Sublime writing involves appropriate and noble diction.Great writers are adept at using figures (poetic devices and the like).Exalted language uses passionate and emotional language.Sublime passages stimulate grand thoughts.

However, in section 8, Longinus provides some more specific criteria: These are all effects rather than causes. In addition, a sublime passage is extremely memorable (7.3). The sublime is also different from rhetoric in that it does not persuade us of a particular view, but rather lifts us up so that we feel ennobled (1.4). It gives us “joy and pride, as though we had ourselves originated the ideas which we read” (7.2). Longinus mentions that the sublime makes us feel exalted. We’ve already noted that Longinus describes the sublime as much in relation to its effects as its causes. In any case, we’re not any closer to a detailed definition. Later Alexander Pope will push this line of reasoning to its extreme, arguing that the rules of art are natural (a view the Romantics will turn on its head). This sounds rather clever, but it is the oldest trick in the book. Longinus argues that Nature is not entirely lawless and that we only learn what is truly natural from Art. Are there rules for the sublime (Art), or is it a natural phenomenon (Nature)? Is a writer like Shakespeare a natural genius, or could he have learned great writing from a book? In the second section, Longinus frames the question in relation to the classic Art vs. Longinus of course adds that this kind of language has a powerful effect (it hits us like a lightning bolt), but this doesn’t help us to know what gives a particular passage its lofty character in the first place. “he Sublime, wherever it occurs, consists in a certain loftiness and excellence of language.” (1.3)

Here is how Longinus first defines the sublime: It doesn’t help to just provide synonyms. If you say that the sublime is something grand or elevated, you’ve used a tautology. Defining the Sublime The Danger of TautologyĪ tautology is a circular definition. We experience a kind of transcendence or ecstasy (the Greek word ekstasis literally means to stand outside of oneself).īut how can we describe something so subjective and emotional in a way that is rigorous and systematic? This is one of the main challenges Longinus faces, so let’s find out if he manages to give a proper definition. We are captivated and transported to a different realm. Longinus’ essay on elevated or great writing (“Peri Hypsous”) argues that sublimity has a powerful psychological effect on the reader. He is much more interested in the question of why we read in the first place. Longinus doesn’t ask whether literature is good for society, nor does he worry too much about how genres are different from each other, or how a proper plot should be constructed. Longinus is very different from classical writers like Aristotle and Plato.

Sublime define