32 pages • 1 hour read
On the Sublime
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Index of Terms
Amplification
This is a difficult concept in the treatise, as Longinus uses but never clearly defines it. He begins by criticizing the common definition of the term (“a manner of expression which enhances the subject” [20]) as too broad and says that amplification involves such devices as “pauses,” “fresh starts,” and “increasing the effect at every step” (19). Amplification refers to a variety of elements in writing, including “the development of commonplaces, emotional intensification, emphasis on facts” (19), and other features.
Amplification is an element of greatness but does not in itself constitute great writing; indeed, when wrongly handled it can become “slack and hollow” (19). Longinus’s discussion of amplification is interrupted by a lacuna on page 20, and when the text resumes, he has moved on to a different topic (19-20).
Asyndeton
From the Greek for “not linked,” this literary device leaves out connective words (like “and”), creating an urgent, breathless, passionate effect (31-33).
Frigidity
Discussed at length on Longinus defines frigidity as using language or expressions that are unworthy of the thought being expressed. He calls it the opposite fault to puerility (7-8).
Greatness (the Sublime)
The Greek word translated as “great” or “sublime” is hypsos, and the book’s original Greek title is Perì Hypsous. Greatness in writing, for Longinus, means an impressive and emotionally powerful quality that causes its audience to contemplate high ideas. Aesthetic greatness is rooted in moral greatness within the writer’s soul of the writer.
High-mindedness
A moral quality that the great writer must possess. It is “inborn,” but the mind can also learn it. Longinus associates it with the ideas of the “noble,” “dignity of mind,” and “high spirit,” and places it in opposition to the “humble” and the “mean and petty.” The high-minded person scorns wealth, honors, reputation, and power, and values things for their true worth, not for their outward appearance (see Chapters 7 and 11).
Hyperbaton
Plural, hyperbata. A device in which words and phrases are arranged in an unexpected sequence. It produces an effect of “living passion” instead of ordered argument (33-34).
Parenthyrsos
Greek for “false enthusiasm,” it implies a display of emotion that is insincere and showy, immoderate, or out of place (7).
Periphrasis
A rhetorical device that substitutes a synonymous word or phrase for a more common word. For example, Plato uses the phrase “the fated journey” to refer to death. Periphrasis somewhat resembles the modern idea of “elegant variation.” Longinus commends this device but warns that with overuse it becomes “hollow” and “heavy” (39-40).
Puerility
A literary fault discussed together with turgidity and described as its opposite. Puerility is not clearly defined. It appears to involve inflating artificial concepts and metaphors and exuding a quality of affectation and cheapness. Essentially, puerility consists in using overelaborate language to express an inferior idea. The thought is unworthy of the language used to express it (6).
Turgidity
The first of the literary faults discussed, the turgid is characterized as “theatrical,” a “confusion of images” that in spite of the author’s intentions leads to “triviality.” The writer tries hard to be noble and grand, but presents the reader with too many images and ideas that clash with each another. The result is pompous and overly complex. Longinus says that turgidity is “unforgivable” in tragedy but even more so in nonfiction writing, which deals with “facts” (6).
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