed Omero”, op. cit., 10 [= 2005, 414-415].
  • 14 Constantine’s shield is described in Eus., V. Const., I, 31, Eusebius, Werke, I. 1, Über das Leben (...)

5There is, finally, one more significant difference between Achilles’and Dionysus’shields: unlike the former, the latter is no real weapon to be used in battle. It is rather a talisman and a reminder of victory (332-67)13. The notion of a shield as a victorious omen in Nonnus recurs of Athena’s aegis when the goddess appears to fatigued Cadmus during his battle with the dragon of Dirce in Dion. IV, 390 ἐσσομένης δονέουσα προάγγελον αἰγίδα νίκης: the involvement of Athena’s aegis may hark back to some good ancient tradition. But in terms of historical significance, this rather recalls the vision and shield of Constantine, with Christ’s monogram on it (τῷ σωτηρίῳ σημείῳ πάσης ἀντικειμένης καὶ πολεμίας δυνάμεως ἀμυντηρίῳ), with which the emperor secured the defence of his forces against any enemy14.

The Legend of Tylus

6In Nonnus the story of the resurrection of Tylus runs as follows: Tylus, a young man, is attacked by a ferocious snake/dragon as he blissfully walks on the banks of river Hermus, and dies. His two sisters, Naias and Morie, terrified watch the scene from afar and deplore the death of their brother. But Morie all the sudden comes across Damasen, a benevolent Giant, who when besought uproots a tree and kills the snake. At this point a female mate of the snake appears and procures a herb with which she revives the dead snake which then withdraws into its lair and disappears. Morie follows her example to revive Tylus whose physiological functions are restored in full.

  • 15 P. Chuvin, Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques. Recherches sur l’oeuvre de Nonnos de Panopolis, (...)
  • 16 Xanth., Frg. Hist. Gr. 765 fr. 3, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, ed. F. Jacoby, IIIC, L (...)
  • 17 Chuvin, Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques, op. cit., 107; P. Weiss, “Manes”, in LIMC VI. 1 (199 (...)
  • 18 Aen. Gaz., Theophr., Enea di Gaza, Teofrasto, ed. M. E. Colonna, Napoli 1958, 63, 18 (ἀναστῆσαι λέγ (...)
  • 19 See Herter, Tylon, op. cit., 206-207 and Chuvin, Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques, op. cit., (...)
  • 20 D. Hal., Ant. Rom. I, 27, 1 = Frg. Hist. Gr. 768 fr. 9, Die Fragmente, ed. Jacoby, op. cit., IIIC, (...)
  • 21 N. Dam., Frg. Hist. Gr. 90 fr. 45, Die Fragmente, ed. Jacoby, op. cit., IIA, 349. Epigraphic evide (...)

7The various branches of the Lydian legend of the resurrection of Tylus have been admirably traced, classified and discussed by the dedicatee of this volume15. The legend is first known from the Lydiaca of the local historian Xanthus16. The story is also attested on three Lydian coins dated 220-250 AD17. The oldest depicts a dead snake and Tylus, a young man, face to face with Masnes, both holding a club, the latter extending to the former the herb of life. Of much interest is the last reference to the myth in Aeneas of Gaza18 where the resurrection of Tylus is mentioned among examples which demonstrate naive belief in mythological resurrection myths, inconsequent with the failure of the Hellenes to put credit to Christ’s ‘real’ resurrection. The first example in the series is Glaucus the Cretan. Herter has convincingly argued that Aeneas is using stock-material from a manual listing resurrections, to which manual the Tylus story was mediated from Xanthus via Eudoxus of Cnidus19. In Lydia, the legend was an important and lasting part of the local mythology. In Dionysius of Halicarnassus20, Masnes, the first king of Lydia, is son of Zeus and Ge; his contemporary Tyllus is γηγενής; and Masnes’son Cotys marries Halia, the daughter of Tyllus. Xanthus via Nicolaus of Damascus reports that Tylus is the founder of the dynasty of the Tylonians21.

  • 22 See, e.g., Herter, Tylon, op. cit., 198-9. For the folk-motif in general see J. G. Fraser, Apollod (...)
  • 23 See Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 40; Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 569-570. A s (...)
  • 24 Plat., Resp., 611c6, Platonis Rempublicam ed. S. R. Slings, Oxford 2003, 394.

8It has long been observed that the legend of Tylus the Lydian is equivalent to the myth of Glaucus the Cretan. Glaucus fell into a jar of honey and was restored to life by Polyeidus the Corinthian with an herb brought to him by a snake. The myth of Glaucus the Cretan later fused with the myth of Glaucus Pontius22, in as much as the latter also gains immortality by tasting an herb. The story was much favored in Hellenistic times (cf. Athen., Deipnos., VII, 296a-297b) and is one of Nonnus’favorites23. It is worth bearing in mind that Glaucus Pontius enjoys an air of ‘spirituality’ since, in a celebrated Platonic metaphor taken up by the Neoplatonists, he is compared to the travails of the soul on earth24.

The Lazarus Theme

  • 25 G. Agosti, “Poemi digressivi tardoantichi (e moderni)”, Compar(a) ison 1 (1995), 131-151, p. 139-1 (...)
  • 26 Inconsistences and illogicities in the Tylus narrative have been registered in Dionysiaques, IX, e (...)
  • 27 For other such lists see Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 41-42, 267-268 (on 529-37); H. L. E (...)

9Gianfranco Agosti25, using modern literary theory, pointed out that in an allegoric narrative, the author provides reading hints. These hints orientate the reader towards the ‘hidden meaning’ of the text. This is often the root cause for the numerous apparent inconsistencies and illogicities in the narrative. The latter function as warnings to the hearer or reader that by approaching the story by the letter, he will miss the point. In the case of the Tylus episode there are several such signs26, but the most conspicuous among them is the unequivocal intertextual link with the Paraphrase passage describing, in total autonomy from the Vorlage, the resurrection of Lazarus in Par. Λ, 157-171. Nonnus’liberal amplification has furnished the basis for the description of the resurrection of Tylus in 529-537 (or vice versa). A list of conceptual and verbal similarities is here recapitulated, first with the resurrection of the snake27:

532 καὶ νέκυς: cf. infra on 545
534 ἡμιτελὴς νέκυς ~ Par. Λ, 11 γείτονα πότμου, Gr. Naz., Carm. II, 1, 19, 98 Λάζαρος ἡμιδάικτος
534 ἔχων αὐτόσσυτον οὐρήν ~ * Par. Λ, 168 ἔχων ἀντώπιον ὁρμήν; 161 στείχων αὐτοκέλευθος
536 ἐθήμονι.. λαιμῷ ~ Par. Λ, 179 ἠθάδι ταρσῷ
537 παλινάγρετον: cf. infra on 545 ὀψέ ~ Par. Λ, 163 (ἀρχήν) ὄψιμον

10The intertextual links with the Tylus resurrection are more abundant and more explicit:

