Page 1 :
1, , On the Sublime, Longinus, In the estimation of many literary critics and critical historians who have, surveyed the rich offerings of classical literary criticism and theory, the treatise On, the Sublime, written probably in the first century A.D., often ranks second in, importance only to Aristotle’s Poetics (circa 335 B.C.). Aristotle’s analytic work, maps the terrain of literary genre, character, structure, and rhetoric; but the highly, compact On the Sublime explores with intensity the nature and occurrence of a, certain kind of writing—specifically writing whose expressive power appears to, transgress the rules of artistic and rhetorical composition and to achieve what in, Greek is termed hypsos, a word that denotes greatness, excellence, or sublimity., On the Sublime by Longinus is a work of literary criticism thought to date, back to 1st century Rome. While the author is not definitively known, Longinus or, Pseudo-Longinus is typically credited for the work. On the Sublime centers on, aesthetics and the benefits of strong /good writing. Longinus does this by, analyzing both strong and weak writing from works written over the previous, thousand years. The goal of the writer, according to Longinus, is to achieve the, sublime. In philosophy, the sublime is a quality of greatness. It can be physical,, intellectual, moral, aesthetic, spiritual, artistic, or metaphysical. Another quality of, the sublime is that it can’t be calculated, imitated, or measured., By the 10th century, On the Sublime was copied into a medieval manuscript, where it was incorrectly attributed to Dionysius or Longinus, which was misread, or mistranslated as Dionysius Longinus, and therefore confused with Dionysius of, Halicarnassus, who also lived during the first century. The work was also attributed, to Cassius Longinus, but as he lived from 213-273 C.E., he cannot be the same, Longinus who wrote On the Sublime. Three hundred years later, references were, made by a Byzantine rhetorician to text that might be On the Sublime. In the 16th, century, the treatise was published by Francis Robortello in Basel, and six years
Page 2 :
2, , later by Niccolò da Falgano. In the 1600s, the concept of reaching the sublime, becomes a major goal of Baroque literature, and the treatise is rediscovered. Since, then, On the Sublime has received more attention with each passing century., On the Sublime is written in the epistolary form. An epistolary work is usually, written through letters, journal entries, or a combination of the two. There is a, missing part to this treatise / discourse—the final part—which reportedly handles, the topic of public speaking. Longinus dedicated the work to one Posthumius, Terentianus, a public figure in Ancient Rome known for being cultured. On the, Sublime includes works by roughly fifty authors including Homer, the famed blind, poet of Ancient Greek culture. Longinus also mentions Genesis, a book in Hebrew, Bible. Because of this, many have assumed that Longinus was either, knowledgeable about Jewish culture, or possibly even a Hellenized (Greek) Jew., One of Longinus’ assertions is that in order to attain the sublime, the writer, must possess and exhibit what he refers to as “moral excellence.” Theories abound, that Longinus avoided publishing his writings in order to preserve his modesty and, therefore moral excellence. This might be another reason why the authorship of On, the Sublime is uncertain., Another main point that Longinus makes is that a writer who transgresses, /disobeys social values may not necessarily be a fool or shameless. For Longinus,, social subjectivity is also important. He writes that in order to support spirit and, hope, freedom is necessary. That said, too much freedom can lead to a decline in, eloquence, which according to Longinus, can hamper one’s ability to write in the, sublime., In addition, Longinus admires genius in writing. He mentions specific writers, in addition to Homer, including Sappho, Plato, and Aristophanes. Longinus talks, about these writers’ ability to create the sublime by causing readers to feel, pleasure. Other writers on his list are Apollonius of Rhodes and Theocritus for
Page 3 :
3, , their sophisticated poetry; however, Longinus says they fail to measure up to, classic writers like Homer because they lack the bravery. Bravery is necessary to, take risks, and taking risks is necessary to reach the sublime., After making his points about the sublime, Longinus laments the decline of, the oratory arts. The reason for this is two-fold: it comes from the absence of, freedom as well as moral corruption. These two phenomena, Longinus reminds, readers, damages the high spirit which creates the sublime., The English word “sublime” truly means “the essentials of a noble and, impressive style.” Longinus’ own writing is rarely described as perfect or even, sublime in part because of his overzealous enthusiasm. This leads to an overuse of, hyperbole, or overstatement, on his part. Longinus is also criticized for writing, tediously in On the Sublime., By the word 'sublime', Longinus means "elevation" or "lofti-ness"—all, that which raises style above the ordinary, and gives to it distinction in its, widest and truest sense. So, sublimity is "a certain distinction and excellence in, composition. " Both nature and art”, says Longinus, “contribute to sublimity in, literature. Art is perfect when it seems to be nature, and nature hits the mark when, she contains art hidden within her." (Longinus), Longinus finds five principal sources of the sublime, the first two of which, are largely the gifts of nature the remaining three the gifts of art (1) grandeur of, thought, (2) capacity for strong emotion, (3) appropriate use of Figures, (4), Nobility of diction, and (5) dignity of composition or a happy synthesis of all the, preceding elements. The sources of the Sublime are of two kinds: inborn sources, ("aspiration to vigorous concepts" and "strong and enthusiastic passion") and, acquirable sources (rhetorical devices, choice of the right vocabulary, and, "dignified and high composition").
