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Longinus On the sublime.

3 1924 014 233 450

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LONGINUS
ON THE SUBLIME

HENRY FROWDE,

M.A.

POBUSHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

LONDON, EDINBURGH

NEW YORK AND TORONTO

LONGINUS

ON THE SUBLIME
TRANSLATED BY

A. O.

PRICKARD,

LATE FELLOW OF

NEW

M.A.

COLLEGE, OXFORD

WITH INTRODUCTION, APPENDIX, AND INDEX

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1906

OXFORD
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, HJU

PRINTER TO THE ONIVERSITV

PRINTED

IN

ENGLAND.'

INTRODUCTION
In a copjr of the

first

edition of the treatise knovni

since the revival of letters as Longinus an the Sublime,

which

is

may be

now

in the Library of the British

Museum,

read a few lines, written in Latin, by the great

scholar Isaac Casaubon, beginning with the words

'A

golden book.'

Quite recently Professor Butcher has

written of

an ' essay of unique value and

It is

it as

unique, partly, because pf

lence

which gives

Greek

a place

interest.'

rare intrinsic excel-

among the remains

of

by the work of Aristotle.

every respect, on the Art of

criticism, only shared

so diderent

from

long series of
first

it

in

This high quality

Poetry.

who

it

its

critics

recommended

and
it

allowed to

is

scholars,

it

by a

Addison,

to a large public of English

But we need not

readers, to Professor Saintsbury.

appeal to authority

from

the true test

is

to read the

little

work through, and to ask from how many wo'iters,

ancient or modern, we could have borne the continuous
development of the one theme, Be great live with
'

great minds!

humane

'

how we should have

felt if

the wise and

Plutarch, or the careful and sound-beaded

Dionysius of Halicarnwsua, had tried to enforce it ? Yet

no one reads the

Treatise for the

feeling that

he has found a

to

to

direct,

Moreover,

it

invigorate,

first

time without

literary guide of rare ability

to

has inspired other

ennoble his thought.

critics.

Burke had the

Introduction

Ti

older study before him, though he only once directly

when he wrote

refers to it,

into the Origin

\

his Philosophical Inquiry

of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful,

an early work, interesting to

and dignified

style,

but

us,

also as

not only for

strong

its

being a charaaeristic

attempt to base upon principles our judgements on

matters of taste and opinion

important

having

also, as

had much to do with the conception by Lessing of the

ideas contained in his Laocoon.

Sir Joshua

Reynolds

draws from our author many of the precepts laid down

in the Discourses,

and often

all

but quotes his words.

Lowth applied the teaching

own fresh and vigorous Lectures

Bishop
his
It

is

quoted again and again,

of the Treatise in
on

Hebrew

vrith evidently

Poetry.

genuine

enjoyment, by numbers of English writers in poetry

and prose
ciation,

by none more

than by Fielding

Over and above

its

often, or

with livelier appre-

*-

singular attractiveness

and

solid

worth, there are other considerations which make the

Treatise unique.
generis, often

It

is

written in a style which

more Latin than Greek, both

in

is

sui

rhythm

and in conception, yet sometimes neither Latin nor

Greek, and always impressed with the strong personality of the writer.

The

books, other than Greek,

appeared

also in

subject, to

is

interest in authors

and

unusual, but must have

the work of Caecilius upon the same

which

it

is,

in effect, an answer.

The

'
See an article in the Quarterly Review of October| 1900,
which the reader should consult (or Prof. Churton Collins' Studies

in Poetry

and

Criticism, 1906).

Introduction
range from which

its

abundant metaphors are drawn

both wide and remarkable.

history

appeals

vii

is

Lastly, its strange literary

to our

strongly

It

curiosity.

has

reached us through a copy written in the tenth century,

mutilated in various parts that about a third

itself so

wanting, without a single

of the original contents

is

word of

or notice vouchsafed to us by

earlier

antiquity

comment

a babe

cast

up by the

stern waters of

Time,

without father or mother or any credentials of origin,

but of features which assure us certainly that

it

comes

of noble line.

Questions of date and authorship meet us at the

outset,

and we will

at once try to see clearly

how they

make too much of such

uncertainties.
Any ancient critical work coming
from an author who had the great Greek books in his
hands, just as we have, only in a more complete form,
In a sense,

lie.

it is

possible to

and who read them in the language of

and from

life

which no modern estimate can supply

two

own

his

daily

Greek point of view, has that about

earlier or later is

no great matter.

it

century or

On

the other

hand, the general conditions of thought and of modes

of expression
interval.

use

it,

about

may change

very greatly within such an

Moreover, we naturally speak of a book, and

with much greater confidence when we know

it

purpose

who

wrote

than when these

Take such a writer

circumstances

ment worked

as

all

and when, and with what

it,

are all unknovra quantities.

Horace, one whose personal

we know so

familiarly,

so evenly, that

and whose judge-

he may be trusted to say

Introductim

viii

the same thing under the same conditions at almost

any period of

Yet we

his life.

on much firmer

feel

ground when we are considering the contents,

the First Book of Epistles, than

say, of

we turn to the Second

Book or to the Ars Poetica, where so many preliminary
doubts must be settled or left by agreement svh iudice,
before we are free to deal with the contents. So the
student enters upon Hamlet or Coriolanus with

critical

mind

if

and

steadier

less

preoccupied than he brings

to the study of, say, The Tempest or

The

facts are briefly these.

Romeo and

Juliet.

In the old manuscript

already mentioned, the treatise

headed in Greek

is

words: OfDionysiusLanginus concemingSublimity. This

was reproduced in the

earliest editions

middle of the sixteenth century, and

it

printed in the

seems never to

have been doubted that the author was the same person
as Cassius

Longinus, a great teacher of philosophy and

language in the third century a.

to

Queen Zenobia

d.,

who was

adviser

of Palmyra, and paid with his

life

for his share in her unfortunate rising against Aurelian

(Gibbon, chap.

xi).

Early in the nineteenth century

came to be known, in the first place by a discovery

made by an Italian scholar, Amati, in the Vatican

it

Library, that the title was variously given

that the

old tenth-century Paris copy

it

bore the

name

though

of Dionysius Longinus above the text, yet con-

.tained
'

itself,

an index

in

which the

Dionysius or Longinus.'

treatise

A copy at

was ascribed to

Florence, dating

from the fifteenth century, is headed simply OfLonginus

on Sublimity if Language, and has, on a slip of parch-

Introduction
ment

affixed

ix

to the cover, words both of Greek and

Latin, ascribing the work to an

anonymous ' or

'

'

un-

certain author.'

As no

syllable of information has reached us

any source

earlier

than the old manuscript

from

itself, it

seemsreasonable, unless a presumption can be established

in favour of any

that

all

one of these

many

are so

traditions, to conclude

hypotheses or guesses, excepting

that one which leaves the author uncertain.

So a

work attributed to Aristotle, but certainly not

was also attributed, in ancient times, to Plato,

certain
his,

another to Theophrastus.

The

difficulty

to the combination of the Greek and

'

Dionysius-Longinns

when the names

'

may

not be insuperable

are those of

critics of antiquity, it is

felt as

but,

two of the best-known

much to

they were ever borne in real

long

Roman names

life

ask us to believe that

by one man.

The further hypothesis which grew up, not suggested

by any

tradition, that the person described

by

this

double name was in fact the historical Cassius Longinus,

should, if correct, be readily supported

by some such pre-

we have suggested since the philosopherstatesman left many writings, both on philosophy,
and on literary subjects, of which we possess considersumption

as

able fragments

can

fairly

able

is

yet no passage has been alleged which

be quoted in this sense.

The most

favour-

one occurring in the Rhetoric of Longinus : Such

'

language

is,

ments.'

This

as it
is

were, the light of thoughts and argusufficiently like

'

in all truth, a light peculiar to

beautiful words are,

mind'

(p.

55),

but

Introduction

the image finds a counterpart also in Plutarch '

'

As

to those

who

to those

light

who

and

hear,'

phraseology of the Latin

some words being

Dionysius
his

is

is,

speech

good

in fact, familiar in the

critics

while the idea of

intrinsically beautiful

quoted by

is

On some particular points the presump-

actually against identifying the

such are the

classification of

two persons

the 'figures,' and the

estimate of particular orators, though

fair

is

from Theophrastus, three centuries before

as

own time.

tion

so

see,

it

would not be

to press these discrepancies too closely.

It

may seem somewhat

strange that

we cannot

speak with more decision as to the internal evidence

bearing on the question whethe r the treatise was

composed in the

first

century or the third of our era,

tiie same hand as the

by the great scholar
D. Ruhnken, and the other undoubted work of Cassius
'Longinus, for these are the two issues really before us.

and whether

it

was or was not by

parts of the Rhetoric recovered

Such

internal evidence

under the heads of

would

naturally present itself

persons or events mentioned, voca-

bulary and style, and general point of view, whether

literary or philosophical.

points,

In glancing at these three

we must remember that more cogent evidence is

required to set aside a tradition already existing, even

a faint one, than to establish a claim de novo

and we

therefore repeat that the inscription of the Treatise on

the Sublime,

which

is

the sole source of any tradition,

leaves the authorship entirely uncertain.

'

Df

rec: rat. aud:

c. 5.

Introduction
Of the numerous
date
is

orators,

probably Matris

is

named who

gustan.

It

named on

and historians

poets,

and quoted in the

discussed

li

the

Treatise,

(p. 6)

at

any

in

latest

rate,

no one

belongs to a period later than the

Au-

was formerly thought that Ammonius,

p. 30, was an exception, but it turns out to

be anexceptionwhich'proves the rule,'for thereference

is

certainly not to Ammonius Saccas,one of the teachers

who lived before

who wrote on the particular

of Cassius Longinus, but to a critic

the time of Augustus, and

Again, the Treatise

subjects indicated in the passage.

is

based upon a work with the same

who

critic
A.D.,

title

by

enjoyed great reputation in the

and himself lived

in its earlier years.

but seems very unlikely, that an answer

Caecilius, a

first

It

is

(for all

the men-

tions of Caecilius are unfavourable) should be

so

much

back

detail to a

work written

century
possible,

made

in

several generations

and the words used suggest

at least that

the

author and the younger friend addressed read the

work of Caecilius together when

pen.

The

it

was fresh from his

notice of dwarfs (p, 79) and of the Pythian

oracle (p. 30)

make

for the earlier date,

and

also the

mention, in the imperfect tense, of a practice of Theodorus of Gadara, tutor of the Emperor Tiberius (p. 7).
Of Postumius Terentianus nothing is known. From
the terms in which he

is

addressed, he appears to have

been a younger friend, and a close friend, of the author.

'

Excellent

Acts

'

(p.

xxiii. z6,

70) should imply official rank (see

and

view readers among

xxvi. 25),

men

and the author has in

in public

life (p. i).

How-

IntretdueUm

ever, tie ' Complaisant

hails

man

'

of Tbeopiifastus {char, v)

an ordtoary sequaintance

The style

'

as

of the Trf^Hse-f that

Exeellent.'

is,

of the

Greek con-

and idioms used, does not seem to give any

tangible criterion. The Greek used by writers of the

structions

time of the
with

Roman Empire was

growth or

little

-ritality

of

and

fixed

its

artificial,

own, but capable

of immense variation, according to the individuality

of authors so different as Dionysins, Plutarch,

ChrysQstom, Lucian.
'the subject

may be

Vocabulary does

Dion

offer a test:

caimot be profitably discussed here, bnt

said that a careful analysis has

it

been made by

M. Louis Vaueher', who finds that there are few terms,

not quite common-place, which are used both in the
Trfatise
large

and

also

by

Cassius Longinus, while a very

number of words

characteristic of the former

seem to have fallen out of use

when the

latter wrote,

or had changed their meaning. We may mention, as

a term of some general interest, the word Allegory
(p. 17) ; it is used, as it is by Quintilian and Cicero,
in the sense familiar to us, whereas in the RhftorU of

Iionginus

it

means the substitution,

for the sake of

variety, of one word or phrase for another.

M.

Vaucher went on, strangely

as it has

That

seemed to

most people, to argue that the author of onr Treatise

was no other than Plutarch, does not in any way
impair the cogency of his negative conclusion, nor yet
the great value and interest of his excellent studies.

The attitude of Cassius Longinus to the great authors

'

Etudeti eriH^Ms, 1854.

Introduction
is

xiii

Both

widely different from that of our Treatise.

write as

men

and of a high ordef of

of vast reading

both admire profoundly and

intellect,

the masters of Greek letters.

them, and recommends them,

latter as containing

intelligently

But the former thints of

as

models of

style,

the

Both

and inspiring great thought.

Were sincere admirers of Plato, and both found, or

allowed the existence of certain shortcomings; but the
oae

most enjoys

critic

harmony

his felicity of language

Equally different

grandeur of his conception.

feeling to the world of

men

outside.

The

their

is

Minister

more

of Z^nobia was a Neo-PlatoBist teacher, perhaps

at

home,

and

of composition, the other the richness and

as

was said of him by Plotinus, in philology

than in philosophy, yet concerned with questions of

the soul and of Being.

men engaged
life is,

the

in public

The
life

Treatise

is

written for

the one worthy end of

in the author's eyes, not speculation but service,

relief of

man's

estate.

The word

is

common

in

Plato, though used rather of service to friends and

comrades than to humanity; we recognize it as the aim

of a Prometheus, a Hercules, a Socrates.

and to the

was familiar, but

teaching.

To

Cicero

later Academics, as well as to the Stoics, it

it

had no place in Neo-Platonic

In other respects, the outlook upon

life is,

much that of Tacitus the

complaint of the paucity of men of genius or greatness,
the observation that we disparage what is virith us and
as

has been remarked,

eitol the past, the

demand

essential to great thought.

for liberty as for the air

And the ideas

in it belong.

Introduction

xiv

in conception

and character,

hj

plained with great force

has been ktely ex-

when thought was

(G. KaibeP), to an age

when great

as

a scholar of authority

questions were daily thrown into

free,
its

and

glow-

ing crucible, not to one of cramped formulae and rigid

system.

We

part very unwillingly with a tradition which

assigns so interesting a

which

associates it

fortunate man.

book to so barren a period, and

with the name of a great and un-

Probably

it

will always

under the name of Longinus, and

done.

be known

harm

will

be

have stated the conditions of the problem, of

As the author

course, in very brief outline.

'

little

says

Let every one take the view which pleases him, and

enjoy

it.'

The

nature and quality of the criticism contained in

the Treatise will be best learned from the author himself,

and we need not

One

judgement with which he

writers

and the

steady eye

is

is

fixes

on the

Yet our

His

never dazzled by the glare of some merely

'

Every college youth,' says a

'

hugs the opinion

a better speaker than Cicero, though of

course far below Gabinianus,' and

enthusiasm

really great

real causes of their greatness.

ephemeral reputation.

is

points are

the sureness of the

speaker in the Dialogue of Tacitus,

that he

Two

anticipate.

especially conspicuous.

is

critic

a really distracting

this

pardonable

element in criticism.

does not disparage his contemporaries,

and recognizes the infirmity, apparent to Horace and to

'

Hermes,

vol. xxxiv.

Introduction

iv

The

Tacitus, which, makes us prone to that pettiness.

result

is

that his verdict

is

at

one with that recorded

by the universal voice of men, of all

places,

and in every

The other point is his constant endeavour one

which we have already noticed in Burke to rest his
age.

judgement upon

settled principles

the true

of greatness, the necessity of selecting

criteria

and combining

salient points, the relation of passion to

the forms of

speech, the value of harmonious composition.

Of
will

own

his

principles,
is

style

notice how,

he

falls

we need add

little.

The

reader

own

unconsciously following his

into the vein of the author

whom he

the time discussing, and seems to reproduce

for

the profuse imagery of Plato, the grace of Hyperides,

the condensation of Demosthenes, and the

'

perils

'

of

the mighty periods of the same supreme orator.

Two
One

particular metaphors call for a

lies

word of notice.
drawn from

in the elaborate series of images

the craft of the mason (pp. 26, 74, &c.).

To us they seem familiar enough, though the expressions

used are

difficult,

perhaps because they have

entered into our language through the New Testament,

and ultimately from the Old.

In Greek poets

we

have frequent reference, in connexion with Fate, to the

coping-stone, a rudimentary feature of the art

one

more elaborate structures in Euripides'

Hifpolytus, 468 ; and one to a splendid temple-front
reference to

in Pindar.

But, in fact. Architecture did not rank as

one of the Fine Arts, and perhaps did not greatly stir the

Greek mind; one of

its

purposes was to provide a

Introduction

XVI

framework for beautiful earring or pictures, but in

it-

sdf it was merely ' useful ' (see Butcher, Aristotle's Theory
of Poetry and Fine Art,
in

Roman ideas. The

walls

and

Nor was

c. ii).

it far

otherwise

imagery repeatedly drawn from

their constituents in this Treatise touches

on something new.
Another remarkable image
who, in the old age of
the Odyssey,

is

that applied to

his genius,

Homer,

which gave birth to

likened to the sea at ebb tide, confined

is

within the solitude of his

own

proper

limits,

but leav-

ii^ pools and creeks about which the retiring waters

meander.

This personal conception of Ocean, an old

man with a proper home of his own, recalls the romantic

character in the Prometheus of Aeschylus, and

it is

strange that critics have found diflSculty in the words

But the

used in our text.

tides

were not, and could

not be, within the observation of Greek writers,

have therefore contributed

little

the poetry connected with them.

litde

more to

tell us, till

experiences in Gaul
lines

in

Italicus

Silius

when he
aad found the new

Hannibal,

Atlantic coast.

The Romans have

we come

to Caesar

and there are some

expeiieace awaiting
also,

his

own

his

awe

to

eyes had seen

at all that

of Britain.

The

sure to appeal to
is

vast in

know in w&at part

it.

him on the

in th Agricola, expresses

wonder at the great tidal rivers

phenomenon is one which woold be
like

his

the surprise of

describing

his

but we should

and

really striking

passed the Straits of Gibraltar,

Tacitus

our author, with

who

to the science or to

Nature

of the

worM

Introduction

A characteristic feature of the

Many

dance of quotations.

rvii

Treatise

passages,

is

the abun-

some long

ones,

are quoted for the purpose of literary criticism, from

Homer,

Great

more

or

Demosthenes, and numerous other

Plato,

writers.

liberties are

passages of

taken with the text

Homer

two

are rolled into one, sen-

tences of Demosthenes are curtailed, and words or

phrases are altered.
at in this

There

is

nothing to he surprised

the precise Aristotle

is

a very loose quoter.

Apart from these, the writer often glides into the words
of a poet or of Plato,

many
81)

we

cases

and makes them

his

can recognize the passage

own

(see

in

pp. 40,

in others the metrical run of the words, and their

on

poetical colouring (sometimes, as

make

it

p. 64, the dialect),

probable that they are borrowed.

of unacknowledged quotation,

This habit

though not unparalleled

in Greek and Latin writers, has a strangely

effect

ment,

more

still

as

when we

so

when

there

is

modern

a touch of senti-

are told (p. Bj), in the

words of a

well-known epigram, that the fame of great writers

safe

As long

The word

as
'

waters flow and poplars bloom.

sublime,'

which

associated with this treatise,

is

much.

It

is

not found at

apparently in Spenser, but

is

is

now

inseparably

a somewhat embarrassing

one in English, but perhaps its

us

is

and inalienable

analysis
all

need not trouble

in Shakespeare, nor

used freely by Milton

probably Boileau and Addison have had

much

to do

home in our language. Coleridge, who

has elsewhere examined the word more fully, is reported
with making it

LONG. TR.

at

}q

Introduction

xviii

in the Table Talk as saying

Could you ever discover

'

anything sublime, in our sense of the term, in the

Classical

Greek Literature ?

Hebrew by

I never could.

Sublimity

word
more properly applied to certain parts of the Old
Testament than to anything else to the account of the

is

Certainly V7e feel that the

birth.'

is

Creation, to the Book of Job.

There are passages of

Greek literature, wluch any of us could name as almost

equally deserving to be called sublime, but

able that, with the exception of the

Death

it is

notice-

of Oedipus,

and perhaps of some others, they are not among those

mentioned in the

We

Treatise.

Coleridge the exact meaning of

When

term.'

Dr. Primrose

should like to ask

in our sense of the

so correct a writer as Goldsmith makes

tell

us

how he thought

his family before the

Vicar a ' comedy '

ing,

'

'

proper to exhort

happy marriages which make the

I told them of the grave, becom-

and sublime deportment they should assume upon

this mystical occasion,'

have travelled
Certainly the

far

the

last adjective

seems to

from any Hebrew assodations.

German language may be held fortunate

word of home growth to express the

in possessing a

sublime.
'

Best leave these things to take their chance,' as our

author quotes

(p. 8i),

the original.

