On the Sublime

On the Sublime

The Project Gutenberg EBook of On the Sublime, by Longinus This
eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: On the Sublime
Author: Longinus
Commentator: Andrew Lang
Translator: H. L. Havell
Release Date: March 10, 2006 [EBook #17957]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE
SUBLIME ***

Produced by Louise Hope, Justin Kerk and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

[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+.]
* * * * *
LONGINUS
ON THE SUBLIME
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
* * * * *
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
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.

ANALYSIS

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.
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.--cc. vi, vii. The true Sublime, what it is, and how distinguishable.
IV.--cc. viii-xl. Five Sources of the Sublime (how Sublimity is related
to Passion, c. viii, §§ 2-4).
(i.) Grandeur of Thought, cc. ix-xv.
a. As the natural outcome of nobility of soul. Examples (c. ix).
b. Choice of the most striking circumstances. Sappho's Ode (c. x).
c. Amplification. Plato compared with Demosthenes, Demosthenes
with Cicero (cc. xi-xiii).
d. Imitation (cc. xiii, xiv).
e. Imagery (c. 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).
b. Rhetorical Question (c. xviii).
c. Asyndeton (c. xix-xxi).
d. Hyperbaton (c. xxii).

e. Changes of Number, Person, Tense, etc. (cc. xxiii-xxvii).
f. Periphrasis (cc. xxviii, xxix).
(iv.) Graceful Expression (cc. xxx-xxxii and xxxvii, xxxviii).
a. Choice of Words (c. xxx).
b.