Page 4 :
4, , The first, of the five stages, is the first chapter of the work. Longinus quickly, concedes the topos, or commonplace, that “great passages have a high distinction, of thought and expression to which great writers owe their supremacy and their, lasting renown.” What Longinus seeks to argue, though, goes beyond this, commonplace view. Greatness, grandeur, excellence, nobleness, or sublimity in, writing—the host of terms by which the Greek word hypsos, a word that denotes, greatness, excellence, or sublimity, can be rendered—does not involve mere, persuasion or skilful arrangement of words and ideas for Longinus: “Great writing, does not persuade; it takes the reader out of himself. The startling and amazing is, more powerful than the charming and persuasive... [and] greatness appears, suddenly; like a thunderbolt it carries all before it and reveals the writer’s full, power in a flash.” In offering his definition of great writing, Longinus here departs, dramatically from the rhetorician’s usual concern with skilful invention, careful, arrangement, and decorum., (1) Grandeur of Thought - Nobody can produce a sublime work unless his, thoughts are sublime. For "sublimity is the echo of greatness of soul. It is, impossible for those whose whole lives are full of mean and servile ideas and, habits, to produce anything that is admirable and worthy of an immortal life. It is, only natural that great accents should fall from the lips of those whose thoughts, have always been deep and full of majesty." Stately thoughts belong to the loftiest, minds., Therefore, he who would attain distinction of style must feed his soul on the, works of the great masters, as Homer, Plato and Demosthenes, and capture from, them, , some, , of, , their, , own, , greatness, this, , reflects, , the, , classicism, , of, , Longinus. However, what Longinus has in mind is not mere imitation or, borrowing, but that "men catch fire from the spirit of others." To Longinus the, operation is one that aims at capturing something of the ancient spirit, something, of that vital creative force which had gone to the "making of the earlier
Page 5 :
5, , masterpieces; and its effect he describes as that of illumination, guiding the mind, in some mysterious way to the lofty standards of the ideal.”, The grandeur of conception is to be emphasized and made effective by a, suitable treatment of material. Details should be so chosen as to form an organic, whole. Amplification or accumulation of all the details of a given subject is also, helpful. Such an amplification by its profusion suggests overwhelming strength, and magnitude. The use of vivid and compelling images is also useful, for it, brings home to the readers the conception of the writer, effectively and forcefully., (2) Capacity for Strong Emotion - The second source of the sublime is vehement, /intense and inspired passion. Longinus asserts that nothing contributes more to, loftiness of tone in writing than genuine emotion. At one place, for instance, he, says, "I would confidently affirm that nothing makes so much for grandeur as true, emotion in the right place, for it inspires the words, as it were, with a wild gust, of mad enthusiasm and fills them with divine frenzy. " It is for this reason that he, prefers the Illiad to the Odyssey and Demosthenes to Cicero. But the emotions, have to be 'true emotions' and 'in the right place'. He thus justifies emotions more, artistically than Aristotle. However, the subject of emotions has not been dealt with, in detail. The author declares his intention of dealing with it in a second treatise,, which unfortunately has not come down to us., (3) Appropriate Use of FIGURES /Pictures - The third source of attaining, excellence of style is the use of figures of speech which he considers very, important, and so devotes nearly one third of his work to it. He shows great, discrimination and originality of thinking in his treatment of the subject. Figures, of speech should not be used mechanically, rather they must be rooted in, genuine emotion. Used naturally, they impart elevation to style, and are, themselves made more effective by an elevated style., The figures of thought and diction have to be judiciously employed. The, grandeur of any figure "will depend on its being employed in the
Page 6 :