It

no reason to think
it

or

'

height,'

and we have

that, before the treatise of Caecilius,

had been used in any

fixed literary

The Latin equivalent, sublimis, is

often so used,

its

sense.

and turn to the word used in

means simply

adjective

but perhaps always with some feeling of the original

;'

Introduction

XIX

meaning of height as a dimension in space. In the

ff^atw, sublimity is almost equivalent to greatness, but
the author expressly

may be greatThe two words sublimity

us that there

tells

ness without sublimity.

'

and greatness ' are used in the singular and the

'

plural,

in an abstract and in a concrete sense, in a manner often

For the greatness which

baffling to a translator.

is

so

near sublimity the author has a profound respect,

which the true Greek hardly

shares.

Size

a factor

is

of beauty in Aristotle's view, but primarily because

needed to make the symmetry of parts

wonder which raises

a certain size

is

perceptible

of the awe-inspiring

the beautiful to the sublime he gives no hint.

dotus wonders at the Nile
curiosity as to

of fullness,

Hero-

but with the wonder of

hidden origin and mysterious periods

its

and

symmetry with

its

Europe,

rivers of

want to know,' not the

wonder which hears a voice warning him that the
ground is holy ; a true Greek would feel the same if
brought in sight of the Victoria Falls or the Golden
the wonder which says

'

'

Throne.'

Our author

speaks with

awe of the great

; of Nile and

things in Nature, because they are great

Ister and Ocean, and of that Aetna which to Pindar

was merely a piUar of dazzling snow planted on the
shaggy breast of the foe of Zeus, vomiting fire un-

approachable.

So of

intellectual greatness

whict-itanspires.
afraid,
if

Demosthenes

Homer falls

the test of

it

Hyperides never'makes
is

ofi in his

terrible as

Odyssey,

b2

it is

isjthe-awehis hearer

a thunderstorm

because he pleases

XX

Introduction

and

is

interests,

This point of view

but no longer awes.

pressed throughout the treatise with an intensity and

\ earnestness which would be monotonous

much

mot

so

No

sense of

tinction

is,

it all.

humour relieves the tension little disin fact, made between prose and poetry,
;

though the author recognizes

separate treatment

(p. 33)

that they require

he scolds Plato for his imagery,

without allowing for the fact that Plato

quoting poetry.

ment

there were

if

power, expressed and latent, under

is

avowedly

Yet the sheer greatness of the argu-

invariably saves

it,

and

the greatness of a

it is

good man. In this short and fragmentary pamphlet

of an austere and strenuous critic, we hear sometimes
the notes of that wisdom which

kind to man,' and

'

is

catch gleams of that intellectual light which

is

'

full

of love.'

Some apology may seem

translation of a book

translated already,

to be required for a

new

which has been so excellently

can only offer the old one, that
author

is final,

and that a

new translator may bring out some

sides of

an author's

no translation of a

classical

meaning which have not perhaps been already represented,

hope that

have not carried independence

too far in replacing (on p. 63) a singularly happy

phrase of Sir R. C. Jebb's, which
to borrow, by inferior words.
reflection, that

a brilliant phrase,

becomes something other than

to say, a second intention, and
its

own

surroundings.

To the

had

But

it

wished

appeared, on

when borrowed,

itself
is

at first

more

it

acquires, so

rightly left in

complete and scholarly

Introduction

xxi

work of Professor Rhys Roberts, which has done so much

to make the study of the Treatise possible to others,

and to the

on which

Mr.

brilliant translation of

myself constantly indebted.

Havell, I feel

Perhaps the translation

have most relied for help has been the

fine

"u^atin version of Bishop Pearce.

I have a more personal debt of obligation, which
warmly and gratefully acknowledge, to my friends
Mr. E. D. A. Morsheai^and Mr. H. E. Butler, for
J
VSucffTnvalSaSii^i^^and to the Rev. A. H. CruickI

shank for guidance in a matter of special

For any omissions or

The

errors I

am solely

text used has been that of the Oxford Classical

Texts, 1906, to the notes of which I

to refer any scholar into

may come. The

Worsley's

passages

available.

may be

allowed

this translation

from Homer are quoted in

by Osnington)

authors in standard translations

The

division into sections (an extra-

ordinarily perverse one)

I

whose hands

translation (completed

those from other

where

difficulty.

responsible.

is

due to an edition of 1569.

have usually referred to pages.

In the Appendix will be found specimen passages

translated

from various

later

Greek

the historical Cassius Longinus

is

certain Latin critics considered

critics,

one

of

whom

a note

on

in relation to the

subject-matter of the Treatise; and some extracts

from Bishop Lowth's Professorial Lectures on Hebrew

Poetry, translated from the Latin.

ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS
Sect.
is

i.

The

treatment of the Sublime by CaecUius

inadequate, and fails to

practical

tell

men how

its

The

Sublime is ' an eminence and

excellence of language,' and its aim both in poetry and
in prose is to carry men out of themselves : this is done
by a single powerful and well-timed stroke.
effects are attained.

Sect.

2. Is there an art

word Art be applied

of Sublimity,

i.

e.

can the

what is natural ? Yes

for
Nature herself does not work at random, and the
greatest natural forces are the most dangerous unless
regulated (Nature comes first. Art is second, but no
less essential). Also it requires Art to estimate genius
to

aright.

[/i gap equal to about 6 pages of this lool^

[The

special dangers to

Sect.

3.

which

great genius

this is ajhrtiori a fault in prose.

all

is

exposed.]

TurgUity (instance from Tragedy)

(i)

It is a fault to

which

greatness is liable, and easily works round to

opposite,

(ii)

PueriKty

its

the very opposite of great-

comes out of a straining for what is artificial

and high-flown, (iii) Parenthyrsus, i. e. passion out of
ness

season.

Sect.

4.

(iv)

Frigidity,

a.

straining after

Instances quoted out of Timaeus

others.

Sect.

Plato and
5.

Xenophon

All these

faults

novelty.

but see Caecilius for

are not

come

wholly

free.

out of a craze for

novelty, misdirected.

Sect. 6. Can we find a rule for avoiding them ?

Yes, if we can frame a complete working definition of
'

Sublimity.'


Analysts of Contents
Sect.

7.

repetition,

i.

Test.
e.

if

If

when

the

xxiH

thought does not bear

it does not raise the

repeated

thoughts upwards, but itself falls more flat on the ear

each time, it is no true Sublime.
The verdict of all
men through all ages is final.

Sect. 8. Five sources of the Sublime (power of

:
viz. A. Natural, (i) grasp of
great thoughts, (ii) passion ; B. Artificial, (iii) 'Figures,'
whetherof thought or of language; (iv) diction; (v) composition.
(Caecilius gives an incomplete list, omitting
passion, which is not co-extensive with sublimity, but
speech being presupposed)

is its

powerfid ally.)

\A gap
Sect.

9. (i)

a great soul.'

of

Ajax

instance

in the

The

of \% pages^

' Sublimity rings

Great thoughts.
from
Sublimity of Silence
The Silence

The

Lower World
Battle of the

{Odyssey xi).

Gods

Homeric

sublime,

but
lowers gods to men.
The pure divine in Homer.
Illustration from Genesis.
The human sublime, in
Homer the Prayer of Ajax for light. (Digression
on the Odyssey, the work of Homer's old age. His
genius compared to the setting sun, or the ebbing
Ocean, but always the genius of Homer.
Hence the
'
Marchen,' the story telling and character sketches.)
is

Sect. 10. Rule for the application of great thoughts

the most essential, and combine them into
a whole, omitting secondary detail.
So Sappho portrays the lover. Homer a storm, Archilochus a shipwreck, Demosthenes the arrival of the news of Elateia.
Build with squared blocks, no rubble between them.
select

Sects, ii and 12. 'Amplification,' the enhancing

a thought in successive stages of the treatment,
ful, but,

unless helped by sublimity,

working by mass, not by

elevation.

is

is

use-

merely mechanical,
Exceptions, when

AnalyAs of Contents

xxiv
the object

is

to excite pity or depreciation.

sublime, quantity

To

the

is irrelevant.

[Gap of 6 pages.^
and Demosthenes compared : Plato often
affects us by quantity, Demosthenes by intensity.]
Cicero and Demosthenes compared in a somewhat
[Plato

similar sense.

Sect. 13. The

(from RepubUc ix).

real

greatness

of Plato

illustrated

Plato points us the road to greatness, viz. the imitation of great predecessors.
Plato
steeped himself in Homer : he entered the lists against

him.

Sect. 14.

We too should think how Homer, Plato,

Demosthenes would have expressed this or that

thought
how they would have endured this or that
expression of ours.
Nay, how will all future ages
or

endure those expressions.

cowardice to shrink.

great issue,

but

it

is-

Sect. 15. Imagination and Images defined. Their

in oratory and in poetry distinct.
Employment by
Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles.
Misused in modern
the right use illustrated from Demosthenes
oratory
and Hyperides.

use

Sect. 16. [The second source of Sublimity Passion

is not treated here ; see above, Sect, iii, and the last
words of the Treatise.] (iii) The Figures. Only a few
Adjuration, illustrated from the
can be mentioned.
De Corona of Demosthenes, where the circumstances
make the oath sublime (contrast its bare use by the
Comic Poet Eupolis).

Sect,

i 7.

The Author

quotes from himself a con-

clusion that the Figures help Sublimity, but Sublimity

and Passion are essential to the Figures, which otherThe oath by ' the dead of
wise are so many tricks.


Analyns of Contents

xxv

Marathon

' would be but an artifice, if the artifice did

not pass in the fierce light of the speaker's feeling.

The Figures continued.

Instance from Herodotus.

Sect. i8.

Answer.

[A gap
Sect. 19.

Asyndeton

of 4

Question

and

pages."]

(i.e.

omission of connecting

words).

Sect. 20. Combination of Asyndeton with other

Instance from the Midias of
Demosthenes,
figures often effective.

Sect. 21. Introduce the missing conjunctions in

such instances of Asyndeton, and the passage is spoiled.

Sect. 22. Hyperbata (inversion of order) give the

of reality and passion. Thucydides, Demosthenes.

effect

Sect. 23.

Polyptota

interchange of case, &c.

Plural for singular.

Sect. 24. Singular for

Sect. 25. Present for

Sect.

26.

plural.

past.

Change of person

To

Second.

the

Instance from Herodotus.

Sect. 27. To the First.

and Hecataeus.

Instances from

Sect. 28. Periphrasis enriches style.

from Xenophon, Thucydides, Herodotus.

Homer

Instances

Sect. 29. Periphrasis requires more discretion than

any other Figure.
Sect. 30. Choice of words, a potent factor

in

ex-

pression.

[A gap of 12 pages.]
The author is challenging

certain judgeSect. 31.

ments of Caecilius upon (i) homeliness of phrase, which
may be justified by its vigour; (ii) number of metaphors:
as to this, the practice of Demosthenes is the standard,

Analysis of Contents

xxvi

and the

of the passion

intensity

the

justification.

commend

(Aristotle and Theophrastus rightly

the use

of qualifying words.)

Metaphors are also effective in

laboured description.
Instances from Xenophon and
Plato (Timaeuj).
Plato's excess in Metaphor is a
fault, and Caecilius therefore prefers the faultless Lysias,
but wrongly.

Sect. 33.
are

we

We

must argue

to prefer

Which

this point out.

greatness with faults, or faultlessness

which stops there

And

again

the most

claims to

can have no doubt.

Remember that (i) Genius has a special risk of falling
(ii) Men mark failures and often omit to mark greatness.
To be Homer or ApoUonius ? Bacchylides or Pindar ?
Ion or Sophocles ?
excellence,

or the greatest

Sect. 34. Hyperides or Demosthenes ? The two

Orators are elaborately compared.
Demosthenes makes
up for the powers he lacks by the terrible intensity of
those which he has.

Sect. 35. Plato or Lysias (to return to them)

But Lysias has fewer merits than Plato, and worse

faults.
Nature herself has made Man with aspirations
and affinities towards greatness. He admires the

stupendous things in Nature

rivers, ocean, volcanoes
not things useful and ordinary.

Sect. 36. Thus it is sublimity, not faultlessness,

which brings Man near to the divine Homer, Demo:

sthenes,

Plato

have their

nothing

when

set

against

failures,

but these are as

their greatness

therefore

Objection.
faulty statue is
they are the immortals.
In Art correctness
not redeemed by its size. Ans'wer.
But language is
is the first thing, in Nature greatness.

a natural

gift.

Sect. 37. Similes, &c.

\A gap of 6 pagesl\

Analysts of Contents

xxvii

Sect. 38. Hyperbole in excess becomes ridiculous.

rightly used it should be unnoticed that it is
hyperbole : and this will be so when there is passion to
support it.
So comic exaggeration is supported by
being ludicrous (for laughter is a passion, but one which
goes with pleasure, not pain).

When

Sect. 39. Arrangement of words (Composition):

fifth and last constituent of Sublimity (see sect. 8).
great factor not only of persuasion but also of
passion : as great as music but not as enthralling.
This illustrated from a famous passage of Demosthenes.

the

sentence or a period is an organic

Sect. 40.
words and phrases contribute to a whole,
which is greater than their mere sum. Writers of
limited ability may touch greatness by rhythm and
structure

arrangement.

Sects. 41-3. Causes of sinking in style, broken

and jingling rhythm, scrappy phrases (like rubble in
masonry), condensation or difiuseness in excess, vulgar
idioms and words (instance from Theopompus) all
the opposites of what we have found to be factors of

sublimity.

Sect. 44.

we many

The

clever

reason political
is

question has been raised

men now,

but no great

Why have

men

Is the

by democracy
cramped and checked by

that the stimulus given

now wanting, and that we

are

(i) Men always think their

despotism ? The answer :
own times the worst, (ii) It is not the peace of the
world which levels us down, but our own habits ; our
love of getting, and of spending on our pleasures, both

and causes of others and worse corruption,

Being what we are,
and such like.
perhaps we are better in servitude than if our vices had
the passions.
free vent. Better pass to the next subject
deadly

evils,

will-hunting,

CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction

Analysis of Contents

Concerning Sublimity

....
.

Appendix I. Specimen Passages translated

from Greek Writers of the Roman
Empire on Literary Criticism
.

Appendix

II.

The Treatise on

AND Latin Critics

Appendix

III.

v
xxii
i

83

Sublimity
.

.105

Passages translated from

Bishop Lowth's Oxford Lectures on

Hebrew Poetry
Appendix IV.

114

Additional Note on Para-

phones

126

Index of Proper Names occurring in the

Text

127

CONCERNING SUBLIMITY
I

THE

treatise

Sublimity

'

by Caecilius

written

'concerning

appeared to us, as you will remember,

dear Postumius Terentianus,

when we looked

into

it

together, to fall below the level of the general subject,

of

failing especially in grasp

his readers but

the

little

aim of every writer.

first

two, points are essential

show what

should

vital points

and to give

of that assistance which should be

In any technical
the

first,

that

treatise

the

writer

the thing proposed for inquiry

is

the second, but in effect the more important, that he

should

tell

may

us by what specific methods that thing

us

made our own. Now Caecilius endeavours to show

by a vast number of instances what the sublune is,

as

though

be

may
scale

we

did not

raise our natural

the process by which

powers to a required advance

we
in

he unaccountably passed over as unnecessary.

So

far as

the

man

he

is

concerned, perhaps

for his ingenuity

for the omissions.

mands upon me,

my

know

turn,

and

Since, however, you lay your

and without

fail

yourself,

company

us see whether there

favour

to

is

give

me

T>

your

anything in the

views which I have formed really serviceable to

LONG. TR.

com-

put something on paper about

let

to praise

blame him

that I should take up the subject in

Sublimity as
;

we ought

pains, not to

men

in

2
public

"Treatise

You, comrade,

life.

'

Sect. I

me by

will help

judgement, with perfect frankness, upon

you can and you ought.

who wished

to

Writing to you,

'

and

my

all liberal

was well answered by one

show wherein we resemble gods:

doing good,' said he,

knowledge of

It

passing

all particulars

'in

in speaking truth.'

dear friend, with your perfect

am

study, I

almost relieved at

the outset from the netessity of showing at any length

that Sublimity is always an eminence and excellence in

language

and that from

and

this,

the

alone,

this

and writers of prose have attained the

greatest poets
first

place and have clothed their fame with immortality.

For

it is

not to persuasion

of extraordinary

'

but to ecstasy that passages

genius carry the hearer

marvellous, jvith its power to amaze,

necessarily stronger than that

and

to

please

every hearer, and takes

Again,

above him.

skill

in

with

usually

rests

ourselves, genius brings force sovereign

to bear"*upon

the

which seeks to persuade

be~4)eisuaded

to

now

always and

is

and
its

irresistible

stand high

invention and

power of

orderly arrangement are not seen from one passage nor

from two, but emerge with

context;

Sublimity,

happy moment, parts

'

'

all

the matter this

to speak truth and to

similar

remark

Rhetoric

is

is

fairest gifts

the

at

that,

of gods to

Aelian,

vii. 1 1,

59.

attributed to Demosthenes.

defined

by

Aristotle as

'

a faculty of discovering all

the possible means of persua$ion in any subject.'

Tr. Welldon.

out

way and

do good, and would add that each

of the two resembles the works of gods.'

'

brought

Pythagoras used to say that the two

men were

out of the whole

effort

we know,

Rhei.

i.

c. i,

Concerning Sublimity

Sect. I

and

like a lightning flash, reveals, at

power of the orator *.

entirety, the

considerations

own

your

my

think,

a stroke and

in its

These and suchlike

dear Terentianus,

that

experience might supply.

II

WE,

however, must at once raise this

question

opposite

its

For some go so

? ^

fiirther

there any art of sublimity or of

is

who

far as to think all

would-bring,_such terms under technical rules to be

entirely mistaken.

taught

bom

to be

Genius,' says one,

'

there is one art

for

the

All natural

with them.'

'

inbred, not

is

of

things

genius,

effects are spoilt,

they think, by technical rules, and become miserable

I assert that the reverse will prove true on

skeletons.

examination,
^

idea

by

'

The
it

is

we

if

consider

a law to

that Nature,

Sublime impresses the mind at once with one great

a single blow

repetition,

the Elegant, indeed,

by an accumulation of many

may be

produced

circumstances.'

Sir J.

Reynolds, Fourth Discourse.

' If these words (literally
translated above. Pope's

was taken to task by

suggested to

him by a

'

'

of height or of depth

Art of sinking

(which

is

The

*)

are rightly

is also right,

though he

scholars for the phrase.

friend, perhaps

alternative

is

It

was probably

Arbuthnot ; since Boileau, in

his translation, the only one, apparently,

second noun.

'

known to Pope,

omits the

to render 'of sublimity, or

the same thing) of profundity.'

But the idea in the

context seems to be that of rising or sinking at will to a given

point in the scale

the phrase would naturally

come from an
Sections

XL-

XLII, at the end of the Treatise, deal with the question how

style

opponent who derided the existence of such an

may

be lowered.

B 2

art.

A treatise

herself as she mostly is in

mere absence of method

and originating

first

and
in

that she is indeed herself

principle

yet rules of degree,

things,

that is passionate

no creatAe of random unpiilse delighting

lofty, yet is

the

all

Sect. II

of

which underlies

all

occasion,

of

fitting

unerring practice, and of application can be determined

by method and
greatness

without

itself

are its contribution

science

common
is

first, is

good

and unin-

of

life

men

good counse^_and
is at

properly apply to literature

of all good things

that

;-

that

where the

is

most important,

it

here Nature

fills

the place

Also,

and

only ^fromj^rt -that. jye

is

can learn the very fact that certain

rest

latter

we may

once cancelled'

of good fortune, Art of good counsel.

this

it

to be

fortune, but a second, not inferior

wanting the former

is

un-

unsteadied,

What Demosthenes shows

also needs the bit *.

the greatest

all

if left to

greatness needs the spur often,

structed venture;

to the

'

own,

abandoned to mere velocity

ballasted','

true of the

its

control,

to

sense

in ,a

exposed to a danger of

is

efifects in literature

on Nature and on her alone *.

If, as

I said, the

The latter of the two adjectives is applied by Plato i^Thtaet.

144 A) to boats, which word possibly stood in the text here.
' Words said to have been used by Plato about Xenocrates and
Aristotle, and by Aristotle himself about two pupils; also by
'

p.

Isocrates,

as Cicero twice tells us (Brutut,

Attieus, 6, i) about
'

Theopompus

(see p.

305 and Letters

to

55) and Ephorus.

Demosthenes, Aristocr. 113.

' Cicero, in

the Brutus (181, &c.), discusses the question

whether the opinion of the general public or of the expert upon
the merits of an orator

is

the

more important.