541 ἀκεσσιπόνοισι κορύμβοις ~ Par. Λ, 99 ἀκεσσιπόνῳ τινὶ μύθῳ
542 ἔμπνοον ἐψύχωσε δέμας ~ * Par. Λ, 159 ἄπνοον ἐψύχωσε δέμας; Μ, 41 ἔμπνοον ἐψύχωσε
543 ψυχὴ δ’εἰς δέμας ἦλθε τὸ δεύτερον ~ * Par. Λ, 179 νέκυς εἰς δόμον ἦλθεν τὸ δεύτερον
543-544 ἐνδομύχῳ δέ… δέμας θερμαίνετο πυρσῷ ~ * Par. Λ, 171 θερμὸν ἔχων ἱδρῶτα
545 καὶ νέκυς .. βιοτῆς παλινάγρετον ἀρχήν ~ * Par. Λ, 179 καὶ νέκυς; * 164 μετὰ τέρμα βίου παλινάγρετον ἀρχήν
547 ὀρθώσας στατὸν ἴχνος ~ Par. Λ, 167 ποδὸς ὀρθωθέντος; * 108 στατὸν ἴχνος
548 ὃς ἐν λεχέεσσιν ἰαύων ~ Par. Λ, 47 (νέκυν) ὑπὲρ λεχέων … ἰαύειν
459 ἀντίον ἀνδρὸς ὄρουσε .. ἰσχία φωτὸς ἱμάσσων ~ Par. Λ, 15 οὐ φωτὸς ἐπ’ἀενάῳ .. πότμῳ
551 χεῖρες ἐλαφρίζοντο ~ Par. Λ, 175 κοῦφον .. νεκρόν
552 ποσσὶν ὀδοιπορίη, φάος ὄμμασι ~ Par. Λ, 179-80 (νέκυς εἰς δόμον ἦλθεν) ἠθάδι ταρσῷ / φέγγος ἰδών
552 (πέλε) χείλεσι φωνή ~ Par. Λ, 169 αὐδήεις νέκυς ἔσκε.

  • 28 Dionisiache III, ed. Del Corno, Maletta, Tissoni, op. cit., 213. Tissoni sees this as a further poi (...)

11These intertextual links are so thick and so blatant that the poet may be thought to openly invite the hearer or reader to perceive the two passages as a complementary pair and to appreciate one passage in the light of the other. The author of AP I, 49 (Εἰς τὸν Λάζαρον) employs phraseology from the Tylus episode to describe the resurrection of Lazarus and apparently valued the two passages in this way. In modern times Tissoni recognised that the Dionysiaca and Paraphrase’s parallel passages constitute a manipulation of great import whose significance has not been fully grasped28. It will be argued, however, that it is an error to think that the infiltration of Lazarustype features is confined to this. The final section of the episode simply gives the game away. A possible equation of Tylus as ‘man’ (Lazarus) has not been explored so far. A discussion of other prominent Lazarus traits in Tylus’resurrection, often beyond verbal reminiscence, may now unfold.

12The Tylus story is introduced with a preliminary listing of the protagonists, 451-5:

Μαιονίην δ’ ἤσκησεν …
καὶ Μορίην καὶ στικτὸν ὄφιν καὶ θέσπιδα ποίην,
καὶ Χθονὸς ἄπλετον υἷα δρακοντοφόνον Δαμασῆνα,
καὶ Τύλον ἰοβόλῳ κεχαραγμένον ὀξέι πότμῳ
Μαιονίης ναέτην μινυώριον.

  • 29 Cf. Cyrill., In Ioh., Cyrilli in D. Joannis evangelium, ed. P. E. Pusey, Oxford 1872, II, 263, 18 ἐ (...)
  • 30 Theod. Mops., In Ioh., Theodori Mopsuesteni commentarius in evangelium Joannis apostoli, ed. J.-M. (...)

13This rings a bell to the knowledgeable reader or hearer: the technique, unparalleled in Nonnus, seems to be lifted from the introduction of Lazarus and his sisters in John XI, 1 Ἦν δέ τις ἀσθενῶν Λάζαρος ἀπὸ Βηθανίας, ἐκ τῆς κώμης Μαρίας καὶ Μάρθας τῆς ἀδελφῆς αὐτῆς. Commentators of this Johannine verse attribute this preliminary naming of the protagonists to the fact that Lazarus’family was distinguished and well known29. Nonnus’gain would be similar to that claimed by Theodorus of Mopsuestia for the evangelist: the precise information confirms the veracity of the story30. Nonnus’formulation in 454 Τύλον ἰοβόλῳ κεχαραγμένον ὀξέι πότμῳ may glance at John’s (Λάζαρος) ἀσθενῶν> Par. Λ, 1 ἀδρανέων χλοερῷ πυρὶ Λάζαρος, insinuating the ‘death’ of Tylus/Lazarus from the bite of a ‘snake’. Similarly, Nonnus’454-455 Τύλον… Μαιονίης ναέτην may glance at John’s Λάζαρος ἀπὸ Βηθανίας. It is then duly stressed that Tylus, as he appears on the Lydian coins, and like Lazarus, is a young man who dies prematurely (455 μινυώριον; 469 νέον; 462 νεότριχος; 473 ἀώριον). Indicative of the intentions of the author is the fact that Tylus is not described, and especially that at the attack of the snake he is referred to generally as ‘man’ (cf. 459 ἀντίον ἀνδρὸς ὄρουσε· καὶ ἰσχία φωτὸς ἱμάσσων κτλ.; 461 βροτέῳ.. ἐπὶ χροῒ νῶτα συνάπτων; 468 νέκυς; 469 νέον). Similar formulations are used of Lazarus in Par. Λ, 1 Λάζαρος ἀνήρ; 15 οὐ φωτὸς ἐπ’ ἀενάῳ .. πότμῳ. Like Lazarus, Tylus never says anything, he only dies and is then brought back to life.

  • 31 F. Vian, “μαρτυσ chez Nonnos de Panopolis: étude de sémantique et de chronologie”, REG 110 (1997), (...)
  • 32 Cf. Par. Λ, 49 Λάζαρον εὔνασε πότμος ὁμοίιος ‘common to all’, [Ioh. Chrys.], In Laz., PG 62, 773 ἔλ (...)
  • 33 See W. Peek, Lexikon zu den Dionysiaka des Nonnos, I, Berlin 1968, 63, s.v.; M.-C. Fayant, Nonnos (...)
  • 34 Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 127.
  • 35 Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 264.
  • 36 See, further, C. Simelidis, Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus: I. 2.17; II. 1.10, 19, 32, Göt (...)

14In 469 the word is of Tylus dying μάρτυρι πότμῳ, ‘death attesting’ the lethal power of the dragon31. This is an unparalleled turn of phrase, but quite appropriate to express the universal character of Tylus’death, exemplifying, like in the case of Lazarus, the rule of death subduing all human beings32. Seen within this context, Nonnus’innovation of introducing two feminine figures as sisters of Tylus almost explains itself: they are not only an addition inspired by the Lazarus story but their attitudes and actions are modelled on those of the Johannine figures. The first feminine figure is a Naias, a water nymph corresponding to Martha, who offered hospitality to Jesus in the conventional way. Like in John where Martha appears first and is followed by the appearance of her sister Mary, so in Nonnus Naias appears first, followed by her sister Morie. Naias is first mentioned as mourning for the death of young Tylus in 470 Νηιὰς ἀκρήδεμνος ἐπέστενε γείτονι νεκρῷ. Ἀκρήδεμνος first comes up in the Cynegetica (I, 496) attributed to Oppian of Apamea where it qualifies a suffering κούρη πρωτότοκος. The adjective is a generic attribute to Naias in Nonnus33. This is explained by Agosti «‘senza velo’, cioè e venuta su dall’acqua in tutta fretta»34, a first feature assimilating Naias to hasty Martha. Naias mourns her brother with loud groans (470 ἐπέστενε) whereas Morie laments him in a more restrained manner (485 πυκνὰ δὲ κωκύουσα) on the model of Martha in Par. Λ, 74 βαρύστονος... Μάρθα and Mary in Par. Λ, 73 ἐνδόμυχος… μαστίζετο… σιγῇ; 115-6 ἐκ φάρυγος δέ / δάκρυσι νικηθεῖσα μόγις πορθμεύετο φωνή. In the same verse γείτονι νεκρῷ apparently reflects Naias’conviction about the irrevocable character of her brother’s death. Likewise Martha, right before the opening of the grave, is described as the ‘sister of the dead man’ in John XI, 39 ἡ ἀδελφὴ τοῦ τετελευτηκότος Μάρθα and in the Par. Λ, 139 Μάρθα δὲ τεθνειῶτος ὁμόγνιος. It is clear from everywhere else that Tylus is not dead but on the verge of death: 467 γείτονα Μοίρης with Vian ad loc.35 (a turn of phrase coming up in resurrectional contexts); 498 Τύλον ἀρτιχάρακτον ἔτι σπαίροντα κονίῃ, a feature to be directly compared with Lazarus, Par. Λ, 11 γείτονα πότμου; 43 ἀρτιθανής [~ 498 ἀρτιχάρακτον]; gr. Naz., Carm. II, 1, 19, 98 Λάζαρος ἡμιδάικτος36.