6, , right place and the right manner, on the right occasion, and with the, right motive." It strengthens the sublime, and the sublime supports it. We need the, figures only "when the nature of the theme makes it allowable to amplify, to, multiply or to speak in the tones of exaggeration or passion; to overlay every, sentence with ornament is very pedantic." When the figure is unrelated to, passion, it creates a suspicion of dishonesty and is divorced from sublimity., The chief figures that make for sublimity are the theoretical question, asyndeton, (Asyndeton is derived from the Greek word asyndeton, which means “unconnected.” It is a literary device used in literature, and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions, words such as "and", "or", and "but" that join other words or clauses, in a sentence yet maintain grammatical accuracy. This literary tool helps in reducing the indirect meaning of the phrase, and, presents it in a concise form. For example: “Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?” (Julius, Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, by William Shakespeare)),, , hyperbaton, , (The word is borrowed from the Greek hyperbaton, meaning, "stepping over", which is derived from hyper ("over") and bainein ("to step"). The idea is that to understand the phrase, the reader has to "step, over" the words inserted in between. Example – “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." (Escalus in William Shakespeare's Measure for, , , and periphrasis (, , Measure, Act II, scene one)), periphrasis, from the Greek word periphrazein, is the usage of multiple separate, words to carry the meaning of prefixes, suffixes or verbs, among other things. The word periphrasis means talking around. An example of, , ). In brief, the, use of figures must be psychological—intimately connected with thought and, emotion, and not merely mechanical., periphrasis is someone saying they believe they are able to attend an event, rather than just saying "yes, I'll be there.", , (4) Nobility of Diction /VOCABULARY - The fourth source of the 'sublime' is, diction which includes choice and arrangement of words and the use of, metaphors and ornamental language. The discussion of diction is incomplete, because four leaves of this part of the book are unfortunately lost. Nevertheless,, words, when suitable and striking, he says, have ''a moving and seductive, effect" upon the reader and are the first things in a style to lend it "grandeur,, beauty and mellowness, dignity, force, power, and a sort of glittering charm.", It is they that breathe voice into dead things. They are 'the very light of thought'—, a radiance that illumines the innermost recesses of the writer's mind. But 'it should, be noted that imposing language is not suitable for every occasion. When the object, is trivial, to invest it with grand and stately words would have the same effect as, putting a full-sized tragic mask on the head of a little child.' This necessitates the, use of common words which, when in elegant, make up for it by their raciness and, forcefulness. Among these ornaments of speech Longinus considers metaphor, and hyperbole., (5) Dignity of Composition - The fifth source of the sublime is the dignity of, composition, that is, a dignified composition or the arrangement of words. It
Page 7 :
7, , should be one that blends thought, emotion, figures, and words themselves—the, preceding four elements of sublimity—into a harmonious whole. Such an, arrangement has not only 'a natural power of persuasion and of giving pleasure but, also the marvellous power of exalting the soul and swaying the heart of men." It, makes the hearer or reader share the emotion of the speaker. But 'if the elements of, grandeur be separated from one another, the sublimity is scattered and made to, vanish but when organised into a compact system and still further encircled in a, chain of harmony they gain a living voice by being merely rounded into a period.', A harmonious composition alone sometimes makes up for the deficiency of the, other elements. A proper rhythm is one of the elements in this harmony., Negatively, deformity and not grandeur is the result if the composition is either, extremely concise or unduly flowery. The one cripples the thought and the other, overextends it., The False and the True Sublime, Longinus charts several of the errors and faults that occur in writing that, fails to achieve greatness, gleaning passages that illustrate turgidity, puerility, false, enthusiasm, and frigidity in discourse. This discussion can appear tedious and is, often overlooked; yet Longinus tries to exemplify here several ways that an, apparently artistic method has failed to nurture talent and yielded hollow, tawdry,, even unseemly rhetoric instead., The vices of the sublime emerge out of the lack of passion sincerely and, inadequacy of communication caused by faulty techniques. The following factors, are described to mention how they cause sublime to be false:, Conceit of turgidity: It is a type of timidity or bombasting use of language,, which he thinks, is drier than dropsy /oedema., Puerility: The use of puerility spoils the sublimity. It is a pedantic type of, conceit adding to a pompous and frigid style.