The

answer

is

Concerning

Sect. II

who

critic

would take

finds fault with earnest students,

these things into his account, he

all

would

in

my opinion

no longer deem inquiry upon the subjects before us

to be unnecessary or unfruitful.

[Here the equivalent of about six pages of this translation

has been lost^

III
Stay they the furnace ! quench the far-flung blaze
For if I spy one crouching habitant,
I'll twist a lock, one lock of storm-bome flame,
And fire the roof, and char the halls to ash :

Not

yet, not

ALL
\,
turned

this

tragic

now my

is
'

tragic

locks,'

flute player,'

pression,

'

noble strain

is raised '.

no longer, but burlesque of

to vomit

and the

and confused

up

to heaven,' 'Boreas

It is turbid in ex-

rest.

in imagery, not forcible

you examine each detail in clear

light,

in tragedy,

which by_its nature

admits bombast, tasteless rant

able", I should be

is

and

if

you see a gradual

sinking from the terrible to the contemptible.

when

is

Now

pompous and

found to be unpardon-

slow to allow that

it

could be In

that on the question of effectiveness in speaking the verdict of

the public

is

final, that

of the specialist

is still

required to determine

the causes of effectiveness or failure, also to pronounce whether

the orator is absolutely excellent, or only appears to be so in the

absence of his betters.

1

From

'

'

the lost Oreithyia of Aeschylus (p. 381, Nauck).

What can

be so proper for Tragedy as a set.of big-sounding


'

tf

Treatise
Thus we

^lace in true history.

Leontini for writing

and

'

'

Sect.

laugh at Gorgias

vultures, those living tombs,'

at

some

'

of

Xerxes the Zeus of the Persians

and

some passages

at

in Callisthenes ' as being stilted, not sublime,

more

HI

in Cleitarchus

he

is

and even

a mere fantastic,

he ' puffs,' to apply the words of Sophocles, ' on puny pipes,

hut with

no mellowing gag

Hegesias, and Matris

'

So with Amphicrates,

*.'

they often appear to themselves

no inspired

to be possessed, really they are

We may take

children at play.
;'*

faults

perhaps the most

it

difficult to avoid. ~It is

Nature tKalTmen'wHoraiiTi^at grandeur,

the reproach of being

how, borne off

'To

revellers but

that turgidity is

weak and

dry, are,

into turgidity, caught

"a

we know

As

lapse from~greatness were a generous fault'.'

which

one day or other prove to be the Sublime of Longinus.'

Tom Thumb.

A Sicilian teacher of rhetoric (about B.C. 480-3 J^o), a speaker

in the dialogue of Plato

'

not

by the adage :

Fielding, Introduction to
'

of

in avoiding

words, so contrived together as to carry no meaning?

I shall

of all

fact

which bears

his

name.

Philosopher, historian, and rhetorician, a pupil of Aristotle

(died about B.C. 328).

'

Cleitarchus, Historian of Alexander the Great.

Sophocles bad written

irith fierce

The lines,
Pompey (ad
'

in

their

Alt.

Amphicrates

at the

'

he

fa& no

longer on

puny

pipes, but

bellows and no mouthpiece (to modify the sound).'

ii.
:

original

form, are quoted by Cicero of

16, 2).

an Athenian rhetorician and

Court of Tigranes, about B.C. 70.

sophist,

native of Magnesia, probably of the third century B. c,

on Alexander the Great.

encomium on Hercules

who

died

Hegesias: a rhetorician,

Matris of Thebes:

who wrote

author of an

mentioned by Diodotus Siculus, and

therefore not later than the Augustan period.

'

proverb,' doubtless familiar

in

a metrical form.

Com-

'

'

Concerning Sublimity

Sect. Ill

in bodies, so in writings, all swellings which are hollow

and unreal are bad, and very possibly work round to the

opposite condition, for

man with dropsy.'

While tumidity

'

nothing,' they say,

'

so dry as a

thus tends to overshoot the sublime,

puerility is the direct opposite

of

all

that is great;

it is

every sense low and small spirited, and essentially a

in

most ignoble

What

fault.

then

is

puerility

a pedantic conceit, which overdoes

is

it

becomes

frigid at the last.

'

Authors glide

Clearly

and

itself

into this

when

they make for what is unusual, artificial', above all, agreeable,

and so run on the reefs of nonsense and

the side of these

is

By

aifectation.

a third kind of vice, found in passages

of strong feeling, and called by Theodoras ' ' Parenthyrsus.

This
is

no

is

pa^on out of lace and

call for passion,

needed.

unmeaning,, where there

or unrestrained where restraint

is

Men are carried aside, as if under strong drink,

into expressions

of

feeling

which have nothing to do with

the subject, but are personal to themselves and academic-

then they play clumsy antics before an audience which

has never been moved;

it

cannot be otherwise,

when

speakers are in an ecstasy, and the hearers are not.

we
pare

reserve
Ovid's

room
fine

the

But

to speak of the passions elsewhere.

lines

on

the

fall

of Phaethon {Mel.

ii,

325)
His limbs, yet reeking from that lightning flame,
The kindly nymphs entomb, and grave his name
Phaethon lies here, who grasped the steeds of Day,
Then greatly fell, yet from a great essay I
'

^ Of Gadaia, or Rhodes : a rhetorician, and

Emperor Tiberius (Suetonius, 7V6. 57).

instructor of the

Treatise

Sect,

iv

IV

OF

the second fault which

Timaeus*

and not always wanting

but extremely

acute,

we

mentioned,

of

in greatness

critical

of the

own;

while insensible to his

style

faults

down one

learned,

of others,

often sinking into mere

childishness from an incessant desire to start

I will set

frigidity,

an able author in other respects,

is full;

new notions.

or two instances only from this

author, since Caecilius has been before

me with most

annexed

all

Asia

of

'who

Praising Alexander the Great, he writes:

them.

fewer years than Isocrates ' took to

in

writehis/'<wjf^rifBjin support ofwaragainstthePersians.'

Truly a wonderfiil comparison between the Macedonian

and the Sophist

monians were

Timaeus, clearly the Lacedae-

yes,

far

out-matched by Isocrates in valour, for

they took Messene in thirty years, he composed his

Panegyrkus

ten

in

Athenians captured

Then how he

in Sicily:

turns upon the

'Because they committed

imjnety against Hermes, and defaced his images, they

suffered punishment for

largely

it,

man, a descendant, on the

on account of one

father's side,

god, Hermocrates, son of Hermon.'

of the injured

This makes me

wonder, dear Terentianus, that he does not also write of

the tyrant Dionysius
*

Sicilian historian

'

He

had shown impiety towards

(about B.C. 353-256), severely criticized

by Polybius.
'

338),

great, but
'

the old

somewhat

man

eloquent

tedious,
'

Athenian orator

of Milton's sonnet.

(B. c.

Pantgyrieus was originally composed for the Olympic

of 380.

436-

See p. 44. The

festival

Sect.

IV

Concerning Sublimity

Zeus

' and Heracles ;

therefore he was deprived of his
kingdom hy Dion and Heraclides.' What need to speak
of Timaeus, when those heroes Xenopbon and Plato,

own

although they were of Socrates'

school, sometimes

to. please. Thus

Xenophon writes in the Constitution ofthe Lacedaemonians:

forgot themselves in such paltry attempts

'

mean

no more hear

to say that you can

than if they were

made of

eyes aside than if they were

their voices

no more draw

stone,

made of

brass

their

you might

think them more modest than the maiden-pupils in their

eyes.' It

was worthy of Amphicrates', not of Xenophon,

to call the pupils in our eyes

what a

modest maidens

'

notion, to believe that the eyes of a

were modest, whereas they say that immodesty

cular persons is expressed

eyes.

but

in parti-

by nothing so much as by the

Addressing a forward person, 'Wine laden, dog-

eyed! 'says Homer''- Timaeus, however, as

at stolen goods, has not left to

of

' :

whole row

frigidity.

He

says, speaking

this point

of Agathocles, that he

who had

even carried off his cousin,

if clutching

Xenophon even

been given in

marriage to another man, from the solemnity of Unveiling

'

Now who

would have done

not harlots, in his eyes

who had

this,

Nay, Plato, the

maidens,

divine, as at

'

Zeus gives in the genitive Dios, &c.

'

In our
Athenian soldier and historian (about B.C. 444-354).
of the work quoted the words run : ' than maidens in their

texts

chambers' instead of 'than maidens in the

often loose in his quotations, but this

same play on the Greek word

Yit. Pud. i. 538 E).
' //.

i.

225.

for

'

is

eyes.'

Our Author

a strange variation.

pupils

'

is

The

occurs in Plutarch (De

'

10
other times he
'

is,

Treatise

Sects.

wishing to mention

tablets,

IV,

says

they will write and store in the temples memorials of

cypress wood,' and again

'

concerning walls,

O Megillus,

I would take the Spartan view, to allow our walls to

sleep

on the ground where they

again.'

'

when he

And

Herodotus

women

calls beautiful

lie,

and not be raised

hardly clear of this

is

fault,

pains to the eyes

'

'^

'

though he has some excuse, for the speakers in Herodotus

are barbarians

and

in

drink

mouths of such characters

still,

a^luiH^' figure before

ness, to cut

not even through the

well, out jof sheer petti-

is it

all time.

V
A LL

these undignified faults spring up in literature

Jr\. from a
novelties,

goes wild.
sources of
the bad.

single cause, the craving for intellectual

on which, above
It
all

all

which

success in our writing

its

own

beauties of expression, and

sublime, I will add,

of

our

generation

true to say that the

the good in us are also the sources of

Thus

becomes a

all else,

would almost be

principle

opposite.

is

all

show

and yet every one of these

and a foundation, as of success, so

Much

the same

in the sequel the

attend each.

is

agreeable, contribute to

is

to be said of changes

of construction, hyperboles, plurals for singulars

will

all

which

Therefore

it is

the question directly, and to

we

danger which seems to

necessary at once to raise

show how

it

is

possible

for us to escape the vices thus intimately mingled.with

the sublime.
'

Plato, ian/s, vi. p.

778 D.

Herodotus, v. 18.

1;

Concerning Sublimity

VI, VII

Sects.

VI

IT

possible,

is

of

firs^

all

my

do

friend, to

arrive

knowledge of what true sublimity

to grasp

judgement of

of much experience.
language of precept,

some such remarks

Yet

is.

style is the last

if

we

could

this is

and

hard

ripest fruit

to speak in the

perhaps not impossible, from

is

as

am

if I

Still,

it

this,

and discriminating

a clear

at

follow, to

attain

to

a right

decision upon the matter.

VII

WE

in

it

is

ofRces,

know

this

nothing

is

must, dear friend,

our ordinary

life

mark of greatness to despise ;

honour^ kingdoms, and such

As

truth.

great

which

as fortunes,
like,

things

which are praised so pompously from without, could

never appear, at least to a sensible man, to be sur-

passing1^_good, since actual contempt for them

than those

(certainly

but in greatness of soul let

with

all

we have

them pass); even so

that is elevated in poetry

to ask whether

may

it

it is

and prose writings

be that they have that

image of greatness to which so much careless praise

attached, but on a close scrutiny

and hollow, things which

to admire.

is

men admire, more

who have them, those who might have them,

good of no mean kind

For

it is

it is

is

would be found vain

nobler to despise than

a fact of Naturethat thesoul

is

12
raised

by

Treatise

true sublimity,

produced what

it

hears.

but does

therefore anything

man of

sense and literary

not dispose his mind to high

thoughts, nor leave in

beyond what
carefiilly at

is

itself liad

Whenever

heard frequently by a

experience,

VII

gains a proud step upwards,

it

with joy and exultation, as though

it is filled

is

Sect.

it

material for fresh reflection,

actually said; while

it

sinks, if

you look

the whole context, and d\snndles away, this

can never be true sublimity, being preserved so long

only as

That

heard.

it is

much food

You may take

indelible.

which If

is Tiard,

nay

which thejnwmory js_strong

impossible, to resist; of

and

which pves

is really great,

for fresh reflection

it

that those are beautiful

ancTgenuine effects of sublimity which please always,

and please

all.

For when men of

lives, ambitions, ages,

all

different

take one and the

habits,

same view

about the same writings', the verdict and pronouncement

of.juch dissimilar individuals give a powerful assurance,

beyond

all

gainsaying, in favour of that

winch they

admire.

VIII

Now

there are five different sources, so to call

them, of lofty "style, which are the most pro-

ductive

power o f expression being presupposed as a

foundation
'
,

common

The words

to

are doubtful

all

five types,

and inseparable

the rendering given above follows

Bishop Pearce, a contributor to the Spectator, and a scholarly and

accomplished editor and translator of this treatise.
order of the Greek words has been disarranged.

Probably the

:'

VIII

Sect.

13^

Concerning Sublimity

from any.

First and most potent is the faculty of'"-

grasping great con ceptions^ as I have defined

worlc on

Second comes passion, strong

These two constituents of sublimity--,

4nd_impetuous.
are in

my

in

it

Xenophon,

most cases native-bom,, those

which now

follow

come through _art ; the proper handling of figures,

which again seem to fall under two heads, figures of
thought, and figures of diction

then noble phraseology,

with itssiibdivisions, choice of words, and use of tropes

and of elaboration
which includes

and
at

and

fifthly, that

in itself all that

preceded

it,

dignified

Let us now look together

spirited composition.

what

cause of greatness

included under each of these heads, premis-

is

ing that Caecilius has passed over

for instance,

passion.

that sublimity

and

some of the

five,

If he did so under the idea

feeling are one

and the same thing,

common origin, he is entirely wrong.

For some passions may be found which are distinct
coexistent and of

from sublimity and are humble, as those of

fear;

and

again,

without passion
the poet's

own

in

cases,

there

pity, grief,

is

sublimity

take, besides countless other instances,

venturesome lines on the Aloadae

Upon Olympus

On

many

Ossa, leafy Pelion

Ossa would they

pile,

a stair to heaven

and the yet grander words which follow

Now

had they worked

their will.

In the Orators, again, speeches of panegyric, pomp,

Od.

xi.

315 and 317.

'

A Treatise

14
display, exhibit

but

commonly

Sect.

VIII

oh every hand majesty and the sublime,

lack passion

hence Orators of much

passion succeed least in panegyric, and again the panegyrists are not strong in passion

Caeciltgydia" not ISink

Han d,"

Or

*.

if,

tributes to sublimity, and, therefore, held

of mention, he
fidence

in

is

npdiing

that

undeserving

it

I shotdd feel con-

quite in error.

maintaining

on the other

that passion ever con-

reaches

great

eloquence so surely as genuine passion in the nght

placej_jt breathes the vehemence of frenzy and divine
possession, and

makes the very words

inspired.

IX
A FTER

^~V

all,

however, the

genius, covers far

first

element, great natural

more ground than the others

therefore, as to this also, even if

than a thing acquired, yet so far as

nurture our souls to

as

it

you

were,

all

it

be a

possible

is

to this effect:

I have

myself written

'Sublimity

from a great mind'.'

is

Thus

utterance, a notion, unclothed

'

How^

the
it

is

in another place

note which rings

that,

without any

and unsupported, often

moves our wonder, because the very thought

the silence of

we must

and make them,

that is great,

teem with noble endowment.

will ask.

Ajax

in the

gift jasJier

is

great

,:

book of the Lower World

See Spectator, no. 389 (Addison).

'Eloquence is the ring of a great soul' (Dr. G. H. Kendall,

Classical Rivieui, vol. xiii, p. 40a).

'

IX

Sect.

is great,

then,

it

'

Concerning Sublimity

and more sublime than any words*.

First,

necessary to presuppose the principle

is quite

from which

this springs

low ungenerous

the true Orator must have no

for

spirit,

it is

not possible that they

who

think small thoughts,

them

in all their daily life, should put out anything to

for slaves,

fit

it

So

it is

words of

spirit that

on the

lips

of men of the highest

rare greatness are found.

the answer of Alexander to Parmeriio,

were content

\Here about
.

Od.

xi.

who had

Take
said

'

eighteen

paget have been

/oj/.]

the distance from earth to heaven,

a measure one

issue,

cannot be otherwise, from those whose thoughts

are weighty.

'

practise

Great, word s

deserve wonder and immortality.

and

and

may

call

it

of the stature as well of

543.

But never Aias, child of Telamon

Came near me, but with gloomy brows and bent
Stood far aloof, in sternness eminent,
Eating his heart for that old victory
Against him given by clear arbitrament,
Concerning brave Achilleus' arms.

The scholiast on Homer

observes

'

His silence

thing than the speeches in the tragic poets

'

is

clearly a finer

a principle recognized

by Aeschylus, insomuch that he was sometimes rallied upon his

habit of keeping his characters silent, as though it had passed into
a mannerism (Aristophanes, Frogs, 911).
' 'The story runs that Parmenio said to Alexander that, had
he been Alexander, he would have been content to stop the war
on those terms, and run no further risks; and that Alexander
answered that he too, had he been Parmenio, would have done
the same.'

Arrian,

ii.

25,

2.

^Treatise

Homer

of

as

Strife

Unlike

'.

Hesiod about Gloom

streams was poured

in

From

'

'

'

is

really to

be

out her nostrils rheum

he has made the picture

But how does Homer make

hatefiil,

not

great

that belongs to gods

all

IX

this is the passage of

The Shield

(if

assigned to Hesiod),

Sect.

terrible.

Far as the region of blank air in sight

Of one who sitting on some beacon height
Views the long wine-dark barrens of the deep,
Such space the horses of the realm of light
Urged by the gods, as on they strain and sweep,
While their hoofs thunder aloft, bound over at one leap'-

He

measures their leap by the interval of the boundaries

Who

of the world.
he marked

make two

horses of the gods

great

too

Gods:

Heaven

'

are

the

appearances in the Battle of the

sent

its clarion

leapt

//. iv.

they

room within the world.

Trembled too Hades

And

leaps, leap after leap,

find

no longer

will

might not justly exclaim, when

this extravagance in greatness, that, if the

44a

forth

in his

Olympus

gloomy

up with a scream,

too

Passing

reign.

lest o'er his

head

(a description of Strife)
'

small of stature, a low head

At first she rears, but soon with loiiier claim,

Her forehead in the sky, the earth doth tread.'
'

The Shield of Hercules, 267: the authorship of the poem

was much disputed in antiquity.

in the eighth century b.

any

substantial part of

' //. V.

770.

c,

Hesiod

may

probably be placed

his poetry belongs to

a later date than

Homer.

'//. zxi.

388, perhaps mixed up with

v,

75a

IX

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

Poseidon cleave tJie solid earth in twain,

And open the pale kingdom of the dead
Horrible, foul widi blight, which e'en Immortals dread '.

You
its

comrade, how, when earth

see,

is

torn up from

foundations, and Tartarus itself laid bare, and the

Universe suffers overthrow and dissolution,

heaven and

at once,

things

all

things mortal and immortd,

hell,

mingle in the war and the peril of that

Yet

fight.

all

this is terrible indeed, though, unless taken as allegory,

For when

thoroughly impious and out of proportion.

Homer

presents to us woundings of the gods, their

factions,

together,

revenges, tears, bonds, sufferings,

me

seems to

it

make

uttermost to

the

all

as he has

that,

massed

done his

men of the Trojan war

gods, so

Only

when we

he has made the gods men.

are miserable, a harbour from our

for us,

reserved in

is

ills

death; the gods, as he draws them, are everlasting,

not in their nature, but in
better than the

'

which show us
truly great,

their

Battle of the
divinity as

us, the lines

'

for instance, to take

worked out by many before

on Poseidon

Tall mountains and

wild woods,

from height to

height,

The

city

Rocked

and the vessels by the main

to the ii^mortal feet that, hurrying, bare

Poseidon in his wrath . . .

the light wheels along the sea-plain rolled
.

'

LONG. TR.

Far

are the passages

something undefiled and

with no admixture;

a passage which has been

unhappiness.

Gods

//.

XX. 5i-s.

From

cave and

Treatise

Sect.

IX

the creatures of the deep

round him, and the crystal heap
Of waters in wild joy disparting know
.
Their lord, and as the fleet pair onward sweep '

Flocked

lair

to sport

Thus too the lawgiver of the Jews, no common man

when he had duly conceived the power of the Deity,
showed it forth as duly. At the very beginning of
'',

his

Laws,

be

light,

'

comrade,

light,

What

'

Let there

there be earth, and

let

Perhaps I shall not seem wearisome,

earth.'
if I

quote to you one other passage from the

poet, this time

how he

he writes

said,'

and there was

was

there

God

on

human theme,

you may

that

learn

accustoms his readers to enter with him into

which

majesties

are

Gloom and

more than human.

impenetrable night suddenly cover the battle of the

Greeks before him

Zeus,

then Ajax, in his helplessness.

do thou the

sire,

And make
Then

veil

of darkness rend.

in the light e'en slay us

These

lines are

taken from

'

The

//. xiii.

best general that ever

Letter of General

Moses was.'
'

conceived

showed

see

18-29, ^^'^ omissions,

was

is

read in zx. 60.

for such

Sir Charles Napier,

really think

1844.

words which cause some

forth,'

'.

and with the exception of the second, which

'

may

clear daylight, that our eyes

With

difficulty

in the original, cf. Josephus, Antiquities

desire future readers of these

of the Jews, v. 21. 'I

books to apply their thoughts to God,

and to examine whether our

legislator worthily

nature, and always assigned to

Him

With
'

apprehended His

becoming His power.'

regard to the passage generally, see Introduction.

