Since the publication of the first volume of Nonnus of Panopolis in Context (edited by K. Spanoudakis in 2014) no fewer than five monographs or edited volumes have now emerged, shedding new light on Nonnus’ poikilon poetic work and its reception. The volume under review presents a wide range of readings and approaches, which, like Nonnus’ poetry, are both undoubtedly variegated and somewhat inconsistent or incoherent. Admittedly, the broad remit of the conference that gave rise to the volume does not allow for a much sharper focus than what the editors envision in their mission statement: ‘to cover literary, cultural and religious aspects of Nonnus’ poetry as well as to highlight the social and educational background of both the Dionysiaca and the Paraphrasis of St John's Gospel’ (p. xi). Still, the grouping of chapters is, at certain points, perplexing. The volume falls into three parts: ‘The Poetry of the Dionysiaca’, ‘The Poetry of the Paraphrasis’ and ‘Nonnus of Panopolis in Context’. The third part lumps together chapters on the imitators of Nonnus (M. Whitby on Christodorus of Coptus and C. De Stefani on the metre of the Kyklos) with, among others, one on the Caucasus in the Dionysiaca (N. Egetashvili) and another on Nonnus’ biography in scholarship and fiction (D. Hernández de la Fuente): all of these, convincing as they are, have little to say on Nonnus’ context. Surprisingly, Spanoudakis’ excellent contribution (more on which below) on the Staphylus episode is placed under ‘The Poetry of the Paraphrasis’, apparently because it deals with the Christian intertexts of this Dionysiac affair. Yet it should be clear by now that ‘the poetry of the Dionysiaca’ is thoroughly infused with Christian phrasings and ideas; this does not mean that the secular poem is to be equated with ‘the poetry of the Paraphrasis’. Finally, it is puzzling that the editors should choose to include an appendix of little more than one page (by M. Zach) on relationships between Panopolis and the Meroitic kingdom, when they themselves admit that ‘(n)othing of that, as far as we can see, is reflected in Nonnus’ poems’ (p. xvii). The topic is both too broad to be explored in such short space and manifestly too difficult to connect with Nonnus and his poetry.

A recurring focus in Part 1 is Nonnus’ employment of various epic and/or rhetorical strategies. K. Carvounis studies the many ways in which the Dionysiaca’s narrator and characters introduce, reflect upon and re-think mythological exempla. L. Miguélez-Cavero examines the Dionysiaca’s catalogues as a strategy that constructs space and challenges readers to consider the entries’ impact on the broader context of the poem. C. Geisz analyses Nonnus’ appropriation of Homeric material in the similes and comparisons of the Dionysiaca. The chapter by B. Verhelst turns to speeches by characters who are introduced only to comment on the main storyline and then disappear again. Verhelst rightly argues that the recurring presence of such characters should be seen as ‘an invitation to the reader to react and interpret the events in his turn’ (p. 104).

I found the contributions of M. Paschalis, J. Fincher and S. Zuenelli to be the most innovative in this part of the volume. Paschalis examines the Cadmus episode with an eye to bulls and taurine imagery. His argument that we should read Nonnus’ version without Moschus (and other poetic predecessors) in mind is strangely compelling. The chapters of Fincher and Zuenelli deal with the striking scenes in which deities consult oracular tablets. Fincher convincingly finds metapoetic symbolism in the representation of both authors (Helios and Harmonia) and readers (Autumn and Aphrodite). The two authors are celestial figures who command the entire (literary) universe and guide the readers in their exploration of this cosmic library. The two readers, on the other hand, are differentiated: Autumn (the inexperienced Dionysiac reader) is frustrated at the intrusion of extraneous, digressive material, while Aphrodite (the reader later in the poem) has learnt to enjoy digressions and to go beyond the author's instructions. In a chapter that mostly deals with a passage from the first of these consultation scenes but does not engage with Fincher's, Zuenelli argues for the use of mythographic manuals by Nonnus, with particular focus on the catalogue of transformations in Dion. 12.70–102. In this case study the argument rests on the alphabetical arrangement of some of the names in the catalogue, which could rely upon a mythographic list. As Zuenelli notes, however, alphabetical catalogues are not entirely unknown in ancient literature: they can be found in Plautus and Virgil, whom Zuenelli considers too dissimilar from Nonnus on the basis of the ‘literary purposes’ behind their alphabetical catalogues. Nevertheless, a ‘literary purpose’ can be pointed out in Nonnus’ case too. The alphabetical catalogue under examination is part of an inscribed prophecy that Autumn is reading. This literary representation of epigraphic reading is a very rare instance in ancient literature, and the alphabetical order of some of the names here could be used to highlight the ‘writtenness’ of the catalogue and to evoke the importance and impact of reading the letters set out in front of Autumn's (and the reader's) eyes. Ultimately, of course, it will be impossible to prove whether Nonnus arranged the names alphabetically himself or relied on a mythographic list.

