This chapter compares two passages of the Dionysiaca (13, 104-119 and 19, 152-154) with the passages of the Alexandra which seem to have inspired them (vv. 194-199 and 156-163 respectively) from two different points of view, i.e. thematic and linguistic. As a matter of fact, in the first case we deal with a theme, i.e. an unusual mythical variant, in the second with a word attested only in Lycophron. In both cases Nonnus selects a typically Lycophronean feature and has the same aim. He seems to implicitly compare the Indian war with the Trojan war in order to celebrate the winner of the former, i.e. Dionysus, and, ultimately, the Byzantine Empire, that play the same pacifying role, although in different contexts (myth and history respectively).
The Alexandra in the Dionysiaca: Two Examples
Magnolo Arianna
2020-01-01
Abstract
This chapter compares two passages of the Dionysiaca (13, 104-119 and 19, 152-154) with the passages of the Alexandra which seem to have inspired them (vv. 194-199 and 156-163 respectively) from two different points of view, i.e. thematic and linguistic. As a matter of fact, in the first case we deal with a theme, i.e. an unusual mythical variant, in the second with a word attested only in Lycophron. In both cases Nonnus selects a typically Lycophronean feature and has the same aim. He seems to implicitly compare the Indian war with the Trojan war in order to celebrate the winner of the former, i.e. Dionysus, and, ultimately, the Byzantine Empire, that play the same pacifying role, although in different contexts (myth and history respectively).
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