II. xvii.

Burke

actions

With

this

'To 645.
make anything

passage compare the remarks of

very

terrible,

obscurity seems in

Sect.

IX

Here

is

Concerning Sublimity

the very truth of the passion of

Ajax:_he

does not pray to live such a petition were too _humble

^e hero but

when

could _dispose_hK^

y^om

for

tq_no good purpose, chafing

that he stands idle for the battle, he_praj[S

the speediest,

sure of findmg^ therein

a burial worthy of his valour, even if

against

him.

Truly the

with every struggle,

of

spirit

^or light
the

at

'

rages

goes along
;

he

started

from his

many

reasons

from that poem

why we must
also), that,

decline, the love

It is clear

Qdj/ssey (for there

when

of sto ry-teUi ng

was ^he^secondl" but more

a gggt
is

gepi]|}$

before

this

age.

work

from the

fact

Odyssey remnants of

Dium,~"as so
;

bggins to

mark ofusold

particularly

that he introduces throughout tlje

episodes of the Trojan war

are

look closely into passages

from many other indications that

the~siifferings

..."

lips,

Yet he shows throughout the

feels

Not fire in densest mountain glade,

Nor spear-armed Ares e'er raged dreadfiiller

Foam

at

worst

Zeus be arrayed

Homer

and carrying gale

in full

the very thing himself, he

he

in impracticable darkness

aye,

many

additional

and renders

to its

heroes fresh lamentations and words of pity, as though

When we know the full extent of any

when we can accustom our eyes to it, u great deal of the
apprehension vanishes.'
On the Sublime and Beautiful, ii, 3. Buike
quotes Milton's description of Death in the Second Book of Parageneral to be necessary.

danger,

dise Lost,

and observes

'

In this description

confnsed, terrible, and sublime to the

'

/;.

XV. 605.

C 2

all is

last degree.'

dark, uncertain,


'

20
awarded
is

some

in

Treatise

IX

Sect.

Yes, the Odyssey

far distant time.

nothing but an epilogue of the Iliad :

There the brave Aias and Achilleus lie

whose wisdom matched the gods on
;

Patroclus there,

high;

There too Antilochus

From

my

son.

the same cause, I think, writing the ITtad^ in the

heyday of his

spirit,

he made the wfiole

draniatis.and_ combative^; that of the

^structiye

O^jjgy

is

in the

So

main naiTOtivej^whkhLis.JbgLSpecid,.|ga]^54ja.ge,
it

a setting sun

level

Here

the tone of those great lays of

no longer maintained

is

to

the intensity is gone, Jbut_jtherejnains

the greatness.

Ilium

Homer

the Odyssey one might liken

IS that in

the passages on one

of sublimity with no sinking anywhere, the same

stream of passion poured upon passion, the readiness of

turn, the closeness to life,

the throng of images

drawn from the truth: as when Ocean

himself,

and

is

left

retires

all

into

lonely around his proper bounds,

only the ebbings of his greatness are

left to

our view,

and a wandering among the shallows of the fabulous

and the incredible ".

While I say

this,

I have not for-

gotten the storms in the Odyssey, nor the story of the

Cyclops

^,

nor certain other passages

an old age, but the old age of

*

Od.

'

The

iii.

Tacitus' description of his

rivers of Britain in the

3

am

describing
Still in all

109.

rich imagery of this passage

must have been drawn from

a knowledge of seas other than the almost

Compare

Homer,

CW.Bookix.

tideless

wonder

Agricola (end of

c,

Mediterranean.

at the tides

and

tidal

x), and see Introduction.


IX

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

these, as they follow

one another, fable prevails over

action.

I entered upon this digression, as I said, in

order tp

show howj^ry^

easily great_geniuSjWlien^,the

there are

PGBeisji^ji_iOmed..aid.J;ilJrifl^

the stories of the wine-ikin, of the companions turned

by Circe to swine
tears'),

(whom ZoUus

'

of Zeus fed by doves

called

'

porkers in

young bird', of

like a

Ulysses ten days without food on the wreck*, there

are the incredible details of the slaying of the Suitors

What

can

we

Zeus

? '

'

these Jjut in very truth

&c

dreams of

the incidents of the

229, &c.

Od.

'

A grammarian of uncertain date, probably of the fourth century

X. 17,

He was

a bitter and malignant

critic,

and earned the name

Scourge of Homer.'
*

'

Od.

'

Aristotle claims for

told

'

xii.

62.

03.

in other words, that

that he 'shows

he so manages the

feeling that if such things

as they are described,

end.

xii,

Homer

element in the marvellous (Poet.

it,

why

B.C.

of

call

second reason

'

c.

Od.

how

xxii.
lies

should be

irrational,

a potent

xxiv), that the reader accepts

happened at

all

they would happen

and content to ask no questions.

Horace,

Homer, after
noticing the modest opening of the Odyssey, goes on to speak of
a

warm and

these marvels

also a very discriminating admirer of

Not smoke from

fire his

object

is

to bring.

But fire from smoke, a very different thing

Yet has he dazzling miracles in store,
Cyclops, and Laestrygon, and fifty more . . .
And all this glamour, all this glorious dream.
Truth blent with fiction in one motley scheme.
He so contrives, that, when 'tis o'er, you see
Beginning, middle, end alike agree.'
A. P. 143, &c., Conington's translation.
If

we

assume a single author for the Iliad and Odyssey, the

work of his old age is a very

conclusion that the Odyssey was the

natural one.

familiar instance of the tendency of great writers

22
Odytsey

may

writers

be discussed

should

also

reco gnize ho

Treatise

and poets passes away

the sEetcHes of the

much resemble

is

this

the decline of passion

life

Sect.

IX

that_

yo u

great

in

intojjhargff.^e^'-t^ rawin g

in the

household of Ulysses

comedy ofxhatactSC-

X
I

WILL

now ask you

we may

possibly arrive at anything further,

to consider with

which

Sin ce with

has power to make our writings sublime.

all

me whether

things are associated certain elements, constituents

which are eSBetSfiallyTnherennir the substance of

eachy one factor of sublimity must necessarily be the

power "of choosing the most

^i of making
it

were a single body.

towards the mythical

vital

of the included elements,

by mutual superposition, form as

these,

On one side the hearer is attracted

spirit in their

advancing years

may be

found

(1829), of which Lockhart writes :

'The various play of fancy in the combination of persons and
events, and the airy liveliness of both imagery and diction, may
in

Atme of

Geierstein

well justify us in applying to the author

of his

King Ren4

what he

beautifully says

man he was ; the snows of age

but they did not chill him Gaiety,
Even in life closing, touch'd his teeming brain
With such wild visions as the setting sun
Raises in front of some hoar glacier.
Painting the black ice with a thousand hues.'
Life of Sir W. Scotl, vol.
mirthful

Fell,

On

the

vii.

relations of the Odyssey to the Iliad see the

late

13-24 (igot), Appendix, p. 289

to this Treatise, p. 334 foil.

foil.,

Dr. D. B. Monro's Odyssey

and, with special reference

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

bythe choice of
those

wKch

on another by the accumulation of

ideas,

Ijave

23

been chosenr~Thus Sappho, in "all

cases, takes the emotions incident to the frenzy of love

from the attendant symptoms and from actual

truth.

But wherein does she show her great excellence ? In her

power of first selecting and then closely combining those
which are conspicuous and intense
Blest as the immortal gods

is

he

The youth whose eyes may look on thee,

Whose ears thy tongue's sweet melody

May

devour.

still

Thou smilest too

sweet smile, whose charm
Has struck my soul with wild alarm.
And, when I see thee, bids disarm
!

Each

vital

power.

Speechless I gaze

Runs

My

My

swim

cold drops

Seize every limb

I

my

quivering skin

with dizzy din

brain reels round

eyeballs

And

the flame within

swift o'er all

;

and tremblings
;
and grassy pale

fall
;

frail

grow ; and then together fail

Both sight and sound '.

Do you

not marvel

how

she seeks to gather soul and

body into one, hearing and tongue, eyes and complexion

'

600

This ode of Sappho, the great woman-poet of Lesbos (about

B.

c), written in the metre which bears her name, has only

been preserved to us in

by Catullus
text

is

by

J.

this treatise.

into Latin, in the

It

has been partly translated

same metre.

Herman Merivale (1833).

The

version in the

For another ode by the

same author, which has only reached us through

Dionysius, see Appendix.

the critic

24'

;:

Treatise

dispersed and -strangers before

all

contradictions, she is cold at once

is sensible (for

death)^, so that

which

upon

is

she
it

is either in terror

may not

Sect.

series

of

is irrational,

or at the point of

appear to be a single passion

her, but an assemblage of passions

symptoms are found severally

the

now, by a

and bums,

in lovers

All

to the choice

of those which are conspicuous, and to their concentration

into one, is

So

due the pre-eminent merit here.

I think, with the

grimmest of the attendant circumstances.

The

of the AnmaspAa thinks these

Here

Mid

too

is

it is,

Poet and his storms; he picks out the

lines terrible

author

mighty marvel for our thought

dwell, on water, far from land

men

seas

Wretches they are, for sorry toil is theirs

Eyes on the stars, heart on the deep they fix.
Oft to the gods, I ween, their hands are raised.
Their inward parts in ewl case upheaved '.

Any

one, I think, will see that there is

broidery than terror in

instance out of

it all.

more em-

Now for Homer;

take one

many :

As when a wave swoln by the wild wind's blore '

Down from the clouds upon a ship doth light,
^

The

text of the original appears to be faulty here.

' Aristeas,

an early poet of Proconnesus, wrote an epic on the

Arimaspi (a one-eyed people of .the

Herodotus,

who

says,

iv.

far

26, that their

North,

mentioned by

name was formed by

Greeks from two Scythian words, 'Arima,' one, and

'

the

spous,'

an eye).
'

blore, it e. blast.

a sudden blore,'

an

'

expressive

'

Ci.

Chapman,
one.

'

The west wind and the north join

The word is approved by Johnion

in
as

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

2f

And
And

the whole hulk with scattering foam is white,

through the sails all tattered and forlorn
Roars the fell blast : the seamen with affright

Shake, out from death a hand-breadth they are borne '.

Aratus has attempted to transfer

Tiny the plank which

Only the

this very notion

away '.

thrusts grim death

and smooth, not

result is petty

terrible.

Moreover, he makes the danger limited, by the words ' the

plank thrusts death away

and so

' :

does

it

Again

our Poet does not limit the terror to one occurrence

he gives us the picture of men meeting destruction con-

Yet

Unuaily, wellnigh in every wave.

by forcing

again,

together prepositions naturally inconsistent, and compelling

death

them

trouble

to

combine (I

words

refer to the

'

out from

he has so strained the verse as to match the

'),

which

fell

upon them

has so pressed

it

together

as to give the very presentment of that trouble

has

stamped, I had almost said, upon the language the form

and features of the

'out from death a hand-

peril:

breadth they are borne.' Just so Archilochus' in describing the shipwreck, and Demosthenes,

Elateia comes:

'For

it

II. XV.

'

Aratus, living about

was

when

the news of

evening,' he says*.

They

6*4.

270

B.C.,

the

author of two Greek

astronomical poems, one of which was translated

words quoted by

St. Paul,

Acts

xvii. 28,

by Cicero.

The

occur in Aratus, and also in

another poet.
'

Archilochus of Pares (about 800 B.C.), the reputed inventor of

the iambic metre.

*

The

Two

extant fragments describe shipwreck.

passage which follows

{De Cor. 169)

famous in Demosthenes, and should be read in

is

its

perhaps the most

context.

26

Treatise

chose the expressions of

merit (if one

may use

real

Sect.

eminence, looking only to

the word), took them out clean,

and placed them one upon another, introducing between

them nothing

For such

or undignified, or low.

trivial,

mar the whole

things

much

effect,

as,

building,

in

massive, blocks, intended to cohere and hold together in

by stop-gaps and rubble '-

one, are spoilt

XI

CLOSELY connected with the excellencies which

I have

named

that called Amplification;

is

in

which, when the facts and issues admit of severaTTresh

iieginnings and~fresh"iiaKIng-places, in periodic arranger

mentj^reat phrases come rolling upon others which have

gonebefore, in a^continuouslj^ascendingorderr

be done by

this

topics, or

way of

of exaggeration, or of intensifying facts or

reasoning, or of handling
'

Whether

pilarging upon commonplace

The words

deeds^one or

suffering

endured

are difficult, and in their details uncertain

rendering in the text

is

With

a paraphrase.

the general

reader should compare chapters xzi, xl (end), xli (end).

walls of Messene,

on the

slopes of

the

drift,
'

the

The

Mt. Ithome, are among the

most perfect remains of Greek building in the Peloponnese, and are

a beautiful example of Hellenic masonry during the best period.

They

are wholly built of neatly-dressed blocks, regularly

without mortar in horizontal courses.'

Murus.'

On

use of small
crete,

which

masonry

the other hand, Vitruvius

(ii.

8) recommends the

stones as better preserving the mortar

filled

at its

the interstices.

best

hedded

Smith's Diet. Ant., 'Art.

and con-

A comparison between

Greek

and that of the Romans under the empire

appears to bring out our author's point.

Sect.

XI

Concerning Sublimity

27

(for there are numberless varieties of amplification), the

know

orator must in any case

that none of these can

gosahl^stand^bj jt|^ without snWiiraty.as

The
depreciatio n^^e

a;;;perfect

flnlj^exceptions_are_ where pity or

structure.

required

amplification, take

in

away the

other processes of

all

sublime, and you will take

soul out of body

they are effective no longer, and
become nerveless and hollow unless braced by passages
;

But, for clearness' sake, I must shortly lay

of sublimity.

down wherein

the difference

lies

between

my

present

and what I said above (there I spoke of a

precepts,

sketch embracing the principal ideas and arranging them

into one)

and the broad difference between Amplification

and Sublimity.

XII

AM
I

not satisfied with the definition given by the

technical writers. Amplification

which jnyestsjthe suBject^ltli

this definition

passion,

and

may

is,

common

serve in

they say,^ language

with greatness of a particular kind.

from one another

lies in intensity.

course

for sublimity,

tropes, "siSceTKeyTloo, invest

that they differ

Of

greatness.

and

theianguage

To me

in this, that

it

seems

Sublimity

Amplification also in multitude

conse-

queri3ysuBrimity^ofteii,exists in a single idea, amplification

necessarily implies quantity

tion Js;;7-to define

it

and abundance. ~Aihplifica-

in outline

the partj andtOTJcsinherent

the fabric

an accumulation of

in.

ofAe^argument_by

all

a subject, strengthening

insistence

and

differs in

28
this

"Treatise

from rhetorical proof that the

strate the point required.

XII

Sect.

demon-

seeks to

latter

\Here about six pages have been

lostJ\

In richest abundance, like a very sea, Plato often

Hence

pours into an open expanse of grandeur.

we

I think, that, if

more strongly
and of

spirit

it is,

look to style, the Orator, appealing

of fire

to passions, has a large element

aglow

calm

Plato,

his stately

in

and

dignified magnificence, I will not say, is cold, but is

not so intense '.

as

it

Greeks

of Cicero

that

in

in

differ

Demosthenes' strength

is in

^^

diffiisifijj,

Our countryman,
to a lightning fl^h

Cicero, like a spreading conflagration,,

;

the

fire

which

within him, plentiful and constant, distributed

at his will

now

in

with fuel in relays.

can best judge
'

as

his violence, swift,

ranges and rolls over the whole field

is

we

passages.

grand^

their

bums and ravages all in

terrible, may be compared

or a thunderbolt.

burns

points,

if

sheer height of sublimity,

because he
strong,

is,

form an opinion), that Cicero

are allowed to

Demosthenes

and

on these and no other

It is

seems to me, dear Terentianus (that

one

part,

now

in another,

and fed

These. are points on which you

certainly .the

moment

for the sublimity

If a brilliint, but unsupported, conjecture of Bentley's should

be right here, the passage would run

but has not the same lightning
(end).

The conjecture, which

several vowels in the

on p. 34,

I will

not

say, is cold,

with which compare c.xxxiv

involves a change or interchange of

Greek word, has been approved by

scholars, but the point here

not, as

flashes,'

is

excellent

the concentration of Demosthenes,

his brilliance.


Sect.

XII

Concerning Sublimity

and tension of Demosthenes

where the hearer
difRision is

is

where accumulated

is

and strong passion are

invective

is to

and generally

in play,

to be hard struck

where he

29

the

moment

be flooded with detail, as

for
it

is

always appropriate * in enlargement upon commonplaces,

and digressions,

perorations

in

and

in

passages

all

written for the style and for display, in scientific and

physical exposition, and in several other branches of
literature.

XIII

THAT

Plato (to return to him) flowing

such noiseless stream

greatness,

you

'

Those who

They

all their

this

in

some

less reaches

you have

typical passage:

wisdom and

virtue,'

it

days in feastings and the

borne downwards, and wander so through

life.

never yet raised their eyes to the true world

above them, nor were

pure

know

are unversed in

'and spend

like, are

none the

'

will not fail to recognize, since

read the RepuhRc, and

runs,

' ^,

pleasure;

bowed

to earth

lifted up,

looking

down, and

like

and

to the table, they feed

themselves and gender

desires they kick

nor tasted of solid or

but,

cattle,

and

in the greediness

and

fill

of these

and butt one another with horns and

hoofs of iron, and

kill

because they cannot be satisfied

This author shows

us, if

we would

'.'

choose not to

'
Plutarch (i/e of Demosthenes, iii) severely blames Caecilius for
venturing on a comparision of the two Orators, and quotes a pioveib

corresponding to one of our

'

Plato, Republic, iz.

own

about the whale and the elephant.

quotation from Plato {Theaetetus, p. 144).

586 A.

30
neglect the lesson,
besides

all

that

Treatise

that there

we have

is

XIII

Sect.

als,o_aEatlj; road,

mentioned, whigb. leads to the

sublime.

Whatj^^and what manner^of_jroad^ that

''Imitation

and em\]Jatjgn,of,grgat writers and poets who

KaveT)een before us.

us hold closely to

let

inspired

Here
it

is

for

my

our mark,

many

friend,

are borne along

by a breath which comes from another ; even as

the story is that the Pythian prophetess, approaching

the tripod, where

is

cleft in

the ground, inhales, so

they say, vapour sent by a god; and then and there,

impregnated by the divine power, sings her inspired

chants

'

even so from the great genius of the

men of
who

old do streams pass off to the souls of those

emulate them, as though from holy caves

inspired by

which, even those not too highly susceptible to the god

are possessed

Was

by the greatness which was

Herodotus alone

'

in others.

most Homeric '

was Stesichorus " before him, and Archilochus

more than

Homeric

'

we ought

Ammonius ' drawn up

The

but,

himself from that

fountain countless runlets

(Perhaps

water.

not

Plato drew into

any,

There
;

and channels of

to have given examples,

had

a selection under headings.)

author follows the same account of the Pythian oracle

419) ; but Plutarch, who lived on the spot, makes no

mention of the mephitic vapour, and indeed uses words (JDe defeetu
Orac. c. xlii) incompatible with its existence. For the bearing of
as Strabo (ix.

this passage

upon the date of the

' Stesichorus,
'

Ammonius, a

critic,

as

who

treatise see Introduction.

an early poet (about 600

disciple

of Himera.

wrote on words borrowed by Plato from

was formerly thought, Ammonius

Longinus).

B. c.)

of Aristarchus, the great Alexandrian

Homer

(not,

Saccas, a teacher of Cassius

Concerning Sublimity

XIII

Sect.

,Jiere

no

is

such a rendering as

theft, but

31
made from

is

beautifd spectaSes of from carvings or other worKs of

art._ I

do not think that tJiere would be such aTBloom

as

philosophical dogmas, or that he

we find on some of his

could have entered so often into poetical matter and

Homer,

against

for the first place

had entered

expressions, unless he

with

aye,

his

all

champion against one long approved

soul,

and

young

striven for

the mastery, too emulously perhaps and in the spirit of

the

for

yet not without his reward

lists,

Hesiod,

fame

is fair,

and

its

for

'

good,' says

Yes, that contest

for mortals.'

is this strife

'

crown worthy of the winning,

wherein even to be defeated by our forerunners

inglorious

is

not

'.