  • 37 Cyrill., In Ioh., Cyrilli in D. Joannis, ed. Pusey, op. cit., II, 272, 12 ἡ δὲ Μάρθα ὡς ἀπλουστέρα (...)

15In 471 καὶ τότε θῆρα πέλωρον ἠρήτυεν, ὄφρα δαμείη Naias appears to be led by her stubborn instinct, as she moves to halt the serpent and kill it. She acts in this respect like Martha who is vividly portrayed as rash and thoughtless in hastening to meet Christ in Par. Λ, 72 Μάρθα ποσὶ φθαμένοισι συνήντεεν, thinking that she can avert death by physical presence, Par. Λ, 74 Χριστοῦ δ’ ἐγγὺς ἰοῦσα; Mary, by contrast, approaches the hallowed place rather than the person, Par. Λ, 109 ὅτε σχεδὸν ἵκετο χώρου. Martha also intervenes untimely to halt Christ because of Lazarus’stinking corpse, John XI, 39 ~ Par. Λ, 139-42. Although foretold in John XI, 25 κἂν ἀποθάνῃ ζήσεται, Martha is unable to comprehend the miracle of resurrection and yet she stubbornly insists on her misapprehension in Par. Λ, 79-81 ἀμβροσίης δέ / φωνῆς εἰσαΐουσα (concessive!) τὸ δεύτερον ἔννεπε Μάρθα·/οἶδα καὶ οὔ με λέληθεν ἀνάστασις κτλ., provoking an austere reply by Jesus. Naias’attitude deliberately contrasts to that of Morie who will be argued to represent Lazarus’sister Maria. In contrast to her sister coming near the dragon to kill him, Morie watches from afar overcome by fear, 482 τηλόθι παπταίνουσα· φόβῳ δ’ ἐλελίζετο, recalling Mary staying at home as opposed to Martha rushing off to meet Christ. Concerning physical presence, Martha’s misconception that Christ should have been present on the spot while Lazarus was still alive to avert his death is also relevant, 75 ὦ μάκαρ εἰ παρέης, ὅτε Λάζαρος αἴθετο νούσῳ; there is no such limitation in Mary’s address to Christ in Par. Λ, 117. This chimes well with Martha’s ethography in Cyril37. In short, Naias’understanding of the circumstances she experiences is, like Martha’s, genuine but naive and corporeal.

  • 38 Espinar, Hernández de la Fuente, El mito de Tilo, op. cit., 6.
  • 39 D. Hal., Ant. Rom. I, 27, 1 = Frg. Hist. Gr. 768 fr. 9, Die Fragmente, ed. Jacoby, op. cit., IIIC, (...)

16Following this, Nonnus gives a place to Tylus’sister Morie in 481. In an effort to trace Morie’s identity within the tradition of the Tylus myth, Espinar and Hernández de la Fuente38 drew attention to Halia, the daughter of earth-born Tyllus in Dionysius of Halicarnassus39, adding that Morie in 539-40 supplants Masnes who on a Lydian coin gives Tylus the herb of life. But the motivation for supplanting a daughter with a sister remains obscure; so is the necessity for the change of name; and since Masnes/Damasen is operative in the story, the motivation for supplanting him also on this point remains obscure. Morie is a name invented by Nonnus in Dion. II, 86 for an Attic olive-nymph, derived from μορίαι, the sacred olive trees dedicated to Athena and Zeus in the Academy in Athens. Here Μορίη appears to be a mock name designed to recall Μαρίη, the sister of Lazarus. She is an olive nymph because Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus’feet with an aromatic oil of nard (John XI, 2; XII, 2-3) described as ‘oily moisture’ in Par. M, 15 ἰκμάδα πιαλέην.

17Morie as a mediator of salvation acts like Mary the sister of Lazarus: Mary makes an impassioned plea with Christ to save her brother Lazarus. In 485-6 Morie pleads with Damasen for her brother Tylus with many tears, πυκνὰ δὲ κωκύουσα (…) / ἠλιβάτῳ Δαμασῆνι συνήντεεν. It is Mary’s tears that agitate Christ in her meeting with Him, in John XI, 33, and her tears are emphatically amplified in Nonnus’rendition, Par. Λ, 113-118. Stress on tears in this context is significant since Jesus’tear for Lazarus (John XI, 35) was thought to put an end to the tears first introduced in the world with man’s fall. Then with 486 συνήντεεν cf., in particular, * Par. Λ, 72 συνήντεεν of Martha meeting Christ to plead for Lazarus. Next, Morie supplicates Damasen and shows him the killer dragon and dying Tylus, 496 κάμπτετο λισσομένη, κινυρὴ δ’ ἐπεδείκνυε νύμφη/ κτλ. By showing Tylus to Damasen, Morie shows the plight of mankind to a superior entity, like the sisters of Lazarus in John XI, 3 κύριε, ἴδε ὃν φιλεῖς ἀσθενεῖ ~ Par. Λ, 14 ὃν φιλέεις σκοπίαζε. For this use of ἐπιδεικνύω most characteristic is the scene of Aeon drawing Zeus’attention to the plight of humanity in Dion. VII, 9-10 δυηπαθέων γένος ἀνδρῶν /… ἐπεδείκνυε .. Αἰών; 29 δόκευε .. ἄλγεα κόσμου. Morie’s supplication is inspired from the dramatic entreaty of Mary to Jesus in John XI, 32 ἰδοῦσα αὐτὸν ἔπεσεν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς πόδας ~ Par. Λ, 112-3 πρηνὴς αὐτοκύλιστος ὑπὲρ δαπέδοιο πεσοῦσα / παρ’ ποσὶν ἀμβροσίοις ἐπεκέκλιτο. With Morie κινυρή cf. Mary, Par. Λ, 103 φιλοδάκρυον; 109 βαρύδακρυς; 113 μυρομένη; 118 στενάχουσαν.

  • 40 See, further, Shorrock, Myth of Paganism, op. cit., 74.
  • 41 Cf. potissime the healed man born blind in Par. I, 111 μέτρα τέλεια φέρων παλιναυξέος ἥβης; after E (...)