Part 2 opens with J. Lightfoot's chapter on inspired prophecy in the Paraphrasis. Lightfoot points towards important differences between the Christian poem and the Dionysiaca, where oracle-giving is in keeping with earlier literature (epic and tragedy). Next, F. Sieber's chapter on the chronology of the Paraphrasis argues that it is hard to place the Paraphrasis within a specific dogmatic discourse. Sieber gestures towards a much later dating of the poem, but does not explicitly make the argument for attribution to a Nonnian imitator. Subsequent chapters on characterisation (M. Ypsilanti and L. Franco), Nonnus’ exegesis of John 4:23 (F. Doroszewski) and the symbolism of living water in Paraphrasis 7.143–8 (R. Franchi) offer detailed analyses which, for the most part, successfully blend together philology and theology. By far the most rewarding contribution in this second part is Spanoudakis’ chapter on the Dionysiaca’s Staphylus episode and how it resonates with the story of Lazarus (John 11) both in its rendition by Nonnus in the Paraphrasis and in the controversial Secret Gospel of Mark, which presents Jesus resurrecting a youth, with whom he then seems to have a homoerotic relationship. Assuming that the latter text is not a modern forgery, it would have been read by Nonnus and his contemporaries as another version of the Lazarus story and could have provided a model for the homoerotic relationship between Dionysus and Botrys. Even though he does not directly comment on the interesting splitting of Lazarus’ role in two in the Dionysiaca (‘Lazarus’ here is first Staphylus and then Botrys), Spanoudakis convincingly shows that the whole narrative is imbued with Christian overtones, from Methe's representation as a Dionysiac Mary (the sister of Lazarus) to the baptismal symbolism and the nocturnal initiation of young Botrys. The notable parallels between the end of this episode and the Secret Gospel of Mark should, as Spanoudakis claims, strengthen the case for that text's authenticity.

As mentioned above, I found Part 3 to be a hotchpotch of otherwise interesting contributions, but which do not particularly concern themselves with ‘Nonnus of Panopolis in Context’. D. Gigli Piccardi's fine analysis of Nonnus’ use of Pindaric ideas, syntagmata and structural principles would probably fit better in the first part of the volume, as it deals almost exclusively with the poetic texture of the Dionysiaca. R. Shorrock's fascinating chapter moves from a literary analysis of the Europa episode to a persuasive demonstration of how the eighteenth-century rococo painter Noël-Nicolas Coypel based his second Europa painting on Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, which he must have read in Boisset's 1625 French translation. This chapter along with those of Whitby, De Stefani and Hernández de la Fuente could have been grouped together as case studies of Nonnian receptions, ancient and modern. Perhaps the chapter that is most relevant for Nonnus’ context in this third part is D. Accorinti's examination of myth as ‘bridge between paganism and Christianity’. Accorinti takes the myth of Actaeon as a case study and suggests that it can work as a ‘bridge’ between the two religious systems: the lament of Autonoe is reminiscent of Mary's lament in Acta Pilati, while her search for the dead Actaeon also evokes Mary Magdalene; Actaeon forgives his dogs like Jesus forgives his executioners in Luke (23:34a); the fury of Actaeon's dogs is applied to the Jews, the Pharisees and Judas in the Paraphrasis. In spite of the many similarities, Accorinti argues that it was not Nonnus’ intention to present Actaeon as a figura Christi, but to explore pagan myths and their relationship with Christianity.

The volume includes three helpful indexes (of passages, of Greek words and a general index) and is produced to a high standard. I noted very few typos and errors: εὑρηταί instead of εὑρεταί twice on p. 77; the speech of an anonymous Indian in 35.69–72 is mistakenly attributed to Morrheus on p. 208; ‘was in present’ instead of ‘was present’, p. 378. For a volume of such length, this is indeed remarkable. Among the flurry of interest in Nonnus that this decade has seen, the many and poikilai contributions in this volume are an important addition, and bear testimony to the vitality of Nonnian studies. Pierre Chuvin, to whom the volume is dedicated, would have been proud.