XIV
THEREFOI^E

even we,

when we

are working

out a theme which requires lofty speech and

do

of thought,

greatness

well

mirggllps h"'"^) 'f " ppd wfre,

same

this

thing,

how

to

imagine

within

Homerjvould have

said

Plato or Demosthenes, or, in

Thucydides would have made it sublime.

figures of those great men will meet us on the

histojj;,

The

vie with them, they will stand out before

way while we
'

'

In a word,

I believe,

Homer

have come

after

ately takes

fire at

his readers

with sublime

fhe

all

first

rises

Spectator, no.

hint of

ideas, and,

the good poets that

I shall only instance Horace,

him.

Odyssy, and always

view.'

fills

has 'raised the imagination of

who immedi-

any passage from the Iliad or

above himself when he has

417 (Addison)

see also no.

Homer

339.

in

32

Treatae

XIV

Sect.

and lead our souls upwards towards the

Qur_eyes,

thr~^iC0Eb. w^ %V6

measure of

conjured up.

SSn'inore so

we add

if

to our mental picture this

would HomcTj^^ were he

phrase of mine

have

Truly great

how would

and pretend that

audience,

witnesses of that heroic build

what we
be

if

future ages

before

jury,

such

judges

and

a scrutiny of

we undergo

IF

'

they

Yet more stimulating_tJian_aUwill it

T write this, in what spirit wll all

write.

jou add

how

competition,

this

is

where we assume for our own words such a

an

have listened to this

or Demosthenes

this?

at

felt

here,

me?| If any man Tear" tffis1S(5asemay say something which shall pass
own day and his own life, then needs

hear

quence, that he

beyond his
must
dull

which such a soul can grasp be barren, blunted,

all

for

it

posthumous fame can bring no

fulfilment.

XV

WEIGHT,
young

friend,

grandeur, and energy of speaking are

produced

fiStEer

by appeals

'rmage making^.'

in

high "degree,

very

to Imagination, called

Imagination

is

Ey some

no doubt a name

given gener^ly to anythmg^wEich suggests, no matter

howi,i a

thought which engenders speech

hiit_rfie_wprd

has in our time come to be applied specially to those

cases, wherei
'

With

moved By enthusiasm

this section

of the Imagination

',

compare Addison's papers

Spectator,

ypu

"and "passion,
'

On

the pleasures

411 and following numbers

also

the magnificent passage of Pascal beginning ' Cette superbe puissance,

ennemie de

la raison

'

{Pensies;

i.

p. 16, ed. Molinier).


Sect.

'

XV

seem to

3 3

which you speak, and place

see the things of

means one thing

'

fatter is to

tttar

the oB5ect df the

amaze, of the former to give distiactness

both, howeveiT^eek to

My mother,
Of bloody

mind

the

stir

strongly.

never hound these maids on me.

visages and snaky locks

here

Imagination

another with the poets

in rhetoric,

andTyou cannoT"feH~tS"ob b CTve

Here

Concerning Sublimity

t^em_jjfiaer"tEe~ey^rTjf^'youF~hearers.

'

upon me, nearer yet they leap

and

Alas

she'll slay

me

whither

may

I flee

There the poet saw the Furies with

his

own

eyes,

and what his imagination presented he almost compelled

Now

his hearers to behold.

Euripides

is

taking in employing for the purposes of

two passions

of madness

and

love,

successful with these than, so far as I

and

more

is

know, with any

not that he lacks boldness in essaying other

others;
efforts

of

genius

was

many

most pains-

Tragedy the

Though

imagination.
far

from being

instances to

become

great,

tragic

great passages, as the poet has

his

own

natural

he yet forced

it

in

of his

in every detail

it,

Sides and loins he lashes to and fro

With
Thus
says

his swift

Helios,

tail,

and

handing

stirs

up

over the

battle's thirst

reins

to

'.

Phaethon,

But drive thou not within the Libyan

clime,

Th' unmoistened burning

thy car.

'

Euripides, Orestes, 255.

'

II.

'

XX. 170.

LONG. TR.

air will split

T^

Iphigenia in Tauris, 291.

-^ Treatise

34
Then he

goes on

Sect.

XV

Right for the seven Pleiads shape thy course :

So spake the sire ; the son now grasped the reins,

And lashed the flanks of those winged coursers.

Set

free,

The

sire, astride

great Sirius

Would you

car,

yea here

thither drive

been imagined by

if

it,

peril,

it

had not moved

Ho, ye

horse loving Trojans

in the play

that

in

his

.'
.

the most heroic

of imaginagQO) as where the Seven

against Thebes,

in

So

and kept even pace.

display,

and wears

such details could never have

Now, whereas Agscbylus haz ards

flights

not say that the soul of the writer treads

wings, as the horses do

'

the car with the driver, and shares the

Cassandra ',

air

in the rear,

'

Rode, and the boy instructed

Here wheel thy

heavenly

They,

sped onwards through th' expanse of

of that name

chieftains

Seven impetuous warriors, captains bold,

Slaying the sacred bull o'er black-rimm'd shields
touching with their hands the victim's gore,

And

Ares, Enyo, and blood-thirsting Fear

*
Invoked, and swear ...
swearing to one another oaths of death, each
his

own, with

'

no word of ruth

*
' ;

man

duces thoughts which are not wrought out, but

of

An

So the MS.

'

a trace-horse

'
'

'.

alteration

is

Either image

of

yet sometimes proleft in

suggested which gives the sense

is

sufficiently extravagant.

From the Phaelhon, a lost play of Euripides (Nauck 779).

From another lost play, perhaps the Alexander, in which

Cassandra figured.

Swen

against Thebes, 42.

'

Aeschylus,

Line 51 of the same play.

Swanwick's

tr.


Sect.

XV

Concerning Sublimity

the rough, and harsh

palace

passing

manifest

Thus

perils.

of Lycurgus

manner

Euripides in emulation forces

himself upon the same

ij

strange

in

Aeschylus the

by the Gods

troubled

is

when Dionysus

in

made

is

how the

See

Are

all

Euripides

And

its halls

smoothed

has

differently

palace is possessed,

a revel

this

over and worded

it

the mountain joined their revelry

all

'-

Sophocles has used imagination finely about the dying

Oedipus

^,

wEen "e"

elemental portents

when they were

vivid imagery than Simonides

down

all

aimidst

expressed
;

but

it is

more

with

impossible to
,

We may,

instances.

above

standing oiif to sea*, an

appearance which no one has

put

burial

appears"%' them

GreeEi^are saiEng" aw^'^

his tomb, just

own

passes to his

and again where Achilles, as the

however, say gener-

allyjthat_^wse_found_in_ poets admit an excess which

passes Jntp_the_mydiical and
credible

; ^

reality

it

this rule

and

tru th is

always best.

all

that is

which has

in

Deviations from

become strange and exotic when the texture

of the speech

is

poetic

and mythical, and passes

Euripides, Bacchae, 726.

'

goes^e^nd

in rhetorical imagination that

The

line

of Aeschylus

is

into

from

a lost tetralogy, or set of four plays, called the Lycurgeia.

'

Sophocles, Oedipus Coloneus, 1586, &c.

may be to the Polyxena, a lost play of Sophocles.

'

The

'

Simonides of Ceos, 556-467

reference

B.

poet.

c, a

great lyric and elegiac

$6

of every sort;

impossibility

than to

further

Treatise

our

own

tragedians, see Furies,

much

learn so

Sect.

when Orestes

says

he

this because

can imagination in rhetoric do

much

tribute

it

mad.

is

hell

What_then

deding with

and passion

facts an admixture

him

not only persuades_a listener, but makes

'

slave,

this very

Now

mark me,' says Demosthenes,

moment a

'

its

if at

cry should be heard in front of our

and then one said that the prison has been

courts,

opened, and the prisoners are escaping, there

no one,

is

be he old or young, so careless but will help

But

can.

It can probably con-

else to our speeches in energy

r^ertaini yin passages

faii

of

like

and cannot, honest gentlemen,

as this, that

all

XV

who,

orators,

Unhand me one of my own Furies thou

Dost grasp my waist, to thrust me down to
he imagines

we need look no

surely
clever

'

if

all

he

one were to come forward and say, that

the man who released them is now before you, that

man would have no hearing, and would instantly die ^,'
So Hyperides when put on his trial, because he had
proposed, after our defeat, to make the slaves free
This proposal,' he said, was moved not by the Orator,
;

'

'

but by the battle at Chaeroneia

with the

facts,

'

Euripides, Orestes, 264.

'

Demosthenes, Timoerates, 208.

* Hyperides, a

Plutarch
disaster

tells

'
' ;

here, while

he deals

he at the same time has used imagination,

great Athenian orator, on

us that

he was accused of

of Chaeroneia, and pleaded

made darkness in my eyes,' and

not I, made that proposal.'

'

'

it

'

whom

illegality

see p.

6 a.

after

the

'

the arms of the Macedonians

was the

fight at Chaeroneia,

'

XV

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

the audacity of the conception has borne

beyond persuasion.
nature that

we

are therefore

that

which

in

it

him outside and

such instances

it is

a fact of

is strongest.

drawn away from mere

We

denjonstration to

imagination and surprise, the ele-

being wrapped and lost amid the light

fact

which shines around

we might

all

listen to that

which has

ment of

In

expect

This process

it.'

when two

is

only what

forces are combined in

one, the stronger always attracts into itself the potency

of the other.

What

now

I have

written about the sublime effects

which belong to high thoughts, and which

duced by the greatness of man's
imitation, or

by imagination,

soul,

are pro-

and secondarily by

will suffice

'.

XVI

HERE comes

the place reserved fo r Figu res

our next topic

',

for these, if handled as they

ought to be, should, as I

said,

jorm_no_jninor element

Some words may have been lost here.

Jhe ' Figures,' partly of words, partly of thoughts (see p. 13)
Were idols of the rhetoricians, who nearly all wrote treatises upon
them. The bondage in which the orators stood to these ' Figures
'

'

is

well

shown

in

Introduction).
critical

oath.

story

preserved

an

member of the Roman

by the unfortunate

The

Albucius,

results

by Seneca (Controv.

Ill,

anxious and

self-

excellent

bar,

but

was chased out of the profession

of his use of a single figure, the Omotic.

other side had proposed to settle a certain matter by a form of

'

Swear,'

replied

Albucius,

intending by

the figure to

disclose all his opponent's iniquities, 'but I will prescribe the oath,

Swear by the ashes of your

father,

which

lie

unbnried.

Swear by

38

As

in greatness.

Treatise

however

would be a

it

XVI

Sect.

laborious, or

rather an unlimited task to give an accurate enumeration

of

all,

we

go through

will

of greatness of speech,

and

assertion,

my

make good

order to

begin

will

few of those productive

in

Demosthenes

thus.

is

offering a demonstration in defending his public acts

Now

what was the

made no

way

natural

to deal with

it ?

'

'.

You

men of Athens, when you took upon

mistake,

yourselves the struggle for the freedom of the Greeks

you have examples of

this near

For they

home.

also

made no mistake who fought at Marathon, at Salamis,

at Plataea.'
But when, as one suddenly inspired and
possessed, he breaks out with that oath by the bravest

men of Greece

by use of a single
call

It

'

cannot be that you

gods, by

to have

men who

judges the

memory

spirit

deified

of your father

men who
He

I '

'

client will swear.'

employed a

'

made no

'

by

in the

there hazarded their

finished his period,

:

We

and

rose.

accept your proposal,

proposal,' shouted Albucius,

Aruntius insisted

figure.'

ancestors

to swear, as

and implanting

died so;

of the

those

we ought

L. Aruntius for the other side, said

my

a mistake

of adjuration (which here

figure, that

apostrophe),

suggesting the thought that

the

made

by those who bore the brunt at Marathon,' he appears

no,

the court began to fidget.

Albucius continued to protest that, at that rate, the Figures were

ruled out of the Universe.
shall

be able to

live

and Albucius never opened

reference to this

Figures.'
'

De

his

mouth

out,' said Aruntius,

The

Corona, 208.

vol.

i,

will

in public again.

be found

'we

court took his view,

good story to Prof. Saintsbury,

of Literary Criticism,
'

'Rule them

without them.'

in

owe the

whose History

much mention of

the


Sect.

XVI

lives

of old

Concerning Sublimity

1 9

changing the very nature of demonstra-

and passion of the highest order,

tion into sublimity

and the assured conviction of new and more than natural

oaths

and,

withal,

infusing

the

into

souls of his

hearers a plea of sovereign and specific virtue

by the medicine of

relieved

words of

his

that so,

praise,

they

should be brought to pride themselves no less on the

against

battle

Philip

than on the

won

triumphs

at

Marathon and

at Salamis.

his hearers up

and bore them with him, by his use of

Doing

all

this,

he caught

a figure.

know, that the germ of

It is said,

found in Eupolis

I swear by Marathon, the fight,

No man
But then
which

is

great

all

made immortals of
so he

may

the battle.

an oath, and that

when

prosperous

besides the poet

has not

he has passed away

the brunt to the inanimate thing,

In Demosthenes the oath has been framed

men, that so Chaeroneia might appear

a failure no longer
that

their valour;

who bore

to suit beaten

'

is

implant within the hearts of his hearers

from the men

they

it is,

as I said, at once a

made no

mistake,

Eupolis, Athenian poet of the Old

Aristophanes.

heart.

the men, and sworn by them, that

worthy record of

stration

my

manner, occasion, purpose are

place,

and needing no comfort

fight,

not the mere swearing by a name

addressed to Athenians

it is

is

In these lines there

all essential.

is

my

of them unscathed shall vex

it

this oath is

The

lines are

demon-

an example, an

Comedy, contemporary of

from the Demis,


40
assurance

resting

And

exhortation.

met by

Treatise

on

oaths,

whereas the orator was

this objection

'

You

under your administration,

by

rule,

and

you

yet

By

be

by

swear

safe, giving

even in Bacchic transports

'

an

are speaking of a defeat

and makes his very words

lesson that

praise,
liable to

next words he squares his phrase

in the

victories,'

word of

XVI

Sect.

we must

us a

yet be

who bore the brunt,' are his words,

who fought on sea by Salamis
and off Artemisium, by those who stood in the ranks
Nowhere does he say who conquered,'
at Plataea
'.'

sober
*

'

those

Marathon, by those

at

'

'

but throughout he has furtively kept back the word

which should give the

because that result was

result,

a happy one, the contrary to that of Chaeroneia. There-

he gives his hearer no time, and

fore
'

To

all

of whom the

city

who

not to those only

gave public

at

once adds

burial,

Aeschines,

succeeded.'

XVII
AT
l\.
given

this point I
state

one of

must not omit,

my own

concisely,

quite

and

my

dear friend, to

conclusions.
is

As

this.

It shall be

though by

nature, the_fig!sss jJIyjEltfrnselves with sublimity,

turn

in

are

marvellously .supported

Where and how

this is so,

by the

I will explain.

and

alliance.

There
of

a peculiar prejudice against a promiscuous use

is

figures

tl\e

plot,

it

sop histry

suggests a

suspicion

of ambuscade,

and the more so when the speech

addressed to a judge with absolute powers, above

'

is
all

Adapted, and partly quoted, from Euripides, Bacchae, $ij.

XVII

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

41

to tyrants, kings, magistrates of the highest rank

of these at once becomes indignant,

there

is

an attempt to outwit him, like a

the paltry figure of a skilled orator

to be used in
like a

he

if

any

feels that

silly child,

by

he takes the fallacy

contempt for himself, and either rages

wild beast,

he master his wrath, yet

or, if

is

wholly disinclined to be convinced by the arguments.

Accordingly a
it

figure is^bestj_when the_ very fact that

a figure passes unnoticed.

is

Therefore sublimity

and" passion are a help against the suspicion attaching

resource " of marvellous

the use of figures, and a

to

power; because the treacherous

with what

is

beautiful

and

art,

being once associated

This

without exciting the least suspicion.

proved in the words quoted above,

fought at Marathon
concealed the figure

'

and remains,

great, enters

By what

Clearly,

by

'

is sufficiently

By

the

men who

device has the orator

its

very light.

Much

as duller lights are extinguished in the encircling beams

of the sun, so the

of rhetoric are obscured by

artifices

the grandeur poured about them.

removed from
are used,

An

and the

light

and the shadow

same surface beside one another, the

eye

before

much

nearer.

So

lie

colours

upon the

light

meets the

not

only more

and seems

the shadow,

prominent, but also

effect not far

When

this occurs in painting.

it is

in

speeches

sublimity and passion,, lying closer to our souls, always

come
I

into

may call

view sooner than the

natural kinship,

artfulness of the figures is

it

were, veiled.

figures,

because of what

and also of

brilliance

the

thrown into shadow, and, as

42

Treatise

Sect.

XVIII

XVIII

WHAT

we

are

Interrogations

',

by the very form which

that,

this

me,

there any

to

Is

it

not true

takes,

makes

our

much

it

'Or do ye wish (answer

:

"is

news than

this,

go round and inquire one of another

news ? " What can be

greater

man of Macedonia is subduing Greece? Is

?
Not dead. Heaven knows, but sick.

that a

dead

Philip

What

and vehement

effective

sir !)

figure

orator gives intensity to his language and

more

and

to say of the Questions

which come next

matter to you

will quickly

us sail to Macedonia.
find to put into

for itself the

if

anything happen to him, you

make you another

?

Philip

"What

War

" asked some one.

weak

thing put simply

''.'

Again,

Let
ever

will discover

points in Philip's resources

would be

'

we

harbour shall

quite inadequate

The

'.'

as

it is,

the rush and swift return of, question and answer, and

own
make the words

came from

the meeting of his

difficulty as if it

another,

not only more sublime by his

use of the figure, but actually more convincing.

U

passionate language is

|be

bom

attractive

when

it

question and answer carried on with

man's self reproduce the spontaneity of passion.

as those
'

For

seems to

of the occasion, rather than deliberately adopted

'by the speaker

a

more

who

are questioned

As all the examples

by

others,

are of Question

when

and Answer

Much

spurred by
it

seems not

improbable that one of the two substantives has replaced the word
'

Answers
'

'

in the original.

Philippie,

i.

lo.

'

Id.

i.

44.


Sect.

XVIII Concerning Sublimity

43

the sudden appeal, meet the point vigorously and with

the plain truth, so

answer;

it

it is

with the figure of question and

draws the hearer off till he thinks that each

point in the inquiry has been raised and put into

words

without preparation, and so imposes upon him.

Again

(for the instance

from Herodotus has passed for one of

the most sublime), if

\Here about

it

be thus

six

pages have been

/oj/.]

XIX

THE

words drop unconnected, and

are,

so to say,

poured forth, almost too fast for the speaker himself.

'

Locking

Eurylochus in

E'en as thou

Xenophon,

their shields,' says

pushed, fought, slew, died'.'

Homer
bad'st,

Or

they

'

take the words of

we

ranged the thickets through,

We found a house fair fashioned in a glade

^.

Phrases cut off from one another, yet spoken rapidly,

carry the impression of a struggle, where the meaning
is

at

once checked and hurried on.

Homer

Such an

effect

has produced by his Asyndeta.

XX
/yN

excellent and stirring effect

Jr\. the concurrence of

mingled

in

their force,

'

figures,

often given

is

when two

one coinpany throw into a

cogency, beauty.'

Xenophon,

Hist. iv. 3. 19.

Thus

common
in

'

the

by

or three
fiind

speech

Od. x. 251.

-^ Treatise

44
against Midias'
repetitions

Sect.

we have Asyndeta

and vivid presentation.

interwoven with
'

There

things which the striker might do, yet

the person struck could never

by look, by

may

Then,

voice.'

XX

are

many

some of which

another, by gesture,

tell

passage

in order that the

not continue travelling in the same track (for rest

shows calm, disarrangement passion, which

and a
fresh

stirring

Asyndeta and

by voice
fists,

when

when

what the

to repetitions

when

in insult,

'

by

gesture,

in enmity,

he belabours the

intellect

judges by the speed of blow following blow.

he goes back from

this point,

wind do

'

frantic, to

telling

whom

of the

Then

and makes a fresh onset,

when with

he goes on, 'these things

face,'

by look,

when with

In these phrases the orator does

as slave.'

striker did,

as gusts of

a rush

is

of the mind), he passes with a bound to

insult is not

when on the
make men

fists,

stir,

these

No

familiar.

one by

of these things could possibly represent their

atrocity.'
//

Thus he keeps up

in essence

throughout the passage

jhis repetitions and Asyndeta, while he continually varies

them

so that his order

violation of order has in

disorderly,

is

and again

his

order of a kind.

it

XXI

Now

insert,

if

you

will,

school of Isocrates does

omit this point

conjunctions, as
"''~A"gam

either, that there are

the striker might do,

first
'

by

many

gesture,

Midias, 72.

we must

the

not

things which

and then by look,

Sect.