18We may now proceed with the individual features of Tylus’resurrection. The resemblance in 542 ἔμπνοον ἐψύχωσε δέμας παλιναυξέι νεκρῷ of Tylus to Lazarus in Par. Λ, 159 ἄπνοον ἐψύχωσε δέμας; M, 41 ἔμπνοον ἐψύχωσε has already been noted. Ἔμπνοος is a typical description of Lazarus: five out of six occurrences of this word in the Paraphrase come up in chapter Λ. Παλιναυξής is a term strongly associated with regeneration and resurrection. In Dion. IX, 159 παλιναυξέα Βάκχον, it qualifies Dionysus’second incarnation after Zagreus; whereas in Par. O, 1-2 ἐγὼ παλιναυξέι κόσμῳ / ζωῆς ἄμπελός εἰμι it is associated with the Christ-vine, and in Π, 77 with a new birth40. But Tylus παλιναυξής may convey profound theological connotations, as Tylus’(‘man’ s’) re-growth is part of a providential process towards recognition of God and salvation41.

  • 42 Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 268 (“un pur enjolivement littéraire”) and Espinar, Hernández (...)
  • 43 Ioh. Chrys., In Ioh., PG 59, 431 θερμαίνεται, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅση τῆς φύσεως ἡ ἀσθένεια, ὅταν θεὸς ἐγκατα (...)
  • 44 Iren., Haer. III, 23, 7, Irénée de Lyon, op. cit., ed. Rousseau, Doutreleau, III, 464 illud quod er (...)
  • 45 Cf. in primis resurrected Lazarus in Par. Λ, 171 θερμὸν ἔχων ἱδρῶτα; Sophron., Anacr. 6, 111 ψυχρὸς (...)

19The wording in 543-544 ἐνδομύχῳ δέ / ψυχρὸν ἀοσσητῆρι δέμας θερμαίνετο πυρσῷ is closely similar to Par. Σ, 117 (Peter) ψυχρὸν ἐπ’ ἀνθρακόεντι δέμας θερμαίνετο πυρσῷ. Vian and Espinar-Hernández de la Fuente42 think that the verse in the Paraphrase is bereft of a secondary meaning; however Peter, in denying Christ, appears to be lacking the fervour of faith and thus becomes a quasi ‘dead’ man, seeking warmth close to an earthly fire43. Peter’s ψυχρὸν… δέμας describes the condition of dead bodies in 534 and Dion. XXII, 272. Frigidity is a feature of the dead dragon too, 535 ψυχραῖς γενύεσσι. Such descriptions carry significant theological import as sin, like death, renders man frigid, a condition signifying lapse from God. This is best illustrated by Irenaeus describing the attack and extinction of the serpent of sin44. Dead Lazarus can be frigidus but warms up once he is called back to ‘life’. The internal flame warming up Tylus’frigid body signifies his return to the society of God45.

  • 46 Right from his fall in 468 καὶ νέκυς εἰς χθόνα πῖπτεν; also νεκρός in 470, 539, 542, 550; likewise (...)
  • 47 The best known illustration of this belief is Socrates’death in Plat., Phaed. 117e, Platonis Opera(...)

20Risen Tylus in 545 καὶ νέκυς μεθέπων βιοτῆς παλινάγρετον ἀρχήν is closely similar to risen Lazarus in Par. Λ, 164 ἀθρήσας μετὰ τέρμα βίου παλινάγρετον ἀρχήν of Lazarus. The verse here introduces the physical symptoms of Tylus’resurrection, as does a similar formulation with the snake in 532 καὶ νέκυς αὐτοέλικτος ἐπάλλετο, in agreement with Lazarus in Par. Λ, 179 καὶ νέκυς εἰς δόμον ἦλθε τὸ δεύτερον. Νέκυς or νεκρός become the qualities par excellence of Tylus46. In context the recurrence of such descriptions construes an escalation heralding resurrection. In 546 δεξιτεροῦ μὲν ἔπαλλε (‘started moving) ποδὸς θέναρ Tylus begins life from his right foot, like the snake first moves his tail in 534 αὐτόσσυτον οὐρήν. This is not fortuitous: like the symptoms of departing life first show in the feet, the ‘lowest’ part of the body, so reverting life first shows in the feet47.

  • 48 Leaning on Ioh. XI, 11 Λάζαρος… κεκοίμηται· ἀλλὰ πορεύομαι ἵνα ἐξυπνίσω αὐτόν, similar metaphors a (...)

21The detail in 547 ὀρθώσας στατὸν ἴχνος, closely parallels Lazarus’standing up in Par. Λ, 167 ποδὸς ὀρθωθέντος and goes far beyond a conventional description of revived Tylus’proceedings. It rather represents a symbolic act of regaining man’s privileged association with God in superior contrast to all other creatures. In 548-9 Tylus stands firmly on his feet like a man lying in bed who is just awoken from sleep, ἀνδρὸς ἔχων τύπον ἶσον, ὃς ἐν λεχέεσσιν ἰαύων / ὄρθριον οἰγομένης ἀποσείεται ὕπνον ὀπωπῆς, as if Tylus were another Lazarus48. The resemblance of 548 ὃς ἐν λεχέεσσιν ἰαύων of Tylus with Par. Λ, 47 (νέκυν) ὑπὲρ λεχέων .. ὕπνον ἰαύειν of Lazarus has already been noted. With time, this motif developed to acquire a broader field of applications and became popular among Christian authors in association with initiation to – or recognition of – the true god, in the sense of a spiritual regeneration.

  • 49 Cf. [Hippol.], In Laz., Hippolytus, Werke, I2, Kleinere exegetische und homiletische Schriften, ed. (...)
  • 50 Cf. Ap. Rh., Arg., I, 1262; Q. Sm., Posthom., III, 140; VI, 461; Gr. Naz., AP VIII, 30, 4.
  • 51 Plat., Tim., Platonis Opera, IV, ed. J. Burnet, Oxonii 1902, 79d1 πᾶν ζῷον αὑτοῦ τἀντὸς περὶ τὸ αἷμ (...)
  • 52 A common notion, cf. 1 Cor. XV, 50 σάρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, cf. Chris (...)
  • 53 Cf. Clem., Paed., III, 25, 2, C. Mondésert, al., Clément d’Alexandrie, Le Pédagogue, III, Paris 197 (...)

22Compared to the bodily effects of the resurrection of Lazarus, the resurrection of Tylus is augmented with references to blood and to the joints of the body. In patristic literature both are well attested as parts of the Lazarus tradition particularly in more popular (and spectacular) expositions of the miracle such as in homilies49. In 550 καὶ πάλιν ἔζεεν αἷμα Nonnus reproduces traditional wording which is always associated with animation50. However, in Quintus of Smyrna, Posthom. III, 163-164 the turn of phrase is employed for an indication of life in the fatally wounded Achilles, ἔτι γάρ οἱ ἐν φρεσὶν ἔζεεν αἷμα. / ἀλλ’ ὅτε οἱ ψύχοντο μέλη καὶ ἀπήιε θυμός κτλ. A similar detail is mentioned in a magic resurrection of a fighter in Lucan, De bell. civ. VI, 750 protinus astrictus caluit cruor. In Nonnus, the notion of blood as a source of warmth in the human body may be due to his knowledge of Plato’s Timaeus.51 The reference is certainly not meant to imply mortal fragility52 or even mere corporeality, but rather glances at a noble tradition holding blood to be a sacred and ζωτικόν substance53. Thus blood is regularly mentioned in association with the creation of man (as a birth ‘in blood’) or with his re-embodiment at the final resurrection.

  • 54 Cf. [Bas. Caes.], Enarr. Is., PG 30, 189a ὁ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ οὐράνια καὶ ὑψηλὰ ἐργαζόμενος, οἰονεὶ διη (...)

