Nonnus of Panopolis between Poetry and Rhetoric: The Encomium of Berytus (Dion. 41.14-154)

The article examines the encomium of Berytus, which opens Book 41 of Nonnus of Panopolis’ Dionysiaca, from a rhetorical point of view, in order to highlight the influence exerted on Nonnus by the ancient school system. For this reason, a specific attention has been paid to the relationship between the encomium under discussion and the guidelines for the encomium of a city provided by rhetorical manuals, with particular reference to Menander Rhetor’s two Treatises. At the same time, because the encomium of a city finds its first and more complete literary expression in Aelius Aristides’ speeches, some analogies between the topics developed by Nonnus in his encomium of Berytus and those appearing in Aelius Aristides’ encomia of cities have been underlined too.