XXI

Concerning Sublimity

and yet further by his very voice

passage in

full

'

if

one level by conjunctions,

and

how

the

when smoothed

to pierce the ear,

fails

For

once goes out.

its fire at

you rewrite the

sequence, you will recognize

press and rough effectiveness of passion,

to

^s

as, if

up the limbs of runners, their speed

one should

tie

gone, so passion

is

cha fes to be shackled by conju nctions and other d^tions.

The

moniSum

freedom of running

destroyed, and the

is

as of bolt from catapult.

XXII

UNDER

we must

the same head

This

Hyperbaton.

sequence of phras esw^tHbugEjS, and

oTvehement passion.

For

cases

set

of

a disturbance of the proper

is

as those

orln fearTormSignant, or who

the surest impress

is

who are

really angry,

under the influence

fall

of jealousy or any other passion (for passions are many,

nay countless, past the power of man to reckon), are seen

to put forward one set of ideas, then spring aside to

another, thrusting in a parenthesis out of

wheel round to the

first,

and

all logic,

ship before an unsteady gale, drag phrases

sharply across,

now

this

way,

now

that,

and thoughts

and so divert

the natural order into turnings innumerable; so

best writers

Hyperbata to the

effects

when it seems to be
when the art underlies it

of

nature.

nature,

For

unnoticed.

Herodotus,

vi.

the

art is perfect

and nature successful

of Dionysius of Phocaea in Herodotus'

^

is it in

them by way of

imitation of nature leads

just

then

in their excitement, like a

ir.

Take
:

the speech

'Our

fortunes

4<J

on the edge of a

rest

if

you choose

to take

The

enemies.'

natural order was,

toils,

He
at

'

are

therefore,

is toil

for

you

overcome your

will be able to

of Ionia,' starting

we

lonians, whether

up hardships, there

you

the edge of a razor.'

Men

Sect,XXii

runaway slaves. Now,

the time for you to accept

'

razor,

to be free or slaves, aye

in the present, but

Treatise

now

lonians,

is

for our fortunes rest on

has transposed the words

once with the mention of

the fear, and entirely omitting, in view of the pressing

time to

terror, to find

name

his audience.

inverted the order of the thoughts.

they must endure

tation)
'

he

first

our fortunes

',

toil

(which

'

rest

has

sajring that

the point of his exhor-

is

assigns the cause

he says,

Then he

Before

why they

should do so

on the edge of a razor

'

so that his words seem not to have been prepared, but

Even more marvellous

to be forced out of him.

is

E'hucydides in the skill with which he separates, by the

le of Hyperbata, things which nature has made one and
separable.

he

is

Demosthenes

tions ;

not so arbitrary as he; yet

all its

applica-

the effect of vehemence which he produces by

transposition is great,
call

is

never tired of the use of this figure in

and also that of speaking on the

of the moment; besides

all this

he draws his hearers

with him to face the hazards of his long Hyperbata.

For he

often leaves suspended the thought with

which

he began, and interposes, as though he struck into a trdn

of reasoning foreign to
he

rolls

outside,

it

upon other matter,

till

he

and
all

dissimilar, matter

which

drawn from some source

strikes his hearer

with fear that an entire

collapse of the sentence will follow,

and forces him by


Sect.

XXII

;:;

Concerning Sublimity

mere vehemence to share the

when you

47

risk with the speaker: then,

he makes

least expect, after a long interval,

good the -thought which has so long been owing, and

works in his own way to a happy conclusion making
:

the whole a great deal more impressive by the very hazard

and imminenceof failure which goes with his Hyperbata '.

Let us

more instances

spare

there are so many.

XXIII

NEXT

come jthe

of many cases, so-called

figures

which

groupings, changes, gra dations,

effective,

youTiiow, and work

as

^\jHteitty^of e veiy TSnd, an d passion.

variations

how

of

person,

tense,

case,

are very

with ornament,

in

Only look

number,

at

gender

they embroider and enliven our expressions

Of

those which are concerned with number, I assert that

not only are those instances ornamental where the form

is singular,
is

and the meaning, when you look into them,

found to be plural

At

once the people in its multitude

Break man from man, shout ' tunny !
but the other class deserves even
'

'

o'er the beach

"

attention, because

In this long period the writer has fallen, as he often does, into

the vein of the author

"

more

The tunny

is

whom

he

is

considering.

a Mediterranean

fish,

a large mackerel.

'

The

fishermen place a look-out or sentinel on some elevated spot, who

makes the signal that the shoal of tunnies is approaching, and
points out the direction in
a great

number of boats

which

set off,

it

will

come.

Immediately

range themselves in a curved

line,

and, joining their boats, drive the tunnies towards the shore, where

they are eventually killed with

Living Wonders, by Hartwig.

poles.*

From

The Sea and Ut

48

Treatise

there are cases where plurals

effect,

;:

fall

Sect.XXllI

on the ear with grander

and catch our applause by the

which the number

Sophocles in the Oedipus

O
That gave me

effect

of multitude

Take' an instance from

gives.
' :

marriage

rites

and having borne me, gave

To me in turn an offspring, and ye showed
Fathers and sons, and brothers, all in one,
Mothers and wives, and daughters, hateful names.
All foulest deeds that men have ever done.
birth,

All these express one name, Oedipus, and on the

other side Jocasta

but for

all that,

the number, spread

made the misfortunes plural also

of many for one :
Forth Hectors

out into plurals, has

or in another case

issued and Sarpedons

Plato,

And

which I have quoted

the Athenians
'

'

^.'

No

'

there is the passage of

also in another place, about

Pelopses, nor Cadmuses, nor Aegyptuses, nor

Danai, nor other of the natural-bom barbarian dwell

here with us

blood are
things

when

pure Greeks with no cross of barbarian

we that dwell

strike

in the land,'

and so

For

forth.

on the ear with more sonorous

effect

the names are thus piled upon one another in

groups.

Yet

this should be

done

in those cases alone

where the subject admits of enlargement, or multiplication,

or hyperbole, or passion, either one of these, or several
for

we know

ibells

'

is

that to

go everywhere

a sophist's trick indeed

'

hung about with

*.

Unknown.

'

Oedipus Tyrannus, 1403.

"

Menexenus, 245 D.
' Other men take
their misfortunes quietly, he hangs out

'

bells

Sect.

XXIV Concerning Sublimity

49

XXIV

YET, on the other hand, contraction from

plural to (

singular sometimes produces an effect conspicuously

sublime.

Then all Peloponnesus was ranged on different /

'

sides,' says

And

the Orator*.

Phrynichus

exhibited

Miletus, the

whole theatre

look at

drama,

his

the

this,

into tears'.'

fell

'when[

Taking

of

Where

separate individuals are compressed into unity the notio n

of a single body

is

of the ornamental

properly singular, to turn

which the speaker

into

In both cases the cause

produced.

effect is the

them
is

same

where terms are

into plurals

surprised

shows emotion

where

plural, to

bring several individuals under one so norous head

change

in

is

the opposite direction, and equally unexpected.

XXV
A GAIN,

where you introduce things past and done as

jr\. happening

in the actual present,

you

will

make your

account no longer a narrative but a living action.

'A man

whohasfallen under thehorse of Cyrus,' says Xenophon',

'

and

is

being trampled, strikes his sword into the belly

of the horse
he

in his daily
i.

the horse plunges and unseats Cyrus, and

So Thucydides

falls.'

life

a next thing to

in

most

it.'

Demosthenes, Arislogeilon,

instances.

go.
1

De Corona,

"

Herodotus

from Herodotus.
tears,'
'

i8.

vi.

21.

The words used

Our

treatise has:

in the translation are

by which the point of the 'figure'

Cyropaedeia,
LONG. TR.

vii. 1.

37.

taken

'the spectators burst into

is

missed.

fo

Treatise

Sect.

XXVI
EFFECTIVE

also in the

same way

the trans-

is

which often makes a hearer

position of persons,

think that he is moving in the midst of the dangers

described

Of toughest kind
wouldst have called those hosts, so manfully
Each fought with each '.

Thou

And

Aratus

Not

'

has

in that

month may

seas about thee surge

In much the same way Herodotus

'

You will

sail

up

stream from the city Elephantina, and then you will

come

to a level plain.

Passing through this

embark on another and

will again

then you will reach a great

You

city,

how he

comrade,

see,

sail

whose name

tract,

you

two days

for

is

Meroe'.'

takes your spirit with

him

through the place, and turns hearing into seeing.

All

such passages, being addressed to the reader in his

own

person,

make him

the action. Again,

take his place at the very centre of

when you speak as though

individual, not to all

Nor of the son of Tydeus

couldst thou
If he with Trojans or Achaians were *

you
also

will render

more

is

know

him more moved by the passions and

attentive;

because he

to a single

he

is

filled

fiill

of the combat,

roused by being himself addressed.

11. XV.

"

Phaenomma, 287

/;. V.

697.

85.

(see above

on p. 35).

'

ii.

29.


XXVII

Concerning Sublimity

'

fi

XXVII

THEN

there are other cases where the writer is

giving a narrative about a person, and

transition himsel f pass es into that

there

is

an outburst of passion

p erson

by a sudden
in this class/

But Hector warned the Trojans with loud cry,

rush upon the ships, and pass the plunder by
But whom elsewhere than at the ships I sight,
Death shall be his that moment*.'

To

'

Here the

poet

has assigned the narradve part to

himself, as is fitting

without

chieftain:
'

the sharp threat he has suddenly,

previous explanation,

attached

to the angry

would have been cold had he

it

Hector then

said so and so,* whereas

now

inserted

the change

of construction has anticipated the poet's change of

speaker.

Hence
occasion

the proper use of the figure

is

writer to stop, but forces

person, as in Hecataeus
at

is

him
'

'

to hurry

from person

Ceyx, indignant

once commanded the Heraclidae of the

tion to leave the country

you
and

therefore,

infiict

where

th

short and sharp, and does not allow the

that

"

later genera-

no power to help

you may not perish yourselves,

wound on me,

Demosthenes,

for I have

t(

at this,

depart to another people."

in his Aristogeiton speech', has

found

n. XV. 346-9.

'

Hecataeus of Miletus (living about B.c. 520), historian and

geographer.
'

Aristogeiton,

i.

27.

fi

Treatiie

Sect.

a different method to throw passion and swiftness into

this

change of persons

found,' he says,

'

'

And

will

none of you be

to entertain wrath or indignation at

the violence of this shameless miscreant

not by barriers nor by gates, such as

'

He

who, thou

of mankind, when thy effrontery

foulest

stopped,

is

man might open

has not finished what he intended, but pass-

ing quickly aside, and, I had almost said, splitting a

single sentence

angry

'

Who,

between two persons, because he

thou foulest of mankind,'

is

so

he says

with the result that, having turned his speech away

from Aristogeiton, and having done with him, you

tliink, he directs it upon him again with far more
intensity through the passion.

Much

in the

same way Penelope

What brings thee, herald, thee, the pioneer

Of these imperious suitors ? Do they send
To bid the servants of my husband dear

Of their appointed task-work to make

And on their lordly revelries attend ?
Never elsewhere may they survive

Here

end,

to meet

in these halls, while our estates they rend,

May

they their latest and their last now eat,

thus with outrage foul Telemachus entreat.
Ye to your parents heedful ear lend none,
Nor hearken how Odysseus lived of yore '.

Who

Orf. iv.

68i.

XXVIII

Concerning Sublimity

j-j

XXVIII

NO

one I think would be

doubt as to eii^

in

For as

phrasis being a factor of sublimity.

in!

musicTarapKones' make the principal melody sweeter *,

so Periphra5is_o ftenshnesJaJi3thjh^^

anathe concurrence adds

if

to the be auty,

more

especially

have not a ny windy, unmusical ef&ct, but be

it

In proof of

pleasantly j;gt[^)aUQded.

this

will be

it

sufficient to

Speech':

quote Plato at the beginning of the Funeral

'

what

rightly theirs, and, having

is

Of all

that

we

now

can give, these have

received

they

it,

pass on their appointed journey, escorted publicly by

the

city,

personally each

Here he has

man by

called death an

those of his kin.'

appointedjoumey,' and

'

the bestowal of the ii^3T'"??<wjTjiiiHiy_ pstiMt..givg"

by

their country.'

'^

these

Is the dignity

tums^ut a

takeir laiiguuge ^lam

toil to

'

periphrasis

The

it

Xenophon

be the guide to happy

Paraphones,

Or

fiSTierather

SH~una3oimed, and made

melodious by pouring around

came of

added to the thought

smatPrriatter^

again

life,

musical term

is

it

the harmonies which

:

'

Ye

reckon

and have received

an obscure one.

It

it

has

been suggested that our Author means to contrast the rich effect of
a chord with the thinner sound of a single note, and thus to
illustrate,

through the notion of musical accompaniment, the

relation of a periphrasis to a

ample word or

has been sometimes identified with Cicero's

Orat.
'

iii.

98).

phrase.
'

The

phrase

iaisae vocuiae

See the authorities quoted in the Appendix.

Menexenus, 336 D.

'

{de

-^ Treatise

^4

and the most

into your souls as the fairest

more

possessions: for ye take

all

than in any other thing

happy

life,'

points,

and

By

'.'

and giving a

Sect,
gallant

of

delight in being praised

calling toil

'

the guide to

expansion to the other

like

he has attached to his words of praise a great

And

definite thought.

Herodotus

'

On

that inimitable phrase of

of

those

the

Scythians

who

plundered the temple the goddess sent a plague which

made them women.' ^

XXIX

YET

Periphrasis is exposed tp_5pecial iisks^_inore

special than

withour"Sefi'se
ear,

any of the

used by a writer_

and savours of tHHing and of rank

when

Plato, (for

he always employs the

force, occasionally out

"

figures, if

"STpfSpsniotrr for ttfalls feebly on the

we must not allow

of season,) says

with great

Laws '

in the

wealth, either of silver or of gold,

to be established in the city

critics

and

settle there,'

mocking

say that, if he had wanted to forbid them to

possess sheep, he would clearly have talked of

of sheep and wealth of

Enough however of this

ducing sublime
'

Cyropaedia,

It

i.

wealth

(which came

disquisition

those which

effects, all

5. la.

'

cattle*.'

by way of parenthesis) on the use of

p.

So

stupidity.

figure

'

i.

105.

'

in

figures in pro-

we

have men-:

Laws,

vii.

80. I.

has been pointed out by Dr. Verrall (Class. Rev, xix.

303) that the writer ignores the

quoting from poetry.

fact that Plato

(See Introduction.)

is

avowedly

XXIX
tioned

Concerning Sublimity
make speeches more

ff

passionate and stirring

an(Ppassionris aTlarge^^n^^^reHK^'ih sUUimity as

sense oTcEracter in an agreeable style.

XXX
NEXT,

since the thoug ht_and^ the diction of a

speech are in most cases mutually interlaced,

I

ask you to consider with

will

me

whether any

partiS[aT oF what concerns^ expression

..^li^SBiain.

words and of grand words

That a choice of the

right

wonderfully attracts

and charms hearers

stands very high as a point of practice with

and

all writers,

because, of

greatness,

brings

beauty,

mastery, and an exultation

were the

as though they
to

mere

facts a soul

its

own

raciness,
all its

that

all

this

orators

inherent virtue,

weight,

it

strength,

own, to grace our words,

fairest statues

which has speech

be superfluous to set out at length, for

that

it

my

it

imparts

may

perhaps

readers

know

words are, in a real and sp ecialsense,

- VVf-Tt;pir^nj:|ji^<ity is n^t;
the light of i^iiniight
qf spryice
and
details
grand
trifling
apply
to
to
in jjCpiaces,!.
it.

For

beautiful

solemn words would appear much the same as if one

were to fasten a large tragic mask upon a little child '.

Yet

in poetry

[Here about twelve pages have been

The same

figure is used

by Quintilian

lostJ\

(vi. I. 36).

ftf

Treatise

Sect.

XXXI
.

very rich and pithy

The
So too

Thracian

and this of Anacreon

has no more

filly

my

Theopompus' has

the novel phrase of

from the closeness of the correspondence

me most
fault

'

care.

it

merit,

appears to

expressive, yet Caecilius has strangely found

with

'

it.

he says,

Philip,'

'

has a rare power of

down facts perforce.' So vulgar idiom is

sometimes much more expressive than ornamental
swallowing

language; itis recogniz,4j?tpncas"atoucff^jpmmon

life;

a nd

what

Therefore,

is

when

familiar is

on the way to be crediUe^

applied to a

up with and enjoys what

is

man who

mean and

to better himself, the phrase adopted,

So

perforce,' is very telling.

in

'

to swallow

Herodotus

Cleomenes went mad, and cut his own

knife into

little

until

strips,

And

himself and so died.'

ship

and fought

These

until

patiently puts

repulsive in order

'

'

down
Then

flesh with the

he had made collops of

'Pythes held on to his

he was chopped to pieces*.'

scrape the corner of vulg ar idiom,

"Sei^t vulgar

but they

Becailse they are so expressive.

' Anacreon of Teos, a lyric poet who died about B.C.

4^8.
Most of the well-known poems which bear his name are spurious.

Theopompus, an

historian of Chios, born about B.c, 37S.

see p. 75.
'

vi.

75.

* vii.

181.

XXXII

Concerning Sublimity

S7

XXXII
AS

number of Metaphors, Caecilius appears

to

.ijf"agree"witli those wHo'Tay

Hown

to

a rule allowing

two, or at the most three, applied to the same object.

About such

figures

again

Demosthenes

standard, and the time for their use

the true

is

when

is,

passions

draw with them-

are driven onwards like a torrent, and

selves, as necessary to the passage, the multiplication

of

metaphors.
'

Men

foul

and

flatterers,'

their

'

having mutilated

every one of them, having pledged

their fatherlands,

away

he says,

freedom

in

wine,

first

to Philip,

now

to

Alexander, measuring happiness by their belly and by

the appetites which are most shameful, having thrown

ground that freedom and that

to the

life

without a

master, wherein the Greeks of old found their very

standard and definition of good

Here

'.'

the orator's

number of the

wrath against the

traitors screens the

metaphors used.

Accordingly Aristotle and Theo-

phrastus

"

say that bold metaphors are softened by such

devices as the insertion of 'as though,' and

were,' and
in using

figures,

if I

may speak

thus,'

and

somewhat venturesome phrase*

they say,
accept

'

all

'

these

ij^at

bold

cures

expression.'

'

if I

'as

am

it

right

for 'censure,'

For

myself, I

yet I afiirm, as I said in speaking of

bursts of passion, being seasonable and

'

De

'

Theophrastus, of Lesbos, Aristotle's successor as head of the

Corona, 296.

Peripatetic School at Athens.

f8

Treatise

Sect.

vehement, and sublimity when genuine, are sure speci-fics~foF numerous ^an3~Haring metaphors

because as

they surge and swepj_they^ naturaUy^^aw everything

their_own way, and force

say, they require

it

onwards, rather, I would

and exact bold metaphors, and do not

allow the hearer leisure to go into questions of their

number, because the speaker's excitement

further,

Yet

is his.

speeches _about commonplaces and in set

in

descriptions, nothing ig,aoejgjressive as contiuBsd,

succ^sise^ tropesv

It is

Xenophon ' the anatomy of man's bodily

tabernacle

with so much magnificence, and

painted

admirably in Plato

The

^.

and

by means of these that

head he

calls

still

in
is

more

the citadel

between this and the chest an isthmus has been conthe

structed,

neck,

attached like hinges

their hurt,

heart

is

to

which vertebrae have been

pleasure is a bait tempting

and the tongue supplies the

test

be the guard-house.

For the

is

The passages or pores

to

the

appointed to

he

calls lanes.

beating of the heart, in the expectation of

danger or on the summons of wrath, because

fiery organ,

structure

it

is

they devised a resource, introducing the

of the lungs, which are soft and bloodless,

and perforated with

that,

the knot of the veins, and the fountain of the

blood which courses violently around,

'

men

of taste

when wrath

cavities like

boils

up within

a sponge, in order
it,

the heart

may

beat upon a yielding substance, and so receive no hurt.'

The chamber where

women's chamber,
'

Memorabilia,

i.

the appetites dwell he styled the

that

4. f

where the passions, the men's

'

Timaeus, 69 D.