23As a result of breathing anew, the arms of Tylus become lighter, 550-551 νεοπνεύστοιο δὲ νεκροῦ / χεῖρες ἐλαφρίζοντο. With νεοπνεύστοιο δὲ νεκροῦ one may approach *Par. Λ, 158 λιποφθόγγοιο δὲ νεκροῦ / of Lazarus. As far as arms are concerned, a reading at face value would be that as unmoving arms are an indication of death, so moving arms are a sign of life, cf. Dion. XXXVII, 498 ἕως ἔτι χεῖρας ἀείρω ‘as long as I am alive’ (cf. Od. XI, 423-4). The verse might be thought to be inspired from Athena’s healing of fatally wounded Diomedes in Il. V, 122 γυῖα δ’ ἔθηκεν ἐλαφρά, πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ὕπερθεν. It must be stressed, though, that this verse’s semantics were renegotiated as it was variously utilized of Christ’s healing miracles in Eudocia, Cent. I, 722; II, 641, al. Again this detail may carry profound theological connotations. Tylus’lighter arms stand in plain contrast to his previous constriction by the snake in 461 στεφανηδόν. Lazarus goes through the same experience: still bound with the bandages of death, he comes out of his grave, John XI, 44 δεδεμένος τοὺς πόδας καὶ τὰς χεῖρας, but when released from the bonds of death he becomes, Par. Λ, 175 κοῦφον… νεκρόν. This kind of attention to the arms harks back to Adam evicted from Eden, and reverses God’s curse on the ‘fallen’ man in Gen. III, 23 καὶ νῦν μήποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῖρα καὶ λάβῃ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς… καὶ ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. The symbolic importance of the hand is typified in the healing of the man with the withered hand in the Synoptics, Mk III, 1-6, 5 ἐξέτεινεν (~ Gen. III, 23 μήποτε ἐκτείνῃ τὴν χεῖρα) καὶ ἀπεκαταστάθη ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ; further Is. XXXV, 3 ἰσχύσατε, χεῖρες ἀνειμέναι. According to the Fathers, cast down hands are a sign of spiritual impotency and enslavement to sin, in contrast to outstretched hands uniting man to God in prayer54.

  • 55 Contrast a drowned man in PH. Thess., AP VII, 383, 6-7, The Greek Anthology, The Garland of Philip(...)
  • 56 For ἁρμονία at resurrection cf. Ezech. XXXVII, 7 (vision of the dry bones: the Lord) προσήγαγε τὰ (...)
  • 57 M. Spanneut, Recherches sur les écrits d’Eustathe d’Antioche, Lille 1948, 96. Cf. also Ps. Macar.,(...)

24The process in 551 ἁρμονίη πέλε μορφῇ ‘the body recovered its frame’ implies a reconstitution from the original chaotic elements into a perfect being, an ἀποκατάστασις, a return to Tylus’original state55. In Christian thought it is Christ who gives body its shape, Eph. IV, 16 ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα συναρμολογούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον and restitution of man’s ἁρμονία is a recurrent theme in resurrections56. Tylus’ resurrection is concluded with a comprehensive verse emphasizing the restoration of the functions of Tylus’reinvigorated body: his feet for walking (cf. also 546); his eyes for watching and his lips for speaking, 552 ποσσὶν ὁδοιπορίη, φάος ὄμμασι, χείλεσι φωνή. But mere corporeality is insufficient: it is the grace of God that grants man his physical abilities. One might tellingly approach the functions of the newly created man after vivification in Eustath. Ant., De an. c. philos. fr. 5 ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ βαδίζει καὶ ἀναπνεῖ καὶ φθέγγεται57. Such lists bring near the thought of the resurrection miracle as the most consummate of all other ‘partial’ miracles healing individual parts of body. This thought is implicit in John where Lazarus’resurrection comes as the last after six ‘partial’ miracles performed by Christ.

The Question of Priority

  • 58 The references are: Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 40-41; Espinar, Hernández de la Fuente, (...)
  • 59 Gr. Naz., Carm. I, 1, 7, 10-11 οὐδὲ μὲν αἱματόεσσα χύσις διὰ σάρκα θέουσα / ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἁρμονίη τῶν σ (...)
  • 60 Lampe, Patristic Dictionary, op. cit., 141, s. ἄνθρωπος A.
  • 61 Lampe, Patristic Dictionary, op. cit., 1548, s. ψυχή I. F. 10b.

25The last word pertains to the difficult question of priority. In his 1990 edition of Dion. XXV-XXIX, Francis Vian hesitantly endorsed the priority of the Dionysiaca over the Paraphrase on this point. Espinar and Hernández de la Fuente pointed out that the indications adduced by Vian to support the priority of the Dionysiaca, as Vian himself conceded, are fragile. Vian later left open the question of the posteriority of the Dionysiaca passage due to the amplification of the theme of progressive resurrection. Agosti also admitted the priority of the Lazarus-episode in the Paraphrase, comparing the healing of the blind Indian by Dionysus in Dion. XXV, 281-291 and the healing of the man born blind in John IX58. A visible difference between the resurrections of Tylus and Lazarus in Nonnus is the emphasis given to the individual bodily effects in the former against a concise Par. Λ, 169-70 ἐκ ποδὸς ἄχρι καρήνου /… ὅλον δέμας in the latter. Spirituality looms large in both and an explicit reference to Tylus’internal flame in 543-544 is balanced with a reference to Lazarus’warm perspiration in Par. Λ, 171 θερμὸν ἔχων ἱδρῶτα, which is a physical symptom of spiritual upheaval (thereby uniting body and soul in one). Δέμας tellingly comes up in three consecutive verses in 542-4 ἐψύχωσε δέμας… / Ψυχὴ δ’ εἰς δέμας ἦλθε… / … δέμας θερμαίνετο πυρσῷ. This is followed by references to blood in 550, to the hands and to the ἁρμονίη of the human frame in 551. And as Tylus’resurrection begins with three references to δέμας, so it is concluded in the last verse by nominatim references to three key constituents of the body – the feet, the eyes and the lips, 552 ποσσὶν ὁδοιπορίη, φάος ὄμμασι, χείλεσι φωνή. The juxtaposition of blood and ἁρμονίη might evoke associations with what Gregory of Nazianzus and other Neoplatonic and Patristic sources mention as misleading definitions of the soul59. At this point focus on what constitutes a body seems to be combined with a latent poignant allusion to what a soul is not. Such proceedings enhance the dignity of the body and appear to chime with the view of the Fathers that man consists of body and soul not soul alone60. As has been demonstrated in the preceding discussion of the individual features of Tylus’resurrection, both resurrections, of Lazarus and of Tylus, are not ‘simple’ revivals but vested with the spirituality with which Christian doctrine endowed the human body and each of its individual constituents. A detailed description of the corporeal effects of Lazarus’resurrection is amply founded on the homiletic tradition of this miracle. Nonnus’differing approach in the Paraphrase and the Dionysiaca might also involve questions of genre: within the Dionysiaca Nonnus would thus provide a new spiritual context to either ‘corporeal’ resurrections of ‘pagan’ lore, mythology or magic which are concerned solely with the corporeal aspects of resurrection, or Gnostic traditions which recognize “the salvation of souls only, not of bodies”61. Both of them lack the high spirituality of Lazarus’regeneration in spirit and flesh, to which Tylus’resurrection is assimilated. It would seem that the Tylus passage retains the message, but expands the Lazarus passage in a ‘corporeal’ fashion that is contextually meaningful. The priority of the Paraphrase over the Dionysiaca on this point would make more sense.

