Longinus’s On the Sublime, usually dated from the 1st century A.D., describes, praises, and encourages the use of sublimity in speech and writing. The original author is unknown, though Longinus’s name has been attached to it since the 10th century. Whoever he may have been, the internal evidence suggests he was a Hellenic Jew or familiar with the Jewish Scriptures as well as being well-acquainted with the Greek classics. His reference to Moses as “the lawgiver of the Jews, no ordinary man” (IX) and the creation account in Genesis shows direct knowledge of the biblical tradition, while the work as a whole makes frequent, extensive, and insightful observations on many other works from antiquity. Longinus defines sublimity as “elevated language” and offers five characteristics for identifying it (VIII.1).
First, and “most important,” sublimity “is the power of forming great conceptions” (ibid.). The sublime is seen in the discussion of noble ideas and not from “that pursuit of novelty” that gives rise to “ugly and parasitical growths… in literature” (V). “Sublimity is the echo of a great soul” (IX.2), hence it cannot arise from “low and ignoble thoughts” but must “fall from the lips of those whose thoughts are deep and grave” (IX.3). It is in this connection that Longinus refers to Moses and the account of creation given in Genesis which he attributes not as mere history or to divine revelation but as founded upon “a worthy conception of the might of the Godhead” (IX.9). High thoughts of God led the biblical author to the sublime description of God’s mighty acts in creation.
Second, sublimity involves “vehement and inspired passion” (VIII.1). Indeed, noble ideas and strong passion about them are “innate” and inseparable from sublimity in language. It is just as impossible to speak or write sublimely on a subject about which one is indifferent as it is to discourse about something that is dishonorable or unimportant. Thus Sappho exemplifies sublimity when she “chooses the emotions that attend delirious passion” and displays “her supreme excellence” by “the skill with which she selects and binds together the most striking and vehement circumstances of passion” (X.1).
Third, sublimity requires “the due formation of figures” both of thought and expression (VIII.1), what Longinus later calls amplification (XIff). He explains that “sublimity consists in elevation, while amplification embraces a multitude of details” (XII.1). It is “aggregation of all the constituent parts and topics of a subject, lending strength to the argument by dwelling upon it” (XII.2). Amplification develops the thought and strengthens the presentation of a writer or speaker by adding information, color, and weight to it. Thus while simplicity is a characteristic of sublimity, the intelligent and measured use of amplification may make its excellence more obvious and accessible to the audience. Rather than remaining bare and undeveloped, sublime language will incorporate just the right amount of development and elaboration to communicate most effectively.
Fourth, sublimity is expressed by “noble diction,” including well-chosen words and metaphors (VIII.1). It is almost unnecessary to point out that “the choice of proper and striking words wonderfully attracts and enthralls the hearer” and “is the leading ambition of all orators and writers” since “beautiful words are… the peculiar light of thought” (XXX.1). This is not to suggest, however, that flowery language alone can create sublimity “since to invest petty affairs with great and high sounding names would seem just like putting a full-sized tragic mask upon an infant boy” (XXX.2). This may be the most tricky aspect of sublimity in composition, dancing along “the very edge of vulgarity” at times, but redeemed by “expressiveness” (XXXI.2). Longinus’s discussion of proper metaphors includes what may be the most hilarious and unconscious comment in the entire work: “The proper time for using metaphors is when the passions roll like a torrent and sweep a multitude of them down their resistless flood” (XXXII.1).
Fifth and finally, sublimity is known by “dignified and elevated composition,” a point which Longinus considers “the fitting conclusion of all” that precedes it (VIII.1). This is not to say that sublime literature is entirely free of faults (XXXIII.2-3), but “harmonious arrangement is not only a natural source of persuasion and pleasure among men but also a wonderful instrument of lofty utterance and passion” (XXXIX.1). Longinus uses the union of body parts as an analogy for a well-constructed, sublime work of literature (XL.1). The various parts of the composition will fit together: seriousness of the subject, passion with which it is discussed, fullness of the developed argument, well-chosen words and metaphors, combined into a cohesive and coherent whole.
Longinus’s work may not be the last word on sublimity in language, but it is an enduring classic for reflecting upon the theme. Sublimity may sometimes seem to defy definition, quality that may be recognized but never abstractly categorized, but Longinus provides a starting point for such categorization to whatever extent such is possible. At the very least, modern readers must admit the classics works which have been hailed as sublime most often partake of all five features which Longinus identifies and commends.