XXXII

Concerning Sublimity

The

chamber.

with their purgings

filled

'After

it

grows

from matter outside,

called blood the food

the

of

sake

and unsound.

large

he goes on, 'they enshrouded

this,'

fleshy parts, placing the flesh in

tection

S9

spleen is a napkin for the parts within

nourishment

of

like layers

of the fleshy

with

He

felt.'
'

parts.

made

they

all

to be a pro-

front,

And

for

water-courses

through the body, like water-courses cut in gardens,

from an

that the currents of the veins might run as

inflowing stream, the

when the end

is at

body being a narrow

and

Countless similar details follow

we have
nature

set

down

tropical

But

hand, he says that the cables of the

souls are loosed, as though of a ship,

free.

canal.'

suffice to

it is

show how grand

expressions are7~and

let

go

those which

in their

how metaphors

produce sublimity, and that impassioned and descriptive

Yet

passages admit them most readily.

of tropes,

on

IJEe aff other beauties

of

to neglect proportion, is clear without

For

upon these

it is

pieces,

he

is

that the use

style, leads writers

my

saying

it.

especially that critics pull Plato to

so often led on, as though his style were

possessed, into untempered and harsh metaphors and

portentous allegory.
says,
into

'

'

For

it is

that a city ought to be

wine

is

poured and boils

not easy to realize,' he

mixed
;

yet,

like a cup,

where-

when chastened by

another and a temperate god, in that fair partnership

forms an honest and a sober draught.'

water
'

'

temperate

chastening,' is the

sober.

god,' they

say,

mark of a poet who

For

to call

and admixture
is

Caecilius however, taking up such

anything but

weak

points

6o

Treatise

Sect.

as this in his pamphlets in praise of Lysias

dared to make out Lysias better

mixing up two

all

different feelings

',

actually

round than Plato,

for loving Lysias

more than he loved himself, he yet hates Plato more

thoroughly than he loves Lysias.

away by combatireness, nor

as he thought

them to

Only he

is carried

are his premisses admitted

For he puts forward

be.

his

orator as without a fault and clear in his record, as

against Plato
is

who had made many

not so, nor anything like

mistakes.

The

fact

it.

XXXIII

COME now
clear
it^

let

us find

and beyond

some

writer

Upon

criticism.

who

is really

this point, is

not worth while to raise the question in a general

f^rm, whether in poems and prose writings a greatness

with some

failings is the better,

or a genius which

is

limited in its successes, but is always sound and never

drops
first

Aye, and

this further question

prize should be carried off

whether the

by the most numerous

excellences in literature or by the greatest?

These

questions are germane to the subject of Sublimity, and

absolutely require a decision.
^ Attic orator (about B.C.

I know, for

459-380).

'

my own

part,

His distinctive qualities

are a delicate mastery of the purest Attic,

a subtle power of

expressing character, a restrained sense of humour, and a certain

flexibility

of mind which enables

him under

the most diverse

circumstances to write with almost unfailing tact and charm with

that

x<V"

which the old

critics felt in

him.*

Jebb, SeUcliotu from Attic Orators, p. 186.

Prof. Sir

R. C.

XXXIII
that

Concerning Sublimity

6\

genius of surpassing greatness has always the least

clear record.

Precision in every detail comes perilousry

near littleness

"JsqgTea.natureSi as In great ibrfunesi

ought to be something which

there

"neglected.

Further, this

may

may even

be

perhaps be a necessary

law, that humble or modest geniusT" wliicK never runs

a risk, and never aims at excellence, remains in most
cases without a failure and in comparative safety
that

what

jj^

great js hazardous

but

by very reason of the

Not that I fail to recognize this second law,

human things are more easily recognized on

greatness.
that

all

their

worse sTdF;" that

away.

the'

memory of

remains

have myself brought forward not a few

failures in

Homer and

in others

of the very

yet never take pleasure in their slips,

call

failures

while that of the good points passes quickly

indeliBle,

greatest,

which I do not

voluntary mistakes, but rather oversights caused by

the random, haphazard carelessness of great genius,

and passed unmarked by

my

it

not kept up to one

bear off

I remain

instance,

fevel^

throughout,

award, if for nothing

first

sake of simple

intellectual

ApoUonius

unshaken in

should always

else,

greatness.

yetfbr the

To

take

in the Argonautae ^ is a poet

never drops, and Theocritus

successful, except as to a

and

opinion, that in all cases great excellence, although

'

most

in his Pastorals is

few extraneous matters

an

who

now

ApoUonius of Rhodes (bom about B.C. 335), an Alexandrian

poet, to

whom

Virgil is

' Theocritus,

380 B.C.

much

indebted.

the great pastoral poet, living at Syracuse about

"

62

Treatise

Sect.

would you not rather be Homer than

this being so,

ApoUonius ? Take again Eratosthenes '

a

little

poem with nothing

in

who

greater poet than Archilochus ,

matter along

arranged

in the Erigone,

to blame;

it

ill-

of divine

that outpouring

in

he a

is

much

drags

to range under a law

In lyrics again, would you choose to be Bacchylides

'

which

inspiration

is difficult

it

rather than Pindar,

Sophocles himself?

Tragedy Ion of Chios than

These poets no doubt never drop,

in

their language is always

smooth and the writing beautiful,

whereas Pindar and Sophocles

expect

and they

it,

right in saying that

no man

less

Attic

Comedy.

poem,' but he

is

said to

'

and

he put the

also

else is

wrote on

known

Homer and

of this

'

fault-

have been a pupil of Callimachus, and

poem, Hermes.

Archilochus, see above, p. 25.

Bacchylides of Ceos, a lyric poet, contemporary with Pindar,

His works, other than mere fragments, have been

his rival.

known

to us since

Kenyon from
value,

is

897,

when they were

published

by Dr. F. G.

a recently discovered Egyptian papyrus.

judgement of our

as they are, the

'

He

Nothing

to have written an astronomical

'

least

I not

great astronomer and scientific

geographer, born about B.C. 276.

on the Old

ablaze

a row, would value them

Eratosthenes of Cyrene.

all

Am

in his senses, if

in

against a single play, the Oedipus

*

one time set

most unhappily.

fail

works of Ion together

at

quenched when you

in their rush, but the fire is

critic as

Interesting

to their relative poetic

confirmed.

Ion of Chios, a tragic poet of considerable merit, contemporary

with Sophocles

he attempted

literature in almost all its branches,

and was famous as an anecdotist.

' With this judgement on Sophocles, which comes to us
thing of a surprise, compare Plutarch (fin hearing poets,

as

some-

c. xiii),

XXXIV

Concerning Sublimity

6^

XXXIV
successful passages were to be numbered,

IFweighed;

~Hyperides ' would, dn

He

surpass "DemdstHenes.

far

jTijs

not

reckonuig,

sounds more notes

andT)as"Tnore pomts of excellence

^,

he wins a second

place in pretty well every competition, like the hero

of the Pentathlon,

being beaten for the

by some trained competitor

Hyperides

of the non-professionals.

first

prize

in each, but standing first

certainly, besides

matching the successful points in Demosthenes, always

excepting composition, has included, over and above

with simplicity,

when

monotonous manner

it is

like

talks

required, not in a sustained

Demosthenes, and he shows

of character, a fiavouring added with a light

sense

hand

He

the virtues and graces of Lysias.

these,

he has indescribable graces, the wit of a man

who knows

life,

good breeding, irony with readiness

of fence, jokes not vulgar nor

Attic

great

comic power

aimed

He

charm.

and also for

all

ill-bred

appropriate,

in plenty, the sting

and with

fun,

but

orators,

this

as

in

clever

those

raillery,

which goes with well-

what I may

has a strong natural

call

gift for

inimitable

compassion,

a story fluently, running through

telling

a description before a flowing breeze with admirable

who says that

Sophocles

may be blamed

'

for his inequality.'

Bergk

with reference to such passages as Antigone, 904, &c.,

which many good judges hare felt unable to accept as genuine.
understands

'
'

it

Hyperides, an Attic orator, born about B.C. 396, died 322,

the Sheridan of Athens.'

c.

ii.

'

'

Sir

R. C. Jebb

22, where this passage of our text

He

in Atlie Orators, vol.

is

has more tones in his voice,' Jebb,

translated.

-^ "Treatise

54
ease in tacking

Sect.

Latona he

for instance, the story of

has treated rather as a poet, the Funeral Speech as

a set, perhaps an unmatched, effort of the oratory of

Demosthenes has no touches of

display.

no

flowing

style

cannot speak for

of

qualities

he

certainly

display:

character,

and

not supple,

is

he lacks the whole

mentioned above

when he

is

list

forced to

be witty and smart, he raises a laugh against, rather

when he wants

than with himself;

sure that if he

had attempted

on Phryne or that on

more

established even

As

see

of the

latter

We

it.

to write the

firmly the

'

to a sober

The

man's heart,* and allow the

when he

unmoved (who

Hyperides

Demosthenes taking up the

beauties

devoid of

are

hearer to rest
?)

speech

little

fame of Hyperides.

though they be many,

greatness \ dull

may be

he would have

yithenogenes,

the case stands thus

it,

charm

to approach

of manner he passes farthest from

feels fear

'

reads

tale ','

adds

excellences of the highest genius and of consummate

perfection,

sublimity of tone,

bodiment, copiousness,
his

is

own

approach.

prerogative,

Now

himself in one
gifts,

for

passions in living

versatility,

ability

speed

and

also,

em-

which
beyond

force

whereas, I say, he has drawn

all

to

those marvellous and heaven-sent

human we may not

call

them, therefore by

the beauties which he has he surpasses

'

all

other

Similar words occur in a passage of Plutarch (2)

men

Garr. 4)

where they appear to be a poetical quotation.

'

An Homeric

succeeds another.

phrase {Od,

viii.

500), used

when one

minstrel

XXXV

Concerning Sublimity

and outmatches those which he has

thunder,

with

orators of

all

his

time

he

lightning,

6$
With
down

not.

bears

his

the

sooner might one open one's eyes

of thunderbolts as they rush, than gaze

in the face

upon

upon the passions which follow

full

passions

in

Demosthenes.

XXXV

WHEN

we come

to Plato, there

is

below him

far

the number, as well as in the

in

magnitude of his good points,

him

is

more

yet

which

all

is

lies

things,

and they also saw

in every

detail

They saw many

this, that

life

and

other

Nature determined

no low or ignoble animal

to be

us into

What
who aimed

and scorned the accuracy

greatest,

which

man

excess of

in

than in defect as to good points.

in faults

then did those immortals see, the writers

at

as I said,

is,

For Lysias, who

another kind of pre-einmence.

but introducing

this entire universe as into

some

vast

assemblage, to be spectators, in a sort, of her contests,

and most ardent competitors

in

which

is

great and, by our

Therefore

which

it

is,

own

eternal

love

standard,

that for the speculation

are within the scope

the universe together

pass

therein, did then implant

and

our souls an invincible

life

all

divine.

and thought

of human endeavour not

is sufficient,

beyond the bounds which

were to look upon

of that

more

all

our conceptions often

limit

it ;

round, and see

and

how

if

in

one
all

things the extraordinary, the great, the beautiful stand

supreme, he will at once

been bom.

So

it is

know

that, as

for

what ends we have

by some physical law, we

66

admire, not surely the

Treatise

little

Sect.

streams, transparent though

they be, and useful too, but Nile, or Tiber, or Rhine,

and

more than

far

Ocean

all,

more than by those heavenly

light clear,

obscured though they be, nor think

than the

craters

all

keeps

its

more marvellous

it

and sometimes pour forth

of that Titanic and unalloyed

such things

it

bodies, often

of Etna, whose eruptions bear up

stones and entire masses,

rivers

we awed by

nor are

of our kindling, because

this little flame

we may

Regarding

fire.

say this, that what

or perhaps necessary to man,

man can

is

serviceable

procure; what

passes his thought wins his wonder.

XXXVI
HENCE,
in

when we speak of men of great genius

literature,

where the greatness does not

necessarily fall outside the needs

we must
this

at

stature,

fection,

yet

prove those
raises

What
is

though
all rise

wHo

far

removed from

men of

above the mortal

flavyless ^per-

other qualities

possess them to be men, sublimity

them almost to the

No failure,

and service of man,

once arrive at the conclusion, that

intellectual

greatness~3^od.

no blame ; but greatness has our very wonder.

need

still

ofti_ seen to

to add, that each

redeem

sufiimity, a single success

all
;

of these great men

by a

his failures

and

which

further,

convincing, that if we were to pick out

all

single

is

most

the failures

of Homer, Demosthenes, Plato, and the other greatest

writers,

and to mass them together, the

result

would

be a small, an insignificant fraction of the successes

XXXVI

Concerning Sublimity

67

which men of that heroic build everywhere

Therefore every age and
can never prove to be in

them the assured

them

of victory

prizes

exhibit.

which envy

itself

dotage, has bestowed upon

its

day safe and

to this

time,

all

it

guards and keeps

and

inalienable,

will as

it

seems, keep them

As
To

long as waters flow and poplars bloom'.

the writer, however,

Colossus

is

who

objects that the faulty

not better work than

Spearman of

the

Polycleitus * I might say much, but I say this.

Art

Now

Nature greatness.
a

work is jdmired,

the most accurate

it

is

bemg endowed" with speech;

seek what
said,

man,

is like

human

Yet

returns to the early

words of

success of never failing

is in

In

works of

by Nature that man

it is

what

surpasses, as I

right (for our precept

this treatise), because the

most cases due

to Art,

Geniusj_.that,

aldiou^ not uniform excellence,

therefore. Art should ever be brought

to aid Nature

the success of high

where they

sliould be perfection.

to

towards a decision upon the points raised :

go thus

let

take the view which pleases him, and enjoy

to
in

the result

are reciprocal

was necessary

It

is

we

therefore in statues

in speech

st andard s.

in the

far

every one

it.

From an epigram on Midas, quoted by Plato (Phatdna,

The somewhat sentimental character of the quotation
here may be noticed.
*

264 C).

^ Perhaps the famous Colossus of Rhodes, perhaps a later

Polycleitus,

an

artist

Spearman was known

in Art.

of Sicyon of the
as the

'

fifth

century B.

His

Canon ' or Standard of proportion

Copies have reached us, of which the best

a figure from Herculaneum

work.

c.

now

at Naples.

F 2

is

probably

6i

Treatise

Sect.

XXXVII
neighbourhood to
INgoclose
back to them, come

Metaphors, for we must

and Similes,

Illustrations

which

differ

from them

in this respect

[Here about six pages have been

lostJ\

XXXVIII

SUCH

Hyperboles as

how

limits destroys the hyperbole

extreme

tension

brings

works right round to

its

exact-

advance
in such

and even

relaxation,

Thus

opposite.

un-

Isocrates

a strange puerility owing to his ambition to

into

fell

know

far each should go, Tor^ sometimes to

beyond these
cases

to

'

heels to be

in your

I^nce we ought

trampled down'.'
ly

this arealsojudjcrous,

you~wear'your"Brains

less

amplify at

all

The Argument

points.

of his Pane-

gyricus is that the state of the Athenians surpasses

that of the

but

at

the

Lacedaemonians in services to the Greeks

very beginning he has

over words are so potent, that

make what

to

about what

ness

in
/

'

great

is

'

new
The

being only

slight.

it is

rushed on, a very lion,"

'

'

More-

possible thereby
to

throw greatold things

treat

a metaphor, the difference between them

is

Thus where Homer

rushed on like a lion,"

c. iv, tr.

and to

and those which have recently

fashion,

simile too

small,

is

is

it

and

lowly,

this

a simile

it is

says of Achilles that

when he

but

a metaphor.'

says that

" he

"he

Aristotle, Rhetorie, 3,

Welldon.

From the Halonnesus, a speech once

attributed to

Demosthenes.

XXXVIII

Concerning Sublimity

happened

in

an

some one

will say,

'

'

this set praise

the outset not to believe him.

we

grandeur in the

men

speaking of the

he

Syracusans',

at

harmony widb a

certain

where Thucydides

them, but especially those in

was, even fighting to have

For

the

and

water,

but which they

spoiled,

just the same,

'

came down

'also

says,

all.

in an

slaughtered in Sicily.

which was thus immediately

it

Possibly then the

crisis described, as

went on drinking
as

For

jvhen they are uttered

result is^ obtained

butchered

',

said above in speaking of figures,

outburst of strong feeling and in

the

Isocrates

which are not noticed as hyperboles

are those

is

What,

do you mean then to change the

of speech goes near to an open warning

best hyperboleSj as

This

6^

Lacedaemonians and Athenians^'

parts of the

at

old fashion.'

'

mud and

all,

bloody

That blood and

it.' '

mud were drunk together, and yet were things fought over,
passes for credible in the intensity of the feeling and
in

the

crisis.

The

passage in Herodotus about the

men of Thermopylae
says,
is,

'

similar

'

On

this spot

',

he

while defending themselves with daggers, that

who

those

and

is

with

had them

still

they

teeth,

missiles

of the Barbarians.'

thing

it',

is

against
missiles

you

will

armed men
'

But

it

',

left,

and also with hands

were buried

say,

'

alive

Here

'

under the

What

sort of

'to fight with very teeth

or what to be

'

buried alive under

passes for true like the other

for

the fact does not appear to be introduced for the sake

of the hyperbole, but the hyperbole to pass because

'

c. viii.

'

vii.

84.

'

vii.

225.

Treatise

fact.

For, as I

70
by the

fathered

Sect.

am

never tired of

sajnng, every bold experiment in language finds a solvent

and a

specific in

frenzy.

So, in

deeds and passions which approach

Comedy,

which approach

utterances

the incredible pass for true because of the ludicrous

He

had a

Which
For

no bigger than the sheet

field

holds a Spartan

letter.'

laughter too is a passion, a passion

There

pleasure.

which

lies in

an hyperbole on the side of excess,

is

and also one on the side of defect: the common point

And,

a straining of the truth.

is

a manner of

in

speaking, satire is an exaggeratjan^namdy of pettiness.

XXXIX

THE

fifth

of the factors which we mentioned

outset, as contnbuting to Sublimity,

my

to be considered,

excellent friend

still

compositipn. in

words, or the precise manner of arran^ng them.

published

already

which

two

on

treatises

and need,

this

I have

subject,

in

of such theoretical

I have rendered full account

views as I could form

at the

remains

therefore, only add,

as necessary for our present purpose, that melody is

not only an instrument natural to

persuasion and pleasure ;

which produces
'

The

passion,

it is

man^ which produces

a marvellous instriuneoit,

yet leaves

brevity of Spartan letters

him

may be

free.

illustrated

Does
by the

famous dispatch reporting the disaster of Cyzicus (410 B.C.):

' Honour is lost
Mindarus is gone : the men starve we know not
:

what to

do.'

'
;

XXXIX

71

Concerning Sublimity

not the flute implant within the hearers certain passions,

and place them out of

Does
them

it

to keep step with

to the air,

Do

their senses, full

of wild revelry ?

not set a certain rhythmical step, and force

it,

and

to

though a man have

'

conform themselves
no music

in

him

'

not the notes of the harp, which in themselves

signify nothing, yet

by the interchange of sounds, the

mutual accompaniment, the mingled harmony, cast upon

us a spell, which

you well know, often marvellous

is,

although these are but images and bastard copies of

upon human

persuasion, not genuine forces operative

nature

And

then are

^being as it

position

words whi^h
his very soul,

are in

is,

we

not to

that

com-

a special melody of words,

man by

and not

think

nature and ^vhich reach

ears, alone;

his

stirring, as

it

does, manifold ideas of words, thoughts, actions, beauty,

tunefulness, all of

bom and

them things

bred within us

cairyiig. moreover, by the very commixture and multiplicity

of

its

own

sounds, the passion which is present

to the speaker into the souls

bringing

them

of the bystanders, and

into partnership with" hfinself

building

phrase on phrase and so shaping whole passages of

gTeatness

means

at

^t "CompositionT^

once soo^gjjs as

stateliness,

thingwhich

we

say7 must by

mere

it

contains with

itself, in

folly to raise

eachand

minds

every

Although

it

problems about things which are so

fully admitted, for experience is

'

these

and high mood, and sublimity, and ^very-

direction gaining the mastery over

is

all

hear and also dispose to

Quoted from the Sthmehoea, a

proof
lost

sufficient, I

play of Euripides.

am

-A Treatise

72

Sect.

XL

sure that you will think that a sublime thought, and

marvellous indeed
his decree

which Demosthenes applied

it is,

This
'

decree

made

to

the danger, which

then encompassed the city, to pass away like a vapour

But the harmony of the thought, no

thought

has given

itself,

than the

less

For the whole ex-

voice.

it

pression rests upon the dactylic rhythms^the

most noble

and productive of grandeur, which make the

will

'

own

its

will learn

For

how

'

made

rhythm

first

long, if

'

or,

where you
the danger

again, cut off one

to pass like vapour

it

closely the

the actual phrase

'

it

made

transfer

like a vapour,

of that day to pass away

syllable only

and

place,

This proposal,

'

rhythm echoes the

like a

structure

Take any

of heroic metre the noblest known to us.

word out of

'.'

vapour

'

and you

sublimity.

moves with the

measured by four times.^

Cut out

the one syllable, you have 'as vapour', the curtailment

mutilates the grandeur

lengthen

it

out,

'

made

as,

on the other hand,

to pass

away

like to a

if

you

vapour

',

,the sense is the same, but not the effect on the ear,

because by the length of the times at the end of the

phrase,

its

sheer sublimity

is

broken up and unstrung.