  • 62 Spanoudakis, The Shield of Salvation, op. cit., forthcoming.

26The general plan of the episodes in Dion. XXV might also point to this cautious conclusion, since it appears to owe a great deal to the Gospel of John. Nonnian Shield and Lazarus convey the same message: as the description of the Shield abridges the history of man from a Christian perspective62, so the Lazarus miracle epitomizes the core of it. The description of Dionysus’shield is closely preceded by the miracle of the healing by Dionysus of an Indian born blind, by sprinkling the Indian’s face with drops from the Hydaspes river now flowing with healing wine (281-291). That passage summarily reworks the healing of the man born blind in John IX and displays resounding intertextual links, at least at a verbal level, with Nonnus’rendition of the Johannine miracle in Par. I, 25-44. The order of the miracles is the same as in John: the healing of the man born blind in John IX, referred to in the Lazarus story by the Jews in John XI, 37, is followed by the resurrection of Lazarus in John XI. So the eye-opening miracle is closely associated with and heralds the resurrection miracle. In theological terms, such an association is founded upon the identification of light and life in John I, 4. In addition, just as the resurrection of Lazarus studiously finds itself right in the middle of the Gospel of John, so does the description of the Shield in the Dionysiaca – which recounts Tylus’resurrection–finds its place at the centre of the epic. And it is indeed characteristic that this book invoking in its proem Homer and Pindar, the poet of Thebes, is at least to some extent structured upon John. But the invocation to the bards of old would become meaningful in this context, if it is perceived to correspond to John’s ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος. Thus, the healing of the blind Indian becomes a powerful reminder of how we are supposed to look at the scenes on Dionysus’shield soon to be described: with our eyes wide open.

Note

1 N. B. * = in eadem sede. Verses of Dion. XXV are normally referred to by the verse-number alone, following Nonnos de Panopolis. Les Dionysiaques, IX, Chants XXV-XXIX, ed. F. Vian, Paris 1990.

2 In a comment about the cosmic symbolism of Hermes’four-stringed lyre, Macrobius remarks, Sat. I, 19, 15, Macrobius. Saturnalia, ed. R. Kaster, Oxford 2012: quippe significat hic numerus vel totidem plagas mundi vel quattuor vices temporum quibus annus includitur, vel quod duobus aequinoctiis duobus solstitiis zodiaci ratio distincta est.

3 P. Stockmeier, Theologie und Kult des Kreutzes bei Johannes Chrysostomus, Trier 1966, 116: “Das Kreutz als Fundament des Kosmos”. On τετράζυξ κόσμος, see D. Gigli Piccardi, La ‘Cosmogonia di Strasburgo’, Firenze 1990, 99.

4 E. Livrea, ΚΡΕCCΟΝΑ ΒΑCΚΑΝΙΗC. Quindici studi di poesia ellenistica, Firenze 1993, 203, 214. Cf. Par. Γ, 82.

5 V. Stegemann, Astrologie und Universalgeschichte, Leipzig-Berlin 1930, 161. Cf. Nonnos de Panopolis, Les Dionysiaques, V, Chants XI-XIII, ed. F. Vian, Paris 1995, 60; Nonno di Panopoli, Le Dionisiache, I, Canti I-XII, ed. D. Gigli Piccardi, Milano 2003, 742. A Christian church was believed to be a world by itself. Cyclos images can be allegoric; they often depict a sequence from the creation of man to the end of time.

6 Nonnus is well aware of Homeric allegory of the Heraclitan type, see F. Vian, “La théomachie de Nonnos et ses antécédents”, REG 101 (1988), 275-292 [= F. Vian, L’épopée posthomérique. Recueil d’études, ed. D. Accorinti, Alessandria 2005, 423-438]; P. Chuvin, Chronique des derniers païens. La disparition du paganisme dans l’Empire romain, du règne du Constantin à celui de Justinien, Paris 20093, 160.

7 F. Vian, “Nonno ed Omero”, Koinonia 15 (1991), 5-18, p. 11 [= Vian, L’épopée posthomérique, op. cit., 475-6]; Nonno di Panopoli. Le Dionisiache, III, Canti XXV-XXXIX, ed. G. Agosti, Milano 2013², 120; Nonno di Panopoli. Le Dionisiache, III, Canti 25-36, ed. D. Del Corno, M. Maletta, F. Tissoni, Milano 2005, 208-209; L. Miguélez Cavero, Poems in Context: Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid, 200-600 AD, Berlin-New York 2008, 298-299.

8 K. Spanoudakis, “The Shield of Salvation: Dionysus’Shield in Nonnus Dionysiaca 25.380-572”, in Id. (ed.), Nonnus of Panopolis in Context. Poetry and Cultural Milieu in Late Antiquity, Berlin-New York, forthcoming.

9 Heraclit., Quaest. Hom., 48, 5, Heraclitus. Homeric Problems, ed. D. A. Russell, D. Konstan, Atlanta 2005, 86 Ὅμηρος ἰδίᾳ τινὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ δημιουργῶν τὸν κόσμον εὐθὺς τὰ μέγιστα τῆς προνοίας ἔργα μετὰ τὴν ἀδιευκρίνητον καὶ κεχυμένην ὕλην ἐχάλκευσεν.

10 There is a list of imitations in Les Dionysiaques, IX, éd. Vian, op. cit., 261-262.

11 Cf. Schol. ex. Il. XVIII, 488b, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem, ed. H. Erbse, IV, Berlin 1975, 532; Eust., Comm. Il. 1156, 7, 11, Eustathii Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, ed. M. Van Der Valk, Leiden 1987, IV, 226.

12 Schol. Il. l. l. τῶν ἐμφανεστέρων μέμνηται; Eust., Comm. Il. 1155, 35, ed. Van Der Valk, op. cit., IV, 224 ἀλλ’ ὁ ποιητὴς αὐτὰ σιωπᾷ, οὐ γὰρ τεχνολογῆσαι προηγουμένως ἐνεστήσατο; Schol. Arat. 322, Scholia in Aratum vetera, ed. J. Martin, Stuttgart 1974, 236 and Heraclit., Quaest. Hom., 49, 1, Heraclitus, ed. Russell, Konstan, op. cit., 86 κατὰ μέρος <τὰ> ἐπιφανέστατα δεδήλωκεν· οὐ γὰρ ἠδύνατο πάντα θεολογεῖν, ὥσπερ Εὔδοξος ἢ Ἄρατος, Ἰλιάδα γράφειν ἀντὶ τῶν Φαινομένων ὑποστησάμενος ἑαυτῷ.

13 Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 33; Id., “Nonno ed Omero”, op. cit., 10 [= 2005, 414-415].

14 Constantine’s shield is described in Eus., V. Const., I, 31, Eusebius, Werke, I. 1, Über das Leben des Kaisers Konstantin, ed. F. Winkelmann, Berlin 19912, 30. See, further, Stockmeier, Theologie und Kult des Kreutzes, op. cit., 214.

15 P. Chuvin, Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques. Recherches sur l’oeuvre de Nonnos de Panopolis, Clermont-Ferrand 1992, 106-111.

16 Xanth., Frg. Hist. Gr. 765 fr. 3, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, ed. F. Jacoby, IIIC, Leiden 1958, 751, as reported in Plin., HN XXV, 14, C. Plini Secundi, Naturalis Historiae libri XXXVII, ed. C. Mayhoff, IV, Leipzig 1897, 120 Xanthus historiarum auctor in prima earum tradit occisum draconis catulum revocatum ad vitam a parente herba, quam balim nominat, eademque Tylonem, quem draco occiderat, restitutum saluti.

