Longinus

The work known as *On the Sublime* (Ancient Greek: Περὶ Ὕψους; Latin: *De sublimitate*), dated to the 1st century CE, is a significant Roman-era Greek treatise on literary criticism and aesthetics. Its authorship is uncertain, with the author conventionally referred to as 'Longinus' or 'Pseudo-Longinus', stemming from the only known manuscript which suggests 'Dionysius Longinus' or 'Dionysius or Longinus'. Initial attributions were to Cassius Longinus, but later scholars proposed Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Hermagoras of Temnos, Aelius Theon, or Pompeius Geminus, though none are definitively accepted. The text itself is written in an epistolary form and is dedicated to Postumius Terentianus. It offers a compendium of literary examples from approximately 50 authors over a thousand years, focusing on elements that contribute to the sublime—a style of writing that elevates itself above the ordinary and evokes ecstasy rather than mere persuasion. Longinus identifies five primary sources of sublimity: the power of forming great conceptions, strong and enthusiastic emotion, certain figures of thought and speech, noble diction, and dignified word arrangement. The treatise also comments on the decay of oratory, linking it to a loss of political freedom and a corruption of morals, a theme also explored by contemporary writers like Tacitus and Petronius. The work's influence has been profound, particularly on 18th-century aesthetics and Romanticism, with figures like Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant drawing on its concept of the sublime. Despite its critical success, the text is not without limitations; some critics have found it too refined or its focus on spiritual transcendence insufficient, and about a third of the treatise is lost, complicating full interpretation.