Page 8 :
8, , Parentheses: It is a passion out of place and meaning, where there is no, cause for passion or unrestrained where restraint is needed. Here unrestrained, passion does not make sublime for the greatness of soul, place, manner, occasion,, and purposes are essential., Defects of style: The false sublimity even arises out of the defects of style,, especially when sincerity is sidelined in favor of the craze for fashionable style., Here, he suggests that the same elements of true sublime may obstruct and cause, false sublime if they are not well handled by virtue of nature and sincerity., Making a distinction between the false and the true sublime, Longinus says, that the false sublime is characterised first, by timidity or bombast of language,, which is as great an evil as swellings in the body. "It is drier than dropsy.", Secondly, the false sublime is characterised by puerility, which is a parade and, pomp of language, flashy and affected, and so frigid. Thirdly, the false sublime, results when there is a cheap display of passion, when it is not justified by the, occasion, and so is wearisome., True sublime, on the other hand, pleases all and "pleases always," for it, expresses thoughts of universal validity—thoughts common to man of all ages and, centuries—in a language which instinctively uplifts our souls., The Sublime, moreover, does not manifest itself only in what is simply, beautiful, but also in what is sufficiently distressing to cause bewilderment, wonder, and even fear. It could be said that Helen of Troy may certainly have been the most, beautiful woman in the world, but she was never sublime in Greek literature:, however Edmund Burke cites the scene of the old men looking at Helen's "terrible", beauty on the ramparts of Troy—he regards it as an instance of the beautiful, but, his imagination is captured by its sublimity.
Page 9 :
9, , Despite its faults, the treatise remains critically successful because of its, "noble, , tone,", , "apt, , precepts,", , "judicious, , attitude,", , and, , "historical, , interests". Longinus focuses more on "greatness of style" than "technical rules.", Longinus considers the pragmatic tests for and the possible sources of great, expressive power. He first offers three tests for the presence of greatness and then, classifies “five sources” that are “most productive of great writing.” Longinus, argues that social value, psychological impact, and canonical or institutional, authority offer distinct ways in which we recognize great writing. Sheer wealth,, social status, and political power, for Longinus, do not embody greatness because, “men admire those great souls who could possess them but in fact disdain them.”, Longinus advocates a second pragmatic test for greatness or sublimity in, writing. Whatever is memorable, whatever makes an enduring psychological, impact upon a hearer or reader, constitutes great writing. In addition to the test of, memory, Longinus espouses a third pragmatic test—the long-standing agreement, that tends to canonize or institutionalize writing as great. Greatness in writing, purportedly “satisfies all men at all times,” and “the agreed verdict ... acquires, an authority so strong that the object of its admiration is beyond dispute.”, At last, to Longinus, the form and content should bring about, equilibrium. The hierarchical composition can never be sublime as an art showing, a beautiful cock in the mid- ocean can never be natural and pleasing., Thus, Longinus’s the treatise On the Sublime is a work which focuses on the, effect of good writing. On the Sublime is both a treatise on aesthetics and a work, of literary criticism. Longinus ultimately promotes an "elevation of style" and an, essence of "simplicity". To quote this famous author, "the first and most important, source of sublimity [is] the power of forming great conceptions." The concept of, the sublime is generally accepted to refer to a style of writing that elevates itself, "above the ordinary".
