On the Sublime

The author is unknown. In the only known manuscript, MS BNF Parisinus Graecus 2036 (10th century), the heading (f. 178v) reports "by Dionysius Longinus" (), whereas in the table of contents at f. 1v, the same copyist wrote "by Dionysius or Longinus" (). When the manuscript was being prepared for printed publication, the work was initially attributed to Cassius Longinus (). Since the correct translation includes the possibility of an author named "Dionysius", some have attributed the work to Dionysius of Halicarnassus or Dionysius Atticus, both writers of the 1st century BCE. There remains the possibility that the work belongs to neither Cassius Longinus nor either Dionysius but, rather, some unknown author writing under the Roman Empire, likely in the 1st century. The error does imply that when the codex was written, the trails of the real author were already lost. Neither author can be accepted as the actual writer of the treatise. Dionysius maintained ideas which are absolutely opposite to those written in the treatise; with Longinus, there are problems with chronology. Among further names proposed, are Hermagoras of Temnos (a rhetorician who lived in Rome during the 1st century CE), Aelius Theon (author of a work which had many ideas in common with those of On the Sublime), and Pompeius Geminus (who was in epistolary conversation with Dionysius). Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote under Augustus, publishing a number of works. Dionysius is generally dismissed as the potential author of On the Sublime, since the writing officially attributed to Dionysius differs from the work On the Sublime in style and thought. Cassius Longinus Credited with writing a number of literary works, Longinus was a disciple of Plotinus, and considered "the most distinguished scholar of his day." He received his education at Alexandria and then went to Athens to teach. He later moved to Asia Minor, where he achieved the position of advisor to Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra. Cassius is a dubious possibility for author of the treatise because he wrote in the 3rd century, and no literature later than the 1st century CE is mentioned. The latest is Cicero, who died in 43 BCE and their work is now dated to the early 1st century CE. The work ends with a dissertation on the decay of oratory, a typical subject for the time when authors such as Tacitus, Petronius and Quintilian, who also dealt with the subject, were alive. Cassius was executed by Aurelian, the Roman emperor who conquered Palmyra in 273 CE, on charges of conspiring against the Roman state. This was most likely because of what he had written for Queen Zenobia of Palmyra while she was still in power. Longinus is reported to have written answers for the Queen, which were used in response to Aurelian, the man who would soon rise to power as the Roman emperor. ==Contents==

On the Sublime is both a treatise on aesthetics and a work of literary criticism. It is written in an epistolary form and the final part, possibly dealing with public speaking, has been lost. The treatise is dedicated to Postumius Terentianus, a cultured Roman and public figure, though little else is known of him. On the Sublime is a compendium of literary exemplars, with about 50 authors spanning 1,000 years mentioned or quoted. Along with the expected examples from Homer and other figures of Greek culture, Longinus refers to a passage from Genesis, which is quite unusual for the 1st century: Given his positive reference to Genesis, Longinus has been assumed to be either a Hellenized Jew or readily familiar with the Jewish culture. As such, Longinus emphasizes that, to be a truly great writer, authors must have "moral excellence". On the other hand, too much luxury and wealth leads to a decay in eloquence—eloquence being the goal of the sublime writer. To quote this famous author, "the first and most important source of sublimity [is] the power of forming great conceptions." According to this statement, one could think that the sublime, for Longinus, was only a moment of evasion from reality. But on the contrary, he thought that literature could model a soul, and that a soul could pour itself out into a work of art. In this way the treatise becomes not only a text of literary inquiry, but also one of ethical dissertation, since the Sublime becomes the product of a great soul (, megalophrosunēs apēchēma). 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 lexicon, and "dignified and high composition"). Moreover, the author invents striking images and metaphors, writing almost lyrically at times. In general, Longinus appreciates, and makes use of, simple diction and bold images. As far as the language is concerned, the work is certainly a unicum because it is a blend of expressions of the Hellenistic Koine Greek to which are added elevated constructions, technical expressions, metaphors, classic and rare forms which produce a literary pastiche at the borders of linguistic experimentation. Influences In reading On the Sublime, critics have determined that the ancient philosopher and writer Plato is a "great hero" to Longinus. Not only does Longinus come to Plato's defense, but he also attempts to raise his literary standing in opposition to current criticisms. Another influence on the treatise can be found in Longinus' rhetorical figures, which draw from theories by a 1st-century BCE writer, Caecilius of Calacte. ==Historical criticism and use of On the Sublime==

• 10th century - The original treatise, before translation, is copied into a medieval manuscript and attributed to "Dionysius or Longinus." owe a debt to Longinus' concept of the sublime, and the category passes into intellectual discourse. As "Longinus" says, "The effect of elevated language upon an audience is not persuasion but transport," a fitting sentiment for Romantic thinkers and writers who reach beyond logic, to the wellsprings of the Sublime. At the same time, the Romantics gain some contempt for Longinus, given his association with the "rules" of classical poets. Such contempt is ironic, given the widespread influence of Longinus on the shaping of 18th-century criticism. Laura Quinney treats the attractions grim demystification in analyses of Longinus, particularly Weiskel's. Jonathan Culler has an appreciation of Hertz on Longinus in "The Hertzian Sublime." Anne Carson and Louis Marin have occasion to discuss Longinus as well and Harold Bloom and William J. Kennedy have significant accounts of his work. William Carlos Williams also uses three lines from the work as an epigraph to the Prologue to Kora in Hell. The text is also critically edited and extensively commented, most notably by D. A. Russell, Carlo Maria Mazzucchi and Stephen Halliwell. German film director Werner Herzog claims to have an affinity with the work of Longinus, in a talk entitled "On the Absolute, the Sublime and Ecstatic Truth", presented in Milan. Herzog says that he thinks of Longinus as a good friend and considers that Longinus's notions of illumination has a parallel in some moments in his films. He quotes from Longinus: "For our soul is raised out of nature through the truly sublime, sways with high spirits, and is filled with proud joy, as if itself had created what it hears." ==Notes==