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Elusive Dancers and the Limits of Art in Nonnus’ Dionysiaka
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This chapter argues that the metamorphic dance scenes in Nonnus’ epic on Dionysus encapsulate the very nature of Nonnus’ poetry. It elucidates the metapoetic role of dance with a close reading of the proem of Book 1, which is dominated by the Homeric shape-shifter Proteus. It then turns to the dance contest in Book 19, which juxtaposes representational and acrobatic dances. The latter, nonrepresentational dance, which culminates in the dancer’s transformation into a river, is examined in detail, and the moral and aesthetic implications of this climax are discussed with particular attention to the internal audience’s interpretive response to the dancer’s metamorphosis.
Title: Elusive Dancers and the Limits of Art in Nonnus’ Dionysiaka
Description:
This chapter argues that the metamorphic dance scenes in Nonnus’ epic on Dionysus encapsulate the very nature of Nonnus’ poetry.
It elucidates the metapoetic role of dance with a close reading of the proem of Book 1, which is dominated by the Homeric shape-shifter Proteus.
It then turns to the dance contest in Book 19, which juxtaposes representational and acrobatic dances.
The latter, nonrepresentational dance, which culminates in the dancer’s transformation into a river, is examined in detail, and the moral and aesthetic implications of this climax are discussed with particular attention to the internal audience’s interpretive response to the dancer’s metamorphosis.
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