17 Chuvin, Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques, op. cit., 107; P. Weiss, “Manes”, in LIMC VI. 1 (1992), 352-353; VI. 2, 180.

18 Aen. Gaz., Theophr., Enea di Gaza, Teofrasto, ed. M. E. Colonna, Napoli 1958, 63, 18 (ἀναστῆσαι λέγοιτο) Ἡρακλῆς… Τύλωνα Λυδόν, cf. H. Herter, “Von Xanthos dem Lyder zu Aeneias aus Gaza: Tylon und andere Auferweckte”, RhM 108 (1965), 189-212, p. 196.

19 See Herter, Tylon, op. cit., 206-207 and Chuvin, Mythologie et géographie dionysiaques, op. cit., 107.

20 D. Hal., Ant. Rom. I, 27, 1 = Frg. Hist. Gr. 768 fr. 9, Die Fragmente, ed. Jacoby, op. cit., IIIC, 760.

21 N. Dam., Frg. Hist. Gr. 90 fr. 45, Die Fragmente, ed. Jacoby, op. cit., IIA, 349. Epigraphic evidence is cited in Weiss, Manes, op. cit., 352.

22 See, e.g., Herter, Tylon, op. cit., 198-9. For the folk-motif in general see J. G. Fraser, Apollodorus. The Library, Cambridge (Mass.) 1921, II, Appendix VII.

23 See Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 40; Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 569-570. A snake bringing a twig to a couple on the Prometheus sarcophagus of Arles (3rd cent. CE) has been interpreted along the lines of the Glaucus story, H. Kaiser-Minn, Die Erschaffung des Menschen auf den spätantiken Monumenten des 3. und 4. Jahrhunderts, Münster 1981, 68, 72.

24 Plat., Resp., 611c6, Platonis Rempublicam ed. S. R. Slings, Oxford 2003, 394.

25 G. Agosti, “Poemi digressivi tardoantichi (e moderni)”, Compar(a) ison 1 (1995), 131-151, p. 139-141.

26 Inconsistences and illogicities in the Tylus narrative have been registered in Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 37-39; R. Shorrock, The Myth of Paganism. Nonnus, Dionysus and the World of Late Antiquity, London 2011, 3; Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 129, 131.

27 For other such lists see Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 41-42, 267-268 (on 529-37); H. L. Espinar, D. Hernández de la Fuente, «El mito de Tilo y la resurrección de los muertos en Nono de Panópolis», AnMal 12 (2002), 1-13, p. 8-9; Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 132-133. See also Shorrock, Myth of Paganism, op. cit., 97-98.

28 Dionisiache III, ed. Del Corno, Maletta, Tissoni, op. cit., 213. Tissoni sees this as a further point assimilating Dionysus to Christ.

29 Cf. Cyrill., In Ioh., Cyrilli in D. Joannis evangelium, ed. P. E. Pusey, Oxford 1872, II, 263, 18 ἐπίτηδες δὲ μέμνηται τῶν ὀνομάτων τῶν γυναικῶν ὁ Εὐαγγελιστής, δεικνὺς ὅτι ἐπίσημοι ἦσαν ὡς θεοσεβεῖς; Ioh. Chrys., In Ioh., PG 59, 366 οὗτος δὲ ἐπίσημος· καὶ δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ πολλοὺς ἐλθεῖν εἰς παραμυθίαν τῶν ἀδελφῶν.

30 Theod. Mops., In Ioh., Theodori Mopsuesteni commentarius in evangelium Joannis apostoli, ed. J.-M. Vosté, Louvain 1940, 156, 3: ceteris illis additis et accurate narrata historia, indicans vicum unde erat, et cuiusdam esset frater… magis confirmat suum sermonem pro illis qui incident in hanc historiam. Impossibile enim erat totam hanc historiam ex integro creare.

31 F. Vian, “μαρτυσ chez Nonnos de Panopolis: étude de sémantique et de chronologie”, REG 110 (1997), 143-160, p. 152 [= 2005, p. 575] correcting previous misapprehensions such as ‘dying before the eyes of Naias’.

32 Cf. Par. Λ, 49 Λάζαρον εὔνασε πότμος ὁμοίιος ‘common to all’, [Ioh. Chrys.], In Laz., PG 62, 773 ἔλαβε τοίνυν αὐτὸν ὁ κοινὸς τῶν ἀνθρώπων θάνατος.

33 See W. Peek, Lexikon zu den Dionysiaka des Nonnos, I, Berlin 1968, 63, s.v.; M.-C. Fayant, Nonnos de Panopolis. Les Dionysiaques., XVII, Chant XLVII, Paris 2000, 156, on Dion. XLVII, 216.

34 Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 127.

35 Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 264.

36 See, further, C. Simelidis, Selected Poems of Gregory of Nazianzus: I. 2.17; II. 1.10, 19, 32, Göttingen 2009, 215-216.

37 Cyrill., In Ioh., Cyrilli in D. Joannis, ed. Pusey, op. cit., II, 272, 12 ἡ δὲ Μάρθα ὡς ἀπλουστέρα ἔδραμε, μεθύουσα μὲν τῷ πάθει, φέρουσα δὲ ὅμως νεανικώτερον.

38 Espinar, Hernández de la Fuente, El mito de Tilo, op. cit., 6.

39 D. Hal., Ant. Rom. I, 27, 1 = Frg. Hist. Gr. 768 fr. 9, Die Fragmente, ed. Jacoby, op. cit., IIIC, 760.

40 See, further, Shorrock, Myth of Paganism, op. cit., 74.

41 Cf. potissime the healed man born blind in Par. I, 111 μέτρα τέλεια φέρων παλιναυξέος ἥβης; after Eph. IV, 14-6, Iren., Haer. IV, 38, 3 (fr. 25), Irénée de Lyon, Contre les hérésies, IV, ed. A. Rousseau, L. Doutreleau, Paris 1965, 956 Ἔδει τὸν ἄνθρωπον πρῶτον γενέσθαι, καὶ γενόμενον αὐξῆσαι, καὶ αὐξήσαντα ἀνδρωθῆναι… καὶ ἰδεῖν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Δεσπότην… ὄρασις δὲ Θεοῦ περιποιητικὴ ἀφθαρσίας.

42 Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 268 (“un pur enjolivement littéraire”) and Espinar, Hernández de la Fuente, El mito de Tilo, op. cit., 9; contra, E. Livrea, Nonno di Panopoli, Parafrasi del Vangelo di S. Giovanni, Canto XVIII, Napoli 1989, 167.

43 Ioh. Chrys., In Ioh., PG 59, 431 θερμαίνεται, ἵνα μάθῃς ὅση τῆς φύσεως ἡ ἀσθένεια, ὅταν θεὸς ἐγκαταλίπῃ.

44 Iren., Haer. III, 23, 7, Irénée de Lyon, op. cit., ed. Rousseau, Doutreleau, III, 464 illud quod erigeretur et dilataretur adversus hominem peccatum, quod frigidum reddebat eum, evacuaretur cum regnante morte.

45 Cf. in primis resurrected Lazarus in Par. Λ, 171 θερμὸν ἔχων ἱδρῶτα; Sophron., Anacr. 6, 111 ψυχρὸς .. νεκρός, Prudent., Apoth. 754, Prudence, II: Apotheosis, Hamartigenia, ed. M. Lavarenne, Paris 19612, 29 frigentis amici, next Cyrill., In Psal., PG 70, 173c ψυχρὸν γὰρ οὐδὲν παρά γε τοῖς ἄνω δυνάμεσιν, αἵπερ ἂν εἶεν μάλιστα καὶ ἐγγὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ταύτῃ τοι καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ… ζέοντες ἀποτελούμεθα τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ θερμοὶ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς τὸν Θεόν.

