the Athous paraphrase of Nonnos

Greek Koine and Biblical and Medieval Greek
1

https://www.academia.edu/6703389/Athous_Paraphrase_of_Nonnus_Par._XI_Hellenica_62_2012

If you love Homer, you will like Nonnos. If you love Gaza as an alternative (or supplement) to G-T, you will like the Athous paraphrase. If you love the 4th Gospel, you will, I think, love both paraphrases.

Jn 11:5: ἠγάπα δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὴν Μάρθαν καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτῆς καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον.



Nonnos 11:5: φιλοξείνους δὲ γυναῖκας Ἰησοῦς ἀγάπαζε φιλοστόργῳ τινὶ θεσμῷ, Μάρθαν καὶ Μαρίην καὶ Λάζαρον.



Athous 11:5: φιλοστόργως δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς διὰ φιλοξενίαν ἔστεργε Μάρθαν καὶ Μαρίαν ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον.



Jn 11:7b: ἄγωμεν εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν πάλιν.



Nonnos 11:7b: ἴομεν εἱς κλυτὸν οὖδας Ἰουδαίων πάλιν ἀνδρῶν.



Athous 11:7b: ἄγε ἴωμεν, ὦ φίλοι, αὖ πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰουδαίων γῆν.



Jn 11:21b: Κύριε, εἰ ἦς ὧδε, ὁ ἀδελφός μου οὐκ ἂν ἐτεθνήκει.



Nonnos 11:21b: ὦ μάκαρ, εἰ παρέης, ὅτε Λάζαρος αἴθετο νούσῳ, οὐκ ἂν ἐμὸς τέθνηκεν ἀδελφέος.



Athous 11:21b: Ἀλλ’ ὦ ἀθάνατε Κύριε, εἴπερ ἐτύγχανες παρὼν τῷ Λαζάρῳ καταφλεφομένῳ ὑπὸ τῆς νόσου, οὐκ ἂν ἐτεθνήκει οὑμὸς ἀδελφός.



Jn 11:26a: ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ, κἂν ἀποθάνῃ, ζήσεται.



Nonnos 11:26a: ὃς δέ κεν ἀνὴρ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύσειε, καὶ εἰ νέκυς ἄπνοος εἴη, αὖτις ἀναζήσειε.



Athous 11:26a: Ὅστις τοίνυν τῶν ἀνδρῶν πεπιστευκὼς εἰς ἐμέ, καὶ εἰ τεθναίη, αὖ πάλιν ἀναζήσεται.



Jn 11:34: καὶ εἶπε, Ποῦ τεθείκατε αὐτόν; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Κύριε, ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε.



Nonnos 11:34: δείξατέ μοι, πόθι κεῖνον ἐθήκατε. καὶ φάσαν αὐτῷ, ἔρχεο καὶ σκοπίαζε.



Athous 11:34: ἔλεξε πρὸς αὐτούς, Ποῦ ποτε αὐτὸν ἐθήκασθε, σὺν τάχει ἐπιδείξασθέ μοι. αὐτῶν δ’ αὐτῷ φαμένων, Παραγίνου κατοψόμενος.



Jn 11:35: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.



Nonnos 11:35: …καὶ ἔστενεν αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς
ὄμμασιν ἀκλαύτοισιν ἀήθεα δάκρυα λείβων.



Athous 11:35: ἀναστενάξας ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐπεδάκρυσεν.



Jn 11:41b: Πάτερ, εὐχαριστῶ σοι ὅτι ἤκουσάς μου.



Nonnos 11:41b:σοὶ χάρις, ὡς ἐμέθεν πάτερ ἔκλυες



Athous 11:41b: χάριτάς σοι ἀνομολογῶ, λέγων, ὦ πάτερ, ἐμοῦ κατακούσαντι.

Reading an L2 paraphrase of an L2 paraphrase of an L2 original creates the re-enforcing language loop that Chad says springs from mono-lingual resources, in this case times two.

If anyone can track down links to the other chapters, I would appreciate it. Its unclear to me whether Zumbo ever produced the full edition.

2

Wrong. I love Homer but do not like Nonnos. I can’t say I exactly love the 4th gospel but I infinitely prefer it to any paraphrase.

Nonnos’ “paraphrase” is composed in metrically refined hexameters, interesting for those interested in late epic. The Athos manuscript gives a prose paraphrase of that. To be sure, you can learn quite a lot by comparing them with John and with each other (not least the difference between prose and verse), but it’s faintly ridiculous to talk of creating a “re-enforcing language loop.”