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Nonnos, Scholia to Gregory of Nazianz's speeches ("Elinta zghaprobani")

Nonn. · titus

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machine-draft · no human review 1 passages · 222 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

The work is a Georgian translation of scholia (commentaries) on the orations of Gregory of Nazianz, attributed to a certain Nonnos. It belongs to the genre of patristic commentary, not original theology. The Georgian version survives in a single manuscript tradition, likely produced in a monastic center, and its textual history is tied to the reception of Greek patristic learning in the Georgian church. The dating of the Georgian translation is uncertain; it may belong to the 10th–11th centuries, but the manuscript evidence does not permit a precise terminus ante quem. The edition (titus) provides only the Old Georgian text without critical apparatus or commentary on its sources.

The Georgian scholia of Nonnos provide a rare witness to the transmission of Greek patristic commentary in the Georgian tradition. They illustrate how Byzantine theological and rhetorical education was adapted in a non-Greek context. The work is important for studying the history of biblical and patristic exegesis in the Caucasus and the cultural exchange between the Byzantine and Georgian churches.

Historical context

The original Greek scholia on Gregory of Nazianz's orations were composed in Late Antiquity, likely in the 5th–6th centuries, by an author conventionally called Nonnos (possibly distinct from the poet Nonnos of Panopolis). The Georgian translation was produced in a monastic center of the Georgian church, probably between the 10th and 11th centuries, when Georgian translators were actively rendering Greek patristic works into Georgian. The single surviving manuscript suggests limited circulation. The work reflects the Byzantine tradition of commenting on Gregory's orations, which were widely used in liturgical and educational settings. The Georgian version is part of the broader reception of Greek Christian literature in the Caucasus, often mediated through Syriac or Armenian intermediaries, though direct Greek-to-Georgian translation was also common.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

6 commentary units 2 term1 structure1 background1 reception1 caution 1 derived notes 3 open questions 1 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: other in Old Georgian; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 1 narrative.
  • caution1 passage(s) are fragmentary in the source; the English bridges each break and says so in the note.
  • sourceSource edition: titus — This text is part of the TITUS edition of Nonnos, Scholia in orationes Gregorii Nazianzeni. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 12.12.2008. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder.

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
nonno:1 · narrativehigh
Source
(ელინთა ზღაპრობანი) ზღაპრობანი კუალად იესუჲსნი 1. იტყჳან ღმრთისმეტყუელნი წარმართთანი, ვითარმედ კრონოს ქმარი იყო რეაჲსი და რომელიცა შვის მისგან, მყის შთანთქის იგი, ვინაჲცა უშვილოდ ეგო რეას. ხოლო რაჟამს შვა დია, შეეშინა, ნუ უკუე შთანთქმით წარწყმდეს იგიცა. ამისთჳს ლოდი წარგრაგნილი მისცა, ვითარცა ჩჩჳლი, ხოლო მისგან შობილი იგი დია დამალა კრიტეს, რამეთუ გარე მოადგინნა მას კორივანტნი და კურიტნი, რომელ იგი იყვნეს ეშმაკნი, რაჲთა როკვიდენ როკვასა აღჭურვილ[თასა], რომელ პირაჰიდ უწოდიან, რაჲთა საჭურველთა მათგან და როკვისა და ტყუელვათა იქმნებოდი(ს) ბგერაჲ დამფარველი ჴმ(ის)ა ჩჩჳლისა მტირალისა რაჲთა ვერ აგრძნას კრონოს სადა ყოფაჲ მისი და შთანთქას იგიცა. ამისთჳს მოძღუარი მამად შვილის მოძულედ იტყჳს კრონოს(ს), ხოლო შვილად მტირალად დიოსს, [რო]მელსა უწოდიან ზევს. აწ კრიტელთა მძლავრად იტყჳს, დაღათუ წარმართთა არა სთნავსო, ესე იგი არს, რამეთუ არა სთნავს ფილასოფოსთა მათთა, რაჲთამცა კაც გინა მსაჯულ უწოდდეს დიოსს, რომელსა იგინი ღმრთად იტყჳან, შობილად ღმერთთა ჴრონოჲს და რეაჲსგან და ვითარცა ღმერთსა ამსახურებენ ყოველთა მიმდგომთა მათთა, რომელი იგი მძლავრ არს და არა ღმერთ.
English
(The Hellenic Fables) The fables again of Jesus. 1. The theologians among the pagans say that Kronos was the husband of Rhea, and whatever child was born from him, he immediately devoured it, because Rhea was childless. But when she gave birth to Zeus, she feared lest he too be destroyed by being devoured. For this reason she gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, like an infant, while the newborn Zeus she hid in Crete, for she stationed around him the Korybantes and the Curetes, who were demons, so that they might dance the armed dance, which they call the Pyrrhic, so that from their armor and dancing and shouting a sound might be produced that would drown out the crying of the infant, so that Kronos might not perceive his whereabouts and devour him as well. For this reason the teacher calls Kronos a father who hates his son, and Zeus a weeping son, whom they call Zeus. Now he calls the Cretans "mighty," although it does not please the pagans, that is, it does not please their philosophers, that Zeus should be called a man or a judge, whom they declare to be a god, born of the gods Kronos and Rhea, and as a god they serve all their followers, who is mighty and not a god.
Citation. Tergwame, “Nonnos, Scholia to Gregory of Nazianz's speeches ("Elinta zghaprobani")”, nonno:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/nonno#s1
Colophon. Source: titus · licence: This text is part of the TITUS edition of Nonnos, Scholia in orationes Gregorii Nazianzeni. Copyright TITUS Project, Frankfurt a/M, 12.12.2008. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder. · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0011 · generated 2026-11-15.