Longinus: On The Sublime (Peri Hypsous)
M.A. Semester –II CC- 7, Unit –II Dr. Priti Kanodia P. G. Department of English C. M. College, Darbhanga INTRODUCTION
On the Sublime, Greek Peri Hypsous, treatise on literary criticism by
Longinus, dating to about the 1st century A.D. The earliest surviving manuscript, from the 10th century, was first printed in 1554.
On the Sublime is given a 1st century A.D. date because it was a response to a work of that period by Caecilius of Calacte, a Sicilian rhetorician. It contains 17 chapters on figures of speech, which have occupied critics and poets ever since they were written. About a third of the manuscript is lost. The author defines sublimity (hypsous) in literature as “the echo of greatness of spirit”—that is, the moral and imaginative power of the writer that pervades his work. This is the first known instance in which greatness in literature is ascribed to qualities innate in the writer rather than his art. The author further suggests that greatness of thought, if not inborn, may be acquired by emulating great authors such as Homer, Demosthenes, and Plato. Illustrative quotations recorded in On the Sublime occasionally preserved work that would otherwise now be lost—for example, one of Sappho’s odes. Sublimity Defined “Sublimity is a certain loftiness and excellence in language”. Great literature springs from great and lofty souls, and not from those with whom the world is too much. It is only through sublimity that the greatest poets and prose writers have derived their eminence. 1. Longinus was attracted to the logical or ethical side of Plato’s work. 2. He used for his own purpose the platonic account of the enchantments with which poetry can ravish and lift us out of ourselves. 3. He superimposed the imagination and insight of Plato. 4. According to Longinus, a work of genius does not aim at persuasion, but ecstasy – on lifting the reader out of himself. 5. The sublime effect of literature is attained not by arguments but by revelation, or illumination. 6. Its function is sacramental. The truly sublime has uplifting effect. 7.In other words, we are lifted out of ourselves and carried to a new realm of experience and perception, and filled with ecstasy as if we ourselves had created what we see and hear. Five Sources of Sublimity For his theory of sublimity, Longinus classifies its characteristics. The five sources of sublimity are: 1. Capacity for great thought and a firm grasp of ideas 2. Inspired emotion and strong passion. 3. Figures of speech and a proper construction of figures 4. Noble diction 5. The effect of dignity and elevation - the power to integrate and fuse the elements so as to give them a tone of sublimity Longinus also talked about the three impediments to sublimity: 1) Affectation 2) Cold pedantry 3) Sentimentality HIS INFLUENCE . The treatise of Longinus influenced the post-renaissance critics. . For Addison, Milton’s Paradise Lost is a great poem on account of sublimity. . The Romantic concept of inspiration of the artist is an echo of sublimity. . Northrop Frye builds up a typology framed on the basis of Longinus’ ecstasies. . The transport of Longinus can be seen in relation to the concept of ‘synaesthesia’, or an equilibrium or organization of impulses suggested by I.A. Richards. •
PRACTICAL CRITICISM
.Longinus’ practical criticism, his comments on literature is brought in by way of illustration. . By his insight, he succeeds in binging to light the finest literary qualities of the ancient masterpieces. . He constantly views poetry, say like works of Homer in relation to their author, age against which it is written.
METHODS OF CRITICISM . Historical . Comparative . Analytical
CONCLUSION . In general we may consider that passage which always pleases, and pleases all readers, contains the beauty and truth of the sublime. . Thought and passion (which are the requirements for sublimity) – are demanded by Longinus in the same spirit in which Matthew Arnold demanded “truth and seriousness”. . According to Longinus, the sublime consists of certain loftiness of language and it is by this only that the greatest poets and prose- writers have won pre-eminence and lasting fame.
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