46 Right from his fall in 468 καὶ νέκυς εἰς χθόνα πῖπτεν; also νεκρός in 470, 539, 542, 550; likewise the snake is νέκυς in 524, 529, 532, 534 and 531 νεκρῷ. These are recurrent descriptions of Lazarus νέκυς (8 occ. in Par. Λ: 46, 52, 85, 130, 142, 163, 169, 179) or νεκρός (8 occ. in Par. Λ: 45, 105, 155, 158, 160, 166, 175, 183).

47 The best known illustration of this belief is Socrates’death in Plat., Phaed. 117e, Platonis Opera, ed. E. A. Duke, al., I, Oxonii 1995, 185, discussed in Damascius’commentary, In Phaed. 560, The Greek Commentaries on Plato’s Phaedo, II: Damascius, ed. L. G. Westerink, Amsterdam 1977, 285 Διὰ τί ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων ἄρχεται ἡ νέκρωσις; – Ἢ ὡς ὄντων πορρωτέρω τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ μορίου. See, further, B. Kötting, RAC VIII (1972), 723-4 s. Fuß. In a Christian context cf. esp. Orig., In Ioh. XXXII, 9, Origène, Commentaire sur S. Jean, ed. C. Blanc, V, Paris 1992, 190, on Ioh. 13, 5 ~ Par. N, 23-5 (the washing of the disciples’feet).

48 Leaning on Ioh. XI, 11 Λάζαρος… κεκοίμηται· ἀλλὰ πορεύομαι ἵνα ἐξυπνίσω αὐτόν, similar metaphors are typical of Lazarus, e.g. Gr. Nyss., De opif. hom., PG 44, 221b οἷόν τινα ὕπνον τὸν θάνατον … ἀποσεισάμενος, καὶ ἀποτινάξας ἑαυτοῦ τὴν .. διαφθοράν.

49 Cf. [Hippol.], In Laz., Hippolytus, Werke, I2, Kleinere exegetische und homiletische Schriften, ed. H. Achelis, Leipzig 1897, 227, 1; [Ioh. Chrys.], In Laz., PG 62, 777.

50 Cf. Ap. Rh., Arg., I, 1262; Q. Sm., Posthom., III, 140; VI, 461; Gr. Naz., AP VIII, 30, 4.

51 Plat., Tim., Platonis Opera, IV, ed. J. Burnet, Oxonii 1902, 79d1 πᾶν ζῷον αὑτοῦ τἀντὸς περὶ τὸ αἷμα καὶ τὰς φλέβας θερμότατα ἔχει, οἷον ἐν ἑαυτῷ πηγήν τινα ἐνοῦσαν πυρός.

52 A common notion, cf. 1 Cor. XV, 50 σάρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται, cf. Christ of the Jews in Par. Θ, 52 ἀπὸ χθονὸς αἷμα φέροντες ~ Dion. XLIV, 169.

53 Cf. Clem., Paed., III, 25, 2, C. Mondésert, al., Clément d’Alexandrie, Le Pédagogue, III, Paris 1970, 56 Μετέσχηκεν τοῦ λόγου τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ τῆς χάριτος κοινωνεῖ τῷ πνεύματι… ἔξεστιν αὐτῷ καὶ γυμνῷ τοῦ σχήματος πρὸς τὸν κύριον λαλεῖν (Gen. IV, 10). See, further, J. H. Waszink, RAC II (1954), 469-70 s. Blut; G. W. H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Oxford 1961, 48, s. αἷμα A. 1.

54 Cf. [Bas. Caes.], Enarr. Is., PG 30, 189a ὁ τὰ μεγάλα καὶ οὐράνια καὶ ὑψηλὰ ἐργαζόμενος, οἰονεὶ διηρμένην ἔχων τὴν πρακτικὴν δύναμιν, ἐπαίρειν τὰς χεῖρας λέγεται· ὁ δὲ ταπεινὰ καὶ γήινα καὶ τῇ φθορᾷ ὑποκείμενα ἐνεργῶν, κάτω ῥεπούσας καὶ καταβεβλημένας τὰς χεῖρας ἔχει. More references are listed in Lampe, A Patristic, op. cit., 1520, s. χείρ 6.

55 Contrast a drowned man in PH. Thess., AP VII, 383, 6-7, The Greek Anthology, The Garland of Philip, I, ed. A. S. F. Gow, Cambridge 1968, 318 κώλων ἔκλυτος ἁρμονίη. / οὗτος ὁ πουλυμερὴς εἷς ἦν ποτε, or a deceased man in Ps. Phocyl., Sent. 102, Pseudo-Phocylide, Sentences, ed. P. Derron, Paris 1986, 9 ἁρμονίην ἀναλυέμεν ἀνθρώποιο/. See LSJ s. ἁρμονία Ia. 4.

56 For ἁρμονία at resurrection cf. Ezech. XXXVII, 7 (vision of the dry bones: the Lord) προσήγαγε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἑκάτερον πρὸς τὴν ἁρμονίαν αὐτοῦ; of Lazarus cf., e.g., Hesych. Hier., In S. Laz. II, 2, M. Aubineau, Les Homélies festales d’Hésychius de Jérusalem, I, Bruxelles 1978, 450 ~ [Ioh. Chrys.], In Laz., PG 62, 777 πᾶσαν δὲ τὴν τοῦ σώματος διασπασθεὶς ἁρμονίαν […] ἄρθρων ἁρμονίαι συνήπτοντο; Cyriac., H. Laz. ια΄ 6-7, Fourteen Early Byzantine Cantica, ed. C. Trypanis, Wien 1968, 84 πᾶσα ἡ ἁρμονία / ἀνεκαινίσθη ὡς ἐκ μήτρας.

57 M. Spanneut, Recherches sur les écrits d’Eustathe d’Antioche, Lille 1948, 96. Cf. also Ps. Macar., Hom. spir., PG 34, 465d τέλειον.. ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα πρὸς ὀφθαλμούς, κεφαλὴν πρὸς κεφαλήν, ὦτα πρὸς ὦτα, χεῖρας πρὸς χεῖρας, πόδας πρὸς πόδας.

58 The references are: Dionysiaques, IX, ed. Vian, op. cit., 40-41; Espinar, Hernández de la Fuente, El mito de Tilo, op. cit., 9; Vian, μαρτυσ chez Nonnos, op. cit., 160 n. 76 [= 2005, p. 583 n. 76]; Dionisiache, III, ed. Agosti, op. cit., 132-3.

59 Gr. Naz., Carm. I, 1, 7, 10-11 οὐδὲ μὲν αἱματόεσσα χύσις διὰ σάρκα θέουσα / ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ ἁρμονίη τῶν σώματος εἰς ἓν ἰόντων. See Sykes ap. C. Moreschini – D. A. Sykes, St Gregory of Nazianzus, Poemata arcana, Oxford 1997, 220-221.

60 Lampe, Patristic Dictionary, op. cit., 141, s. ἄνθρωπος A.

61 Lampe, Patristic Dictionary, op. cit., 1548, s. ψυχή I. F. 10b.

62 Spanoudakis, The Shield of Salvation, op. cit., forthcoming.

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