On the Sublime

ON THE SUBLIME BY LONGINUS

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Translated into English by H. L. HAVELL, B.A., Formerly Scholar of University College, Oxford

with an Introduction by ANDREW LANG

London MACMILLAN AND CO. and New York 1890

All rights reserved

[Transcriber's Note: The printed text shows most sections (Roman numerals) as a continuous block, with chapter numbers in the margin. In this e-text, chapters are given as separate paragraphs determined by sentence breaks, with continuing quotation marks supplied where necessary. Except for footnotes, any brackets are from the original text. Greek has been transliterated and shown between +marks+.]

TO S. H. BUTCHER, Esq., LL.D. Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh Formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge  and of University College, Oxford

This Attempt to Present the Great Thoughts of Longinus in an English Form Is Dedicated in Acknowledgment of the Kind Support but for Which It Might Never Have Seen the Light and of the Benefits of That Instruction to Which It Largely Owes Whatever of Scholarly Quality It May Possess

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

INTRODUCTION,  TREATISE ON THE SUBLIME

The Treatise on the Sublime may be divided into six Parts, as follows:--

I.--cc. i, ii. The Work of Caecilius. Definition of the Sublime.   Whether Sublimity falls within the rules of Art.

I

II

II.--cc. iii-v. [The beginning lost.] Vices of Style opposed to the   Sublime: Affectation, Bombast, False Sentiment, Frigid Conceits.   The cause of such defects.

III

IV

V

III.--cc. vi, vii. The true Sublime, what it is, and how   distinguishable.

VI

VII

IV.--cc. viii-xl. Five Sources of the Sublime (how Sublimity is related   to Passion, c. viii, Sec.Sec. 2-4).

(i.) Grandeur of Thought, cc. ix-xv.

a. As the natural outcome of nobility of soul. Examples (c. ix).

IX

b. Choice of the most striking circumstances. Sappho's Ode (c. x).

X

c. Amplification. Plato compared with Demosthenes, Demosthenes   with Cicero (cc. xi-xiii).

XI

XII

XIII

d. Imitation (cc. xiii, xiv).

XIII

XIV

e. Imagery (c. xv).

XV

(ii.) Power of moving the Passions (omitted here, because dealt with in a separate work).

(iii.) Figures of Speech (cc. xvi-xxix).

a. The Figure of Adjuration (c. xvi). The Art to conceal Art  (c. xvii).

XVI

XVII

b. Rhetorical Question (c. xviii).

XVIII

c. Asyndeton (c. xix-xxi).

XIX

XX

XXI

d. Hyperbaton (c. xxii).

XXII

e. Changes of Number, Person, Tense, etc. (cc. xxiii-xxvii).

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

f. Periphrasis (cc. xxviii, xxix).

XXVIII

XXIX

(iv.) Graceful Expression (cc. xxx-xxxii and xxxvii, xxxviii).

a. Choice of Words (c. xxx).

XXX

b. Ornaments of Style (cc. xxxi, xxxii and xxxvii, xxxviii).

(+a+) On the use of Familiar Words (c. xxxi).

XXXI

(+b+) Metaphors; accumulated; extract from the Timaeus; abuse of Metaphors; certain tasteless conceits blamed in Plato (c. xxxii).    

XXXII

[Hence arises a digression (cc. xxxiii-xxxvi) on the spirit in which we should judge of the faults of great authors. Demosthenes compared with Hyperides, Lysias with Plato. Sublimity, however far from faultless, to be always preferred to a tame correctness.]

XXXIII

XXXIV

XXXV

XXXVI

(+g+) Comparisons and Similes [lost] (c. xxxvii).

XXXVII

(+d+) Hyperbole (c. xxxviii).

XXXVIII

(v.) Dignity and Elevation of Structure (cc. xxxix, xl).

a. Modulation of Syllables (c. xxxix).

XXXIX

b. Composition (c. xl).

XL

V.--cc. xli-xliii. Vices of Style destructive to Sublimity.

(i.) Abuse of Rhythm   }

(ii.) Broken and Jerky Clauses } (cc. xli, xlii).

XLI

XLII

(iii.) Undue Prolixity     }

(iv.) Improper Use of Familiar Words. Anti-climax. Example from Theopompus (c. xliii).

XLIII

VI.--Why this age is so barren of great authors--whether the cause is to be sought in a despotic form of government, or, as Longinus rather thinks, in the prevailing corruption of manners, and in the sordid and paltry views of life which almost universally prevail (c. xliv).

XLIV

NOTES ON LONGINUS

APPENDIX  SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LESS KNOWN WRITERS MENTIONED IN THE TREATISE ON THE SUBLIME

_____________

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

The text which has been followed in the present Translation is that of Jahn (Bonn, 1867), revised by Vahlen, and republished in 1884. In several instances it has been found necessary to diverge from Vahlen's readings, such divergencies being duly pointed out in the Notes.

One word as to the aim and scope of the present Translation. My object throughout has been to make Longinus speak in English, to preserve, as far as lay in my power, the noble fire and lofty tone of the original. How to effect this, without being betrayed into a loose paraphrase, was an exceedingly difficult problem. The style of Longinus is in a high degree original, occasionally running into strange eccentricities of language; and no one who has not made the attempt can realise the difficulty of giving anything like an adequate version of the more elaborate passages. These considerations I submit to those to whom I may seem at first sight to have handled my text too freely.

My best thanks are due to Dr. Butcher, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh, who from first to last has shown a lively interest in the present undertaking which I can never sufficiently acknowledge. He has read the Translation throughout, and acting on his suggestions I have been able in numerous instances to bring my version into a closer conformity with the original.

I have also to acknowledge the kindness of the distinguished writer who has contributed the Introduction, and who, in spite of the heavy demands on his time, has lent his powerful support to help on the work of one who was personally unknown to him.

In conclusion, I may be allowed to express a hope that the present attempt may contribute something to reawaken an interest in an unjustly neglected classic.

INTRODUCTION,  TREATISE ON THE SUBLIME

Boileau, in his introduction to his version of the ancient Treatise on the Sublime, says that he is making no valueless present to his age. Not valueless, to a generation which talks much about style and method in literature, should be this new rendering of the noble fragment, long attributed to Longinus, the Greek tutor and political adviser of Zenobia. There is, indeed, a modern English version by Spurden,[1] but that is now rare, and seldom comes into the market. Rare, too, is Vaucher's critical essay (1854), which is unlucky, as the French and English books both contain valuable disquisitions on the age of the author of the Treatise. This excellent work has had curious fortunes. It is never quoted nor referred to by any extant classical writer, and, among the many books attributed by Suidas to Longinus, it is not mentioned. Decidedly the old world has left no more noble relic of criticism. Yet the date of the book is obscure, and it did not come into the hands of the learned in modern Europe till Robertelli and Manutius each published editions in 1544. From that time the Treatise has often been printed, edited, translated; but opinion still floats undecided about its origin and period. Does it belong to the age of Augustus, or to the age of Aurelian? Is the author the historical Longinus--the friend of Plotinus, the tutor of Porphyry, the victim of Aurelian,--or have we here a work by an unknown hand more than two centuries earlier? Manuscripts and traditions are here of little service. The oldest manuscript, that of Paris, is regarded as the parent of the rest. It is a small quarto of 414 pages, whereof 335 are occupied by the Problems of Aristotle. Several leaves have been