XL
1ANGUAGE
_> "degree

by

is

that

made .grand
which

collocation of limbs in the body, of

'

Dt

highest
to

the

which no one,

if

Corona, l88.

'i.e. equivalent to four short syllables.

questions raised in the passage are discussed

Rev.

the

in

corresponds

xix. p. 354).

The

difficult

by Dr.

metrical

Verrall (^Class.


Sect.

XL

Concerning Sublimity

73

cut off from another, has anything noticeable in

yet

all in

itself,

So

combination produce a perfect structure.

when

great passages,

separate and scattered in diifeient

parts, scatter also the sublimity

but if they are formed

by partnership into a body, and also enclosed by the

bond of rhythm, the

them new voice

within

period

contribute

However

grandeur.

many prose

limits

wfich

one might put

writers

to

common

and poets of no

give

grand effects

fliat

has been already

it

them

encircle

it

fund

shown

of
that

natural sublimity,

possibly themselves altogether wanting in grandeur, and

using in general

common and

popular words, such as

contribute nothing remarkable, have yet,

by mere arrange-

ment and adjustment, attained a real dignity and

tinction of style, in which no pettiness is apparent;
amongst many others,

children Hercules cries

I

am

full

fraught with

phrase

so,

in certain

After the murder of his

passages, Euripides in most.

The

Aristophanes

Philistus,

dis-

ills

no stowing

more.'

but has become sublime

is quite popular,

because the handling of the words conforms to the

If you place the wbrdFln"otEer combinations,

subject.

you

wTll see clearly that Euripides is a poet

position rather than of intellect.

Jragged~a'way"byThe bull

When

Dirce

of comis

being

Where'er

it

chanced.

Rolling around he with him ever drew

Wife, oak-tree, rock, in constant interchange.''

Hercules Furens, 1245,

'

From

the Aniiope, a

tr.

R. Browning.

lost play.

-^ Treatise

74
The

conception in itself

more

forcible

borne

along

is

XL

Sect.

a noble one, but has

become

from the rhythm not being hurried, nor

on

as

rollers

attached to one another,

which

syllabic quantities,

the

words are

solidly

and checks caused by the

result in stability

and grandeur.

XLI

THERE

is

nothing

which introduces

into sublime passages so

esccited

which

much

pettiness

as a broEen~and

rhythm, as pyrrhics, trochees, and dichorees,

fall

For

into a thorough dancing measure.

pn5se~complSEe" rhythm appears dainty and

entirely lacks passion, because the
superficial.

The

worst point of

all

sameness makes
about this

as ballad-music draws

away

the subject to

so prose which

itself,

is,

in

and

trivial,

it

that,

the hearers perforce from

is

made

over-

rhythmical does not give the hearers the effect of the

prose but that of the rhythm

so that in

some

cases,

knowing beforehand the endings as they become due,

people actually beat time with the speakers, and get
before them, and render the

though

^passages which
'

movement too

soon,

as

Equally devoid of grandeur are

in a dance.

too close, cut up into scraps and

lie

minute syllables, and bound together by clamps between

piece and piece in the
'

Here again

(as

though the general

on

p.

drift

way of

socket and insertion.'

a6) the terms of masonry are obscure,

of the simile

is

apparent.

Concerning Sublimity

Sect.XLII

7S

XLII

ANOTHER
X\.

cessive

phrase

is

means of lowering sublimity

of expression

conciseness

when

inaiineS

it

refer

mere undue compression, but to what

small and comminuted

what

that

not to

absolutely

In the other direction

spun out

is

is

contraction stunts the sense,

' :

a short cut goes straight.

clear

grand

gathered into too short

is

I must be understood to

a compass.

ex-

is

is

conjures up unseasonable length

lifeless,

all

it

is

which

'

'.'

XLIII

PETTINESS of words, again,

making

mean.

fine passages

is

strangely potent in

Thus

in

Herodotus

the storm' has been finely described with great

spirit,

so far as the ideas go, but certain words are included

which

are surely too ignoble for the subject;

'when the

particular,

sea boiled', the

this in

word 'boiled'

greatly spoils the sublimity, being so poor in sound

then he has

'

the wind flagged

',

and again

were about the wreck and clutching

welcome end ',

and

'

'

flagged

unwelcome '

So

disaster.

also

is

'

is

it

an undignified vulgarism,

an inadequate word for such a

Theopompus*,

in

Perhaps

this should

read

'

'

Apparently a poetical quotation,

'

vii. 1

See

army

not to proper compression

a negative be omitted in the original).

88.

and

brilliant

elaborate account of the descent of the Persian

'

Those who
met an un-

'

.p.

56.

'

(if

7<J

Treatise

Sect.XLIII

upon Egypt, by a few paltry words has

whole passage:
did

tribe,

'For
send

not

what

city

envoys to

or costly thing which

beautiful

many and

and

with

furnished

costly robes

costly coverlets

and white

variegated,

gold,

and couches

wrought gold and

pieces,

things

all

or art

Were

him?

and cloaks, purple,

and many tents of

serviceable

There were

What

King?

the

earth grows,

produces, was not brought as a gift to

there not

spoilt the

of Asia, or what

many

also vessels of

drinking cups and bowls, of

silver,

which you might have seen some crusted with precious

worked with

stones, others

besides these were untold

elaborate and costly art

quantities

of arms, some

Greek, some barbarian, beasts of burden

great numbers,

many

bushels of spices,

papyrus

and

all

all

sacks and bags and sheets of

commodities;

other

pickled carcases of

the heaps

in exceedingly

and victims fatted for slaughter, many

sorts

and so

made those who approached from a

mounds and hillocks

think that they were

Jostled one another

'.

He

many

of animals, that the size of

distance
as

they

runs off from the loftier to

the more humble details, whereas he ought to have

made

his description rise in the other direction.

his marvellous account of the

mixed up

his bags

imagination

placed

among those

the gold and the

vessels,

and

spices,

cook-shop

common

With

whole provision he has

and has drawn to the

Suppose one had

really

things of show, in the middle of

gem-crusted cups

and the

silver

bags and sacks, the effect to the eye

would have been unseemly

so in a description each of

'

!,

XLIII

Sect.

Concerning Sublimity

such words placed there out of season

and, so to say, a blot where

him

to

to

go through

^n ugliness

is

stands.

it

It

was open

as he has

broad outline

all in

77

told us of heaps taken to be hillocks, so he might have

us

given

all

the

of the

rest

pageant,

multitude of beasts of burden carrying

luxury and the enjoyment of the

camels,

or he might

table,

have specified heaps of every sort of grain and of

and daintiness

that is best for confectionery

meant, at

all costs,

to put the whole

he might have said

list,

victuallers

'

'

but

it

mean and

we are compelled by some

would be proper even

who

man

fashioned

and, as

Xenophon

known

us

to
in

discredited!

strong necessity

subject,

and to copy

for she did not place our

them away so

tells

he

an inclusive

honourable parts in front, nor the purgings of

less

gross matter, but hid

all

words to keep to those

in

which sound worthy of the

Nature

or, if

For we ought not

'.

sublime passages to stoop to

terms unless

in

the dainties

all

and confectioners

down

supplies for

all

",

all

far as she could,

removed the channels of

such things to as great a distance as possible, nowhere

disfiguring the beauty

of the whole animal.

But there

no present need to enumerate by their kinds the

is

means of producing

pettiness

shown what things make

when we have once

clear that their opposites will

it is

cases
'

writings noble and sublime,

make them

in

most

low and uncouth.

The critic complains

of bathos, but the passage reads like the

intentional bathos of satire.'^G. Murray, Hist, of Ancient Greek

Literature, p. 390.
'

Memorabilia,

i.

4. 6.

78

Treatise

Sect.XLIV

XLIV

ONE

point remains,

which

view of your

in

dili-

gence in learning, I shall not hesitate to add.

This

said,

give a clear answer to a question lately put

is to

me by

to

'

one of our philosophers: 'I wonder', he

as assuredly

our age

do many

others,

we have men whose

how

genius

it

that in

is

persuasive and

is

statesman-like in the extreme, keen and versatile

but

minds of a high order of sublimity and greatness are no

such

longer produced, or quite exceptionally,

is

the

world-wide barrenness of literature that now pervades our

Are we indeed ', he went on, to believe the

common voice*, That democracy is a good nurse of all
'

life.

that is great

that with free government nearly

ful orators attained their prime,

Freedom, they
spirits

it

all

power-

For

it ?

has the power of breeding noble

say,

gives

and died with

them hopes, and passes hand

with them through their eager mutual

ambition to reach the

first

in

hand

and

their

Further, because

prizes.

of the prizes offered to competition

strife

in

commonwealths,

the intellectual gifts of acators,.are^kept in exercise and

whetted by use

the rub of poli&cs,

irTTnay

use~3ie

word, kindles them to fire ; they shine, as shine they must,

with the light of public freedom.

he went on,
of a
'

'

seem

dutiful slavery

to be
;

in its

customs and practices

Compare Tacitus, DicUogut, 40.

able eloquence of

But we in our day ',

from our childhood scholars

'

But the great and memor-

which men tell is the foster child of

foolt used to call liberty,'

we

(Materaus, the poet,

is

license,

which

summing up.)


XLIV Concerning Sublimity

Sect.
are

79

enwrapped and swathed from the very infancy of our

thoughts, never tasting that fairest and most abundant

fount of eloquence, I

mean Freedom

^yherefore

we

turn out.nothing but flatterers of j)ortentous growth.'.

Other

faculties,

he

mere household

asserted, might be the portion of

but no

servants,

becomes an

slave

orator; for instantly there surges up the helplessness

to speak out, there

is

the guard on the lips enforced by

the cudgel of habitude

Half that man's

Whom
'

As

then

virtue doth

he surrenders
he went on,

has

dwarfs

Zeus take away.

'

if

what

dutiful, is

the growth of

are shut up in them, but actually shrivel

all

slavery,

a cage of the

Here _I_reJ2ined :
present

'Sir,' I said,

desires,

The

much

rather this

it

fault

may

and to which no bounds are

i,

p.

is

not be that what

of the universal

is

'

There was a fashion of keeping dwarfs

and more

found in a passage

387 A),

Od.

also of slaves.

322.

early emperors.
strosities,

it

with things

set, aye,

'

xvii.

prison.'

and

war which masters our

rare verb used here in the original

of the Jewish writer Philo (de tmul,

be never so

'it is easy,

spoils noble natures is, not the peace

world, but

it

and a public

soul

but consider whether

their bodies, so

though

man's special habit,_ always to find

83).

I hear is to be be-

them because of the bonds lying about

c.

to the servile day.'

are reared, not only hinder

',

who

one might show that

it

the cages in which the Pygmies, also called

lieved,

those

',

As Homer

'.

Augustus himself,

who

at

Rome

under the

abhorred freaks and

mon-

took pleasure in them (Suetonius, Life of Augustus,

8o

Treatise

Sect.

than that, these passions which keep our

and make

of

spoil

which cannot be

it

altogether

and

satisfied

The

is

life

XL IV

a prisoner

love of money,

a disease wTth'u's'all,

and the love of pleasure both lead us into slavery, or

rather, as oneraight put it,'thrust our lives

down

into the depths

which makes us

how

discover

the love of pleasure, which

little,

I try to reckon

ignoble.

utterly

it

so greatly

honour boundless wealth, who, to speak more

make

it

a god, can

fail

is

up, but I cannot

it

we who

possible that

is

and ourselves

the love of money, a disease

truly,

to receive into our souls the

kindred evils which enter with

There follows on

it.

unmeasured and unchecked wealth, bound to

and

it

keeping step for step, as they say, costliness of living

when wealth opens

which,

the

way

have passed
wise

the

much

tell

time in our

engender boasting, and

spurious brood, but

all

must perforce be so

to

too truly their own.

will

breed and

and luxury

vapouring,

men

these evils

they build nests,

lives,

and soon proceed

us,

no

For

this

no longer look

otherwise take any account of good reputation

by

little

the ruin of their whole

and

into cities

When

houses, enters and settles therein.

is

life

up, nor
little

effected

all

greatness of soul dwindles" and withers, and ceases to

be emulated, while

men admire

their

own

mortal parts,

and neglect to improve the immortal.

A judge bribed

for his verdict could never be a free

and sound judge

of things just and good, for to the corrupted judge the

side

which he

just.

Even

is

so,

to take

must needs appear good and

where bribes already

rule our

whole

Sect.

XL IV

8i

Concerning Sublimity

and the hunt for other men's deaths, and the

lives,

lying in wait for

their wills,

and where we purchase

with our soul gain from wherever

each by his

own

luxury, do

and undoing of our

this ruin

we

comes, led captive

it

amidst

really expect,

life,

that any is yet left

a free and uncorrupted judge of great things and things

which reach to

eternity

and that we

are not downright

bribed by qur_ desire JxtiettecoiHselses.-?

as

we

may

are, it

Fo r such m en

possibly be better to be governed than

to be free; since greed

and grasping,

if let loose together

would

against our neighbours, as beasts out of a den,

soon deluge the world with

explanation that what eats up our

the indolence in which, with

evils.'

gave the general

modem

characters

few exceptions^ we

all

is

now

never working or undertaking work save for the

live,

sake of praise or of pleasure, instead of that assistance

to others

which

is

a thing worthy of emulation and of

honour.
'

Best leave such things to take their chance

pass

we

to the next topic

about which

this

was

'
',

and

to be the passions,

promised beforehand to write

in

separate paper, inasmuch as they cover a side of the

general subject of speech, and of sublimity in particular.
'

From

Euripides, Electro, 379.

APPENDIX
I

from

translated

Passages

Specimen

Greek Writers of the legman Empire

on Literary Criticism

DIONYSIUS OF HALICARNASSUS
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (about 78-7 B.C.), a learned writer

on history and

Under the

criticism.

latter

head come the

Thru

Literary Leilers, dealing with Demosthenes, Plato, and Thucydides,

Dd Notes on the Ancient Orators (the former work translated and

edited by Professor

Rhys Roberts), and the treatise On Composition,

is taken. The style is pure and the criticism

from which our extract

marked by good judgement and taste, and of real value. There

are many phrases which he uses in common with the writer of the
Treatise on the Sublime

but the difference in point of view

be seen in the differing conclusions which they respectively

by the two Odes of Sappho which we owe to them.

here selected, see Jebb's Attic Orators,

ii.

On

may

illustrate

the passage

56-8.

ON THE SMOOTH STYLE

THE

smooth and

florid

which I placed second

characteristics

light in its every

It

mode of

in order,

composition,

has the following

does not seek to be seen in clear

word, nor always to move on a broad

safe platform, nor to have long intervals between

this

slow balanced procedure

not at

is

in

asks for a vocabulary which

is

all

to

words

its taste, it

motion and

activity,

appendix I

84

where half the words lean upon the other

all

and

half,

find steadiness in the mutual support, like flowing

streams which run without a tremor.

It requires that its

several

members be included and interwoven

another,

and produce, so

effect.

This

side

it

done by accurate junctures, admitting

is

no perceptible

one

in

far as that is possible, a visible

between the words

interval

resembles fine-woven

stuffs,

the lights melt into the shadows.

upon

this

or paintings wherein
It

would have

all its

words euphonious and smooth, tender and maidenish.

Rough

strident syllables are its special aversion

always shy of what

is

it is

bold and hazardous.

It not only desires that the

words be

fitly

joined

with words and fitted, but also that clauses be woven in

with clauses, and that

all

take final form in a period

it

must have clauses of a length neither longer nor shorter

than what

is

moderate, and a period shorter than a

man's completed breath:

it

could not endure to turn out

a passage without periods, or a period without clauses,

or a clause without symmetry.

not

the

longest,

but those

comparatively short

Of rhythms
which

the ends of

its

it

employs,

are moderate

rhythmical and firm, as though by square and

In the joinings of periods and of words

different rules
it

forces

round.

apart,

It

will

words

it

makes

or

periods must be

it

level.

takes

two

glide into one, periods

they must present a

clear

have no figures of the

view

all

most old-

fashioned kind, none to which any solemnity attaches,

or ponderousness, or the dust of ages
to use those

it

mostly loves

which are dainty and soft^in which there

DionyAus of Halicarnasms
so

is

much theatrical

beguilement.

%f

To use plainer words,

on most important points the opposite of

this style is

that mentioned before *, but of these points I need not

speak again.

The next thing would naturally be

who have reached the first place in

poets, I think myself that

its

character

of

Of

it.

fully

Epic

developed

Sappho, and, next to her,

lyric poets

Anacreon and Simonides

alone;

Hesiod most

enumerate

to

those

of

Euripides

tragic poets

of historians, no one in perfect

detail,

but

Ephorus and Theopompus

better than the majority

of

will

orators

Isocrates.

add

the

following

specimens of the cadence, selecting Sappho for the

poets, and Isocrates for the orators

the lyricist

I will begin with

Immortal Venus, throned above

In radiant beauty, child of Jove,
skilled in every art of love

And

artful snare;

Dread power,
Release

my

whom

to

and

soul

From bonds of

set

piercing

I bend the knee,

it

free

agony

And gloomy care.

Yet come thyself, if e'er, benign
Thy

listening ears thou didst incline

To my rude lay, the starry

Of Jove's court leaving.

shrine

In chariot yoked with coursers fair,

Thine own immortal birds that bear

Thee swift to earth, the middle

With bright wings cleaving.
'

i.

e.

the Austere,

air


Sd

appendix 1

Soon they were sped and thou, most blest,

In thine own smiles ambrosial dressed.
Didst ask what griefs my mind oppressed
What meant my song
What end my frenzied thoughts pursue
For what loved youth I spread anew
My amorous nets ' Who Sappho, who
Hath done thee wrong ?
What though he fly, he'll soon return
Still press thy gifts, though now he spurn
Heed not his coldness soon he'll bum.
E'en though thou chide.'
And saidst thou thus, dread goddess ? Oh,
Come then once more to ease my woe ;
Grant all, and thy great self bestow,
My shield and guide ! *

Here

the beauty and grace of the language lies in

the connexion of the

junctures.

For

another, and are

the

Vowels

letters.

words

woven

each case a natural

in

words and the smoothness of the

are

lie

by the side of one

into one, as

though there were

affinity

or a marriage between the

fitted

on to mutes and semi-

vowels through nearly the entire Ode, these in a leading

place, those in a subordinate.

Of concurrences of semi-

vowels with semi-vowels, or of vowels with vowels, to

trouble the

smooth waters of the cadences, there are

very few.

I have looked carefully through the whole

Ode

and among

all

that

number of nouns,

verbs, and

other parts of speech, I find only five cases, or possibly

six,

of the combination of semi-vowels not naturally

Translated by J. Herman Merivale, 1833. The original is in

the same metre, the Sapphic, as the Ode quoted in sect, 3 of
'

the Treatise.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus
to

suited

be

commingled,

[De

do

and even these

roughen the flow of language

in

87
not

any great degree.

Compos'ttione Verborum, c. xxiii.]

PLUTARCH
40-120

Plutarch (about

Boeotia, where, in later

Rome, and

years in

life,

visited

great work, the Parallel Lives

he

his later years,

historical,

ethical,

style

is

Besides his

Italy.

of Greeks and Romans, written

miscellaneous essays on

literary subjects,

which bear the general

by strong

and a love of anecdote

cumbrous, but has much individuality.

The

taken deals with the question

is

in

many

feeling, amiability

which our extract

ia

he spent many

All his writings are distinguished

good sense, right

man

and

of Moralia.

title

other parts of

the author of

is

native of Cbaeroneia

a.d.), a

he held a priesthood

his

Treatise ftom

How a

young

should be introduced to Poetry in preparation for Moral

Philosophy.

Plutarch

may

be read in Amyot's French translation,

or in English in Philemon Holland's.

HOW A YOUNG MAN SHOULD READ POETRY

Still more
as soon as

we

we

carefully will

introduce

him

impress upon him,

to poems, a conception

of poetry as an art of imitation,

sponding to painting.
old jingle, that Poetry

Painting

is

when we

Painting which speaks, and

is

mute

we
it

the ugly can

it

not because

us teach

him

but

the other hand, if

copy of an ugly form,

In

beautiful.

we

it

itself

praise

whether the subject

effects a likeness,

On

let

enjoy and admire

is

never become beautiful

be bad or good.
a beautiful

see a lizard painted, or an ape,

or the face of a Thersites,

imitation if

scope corre-

is

because

it is like,

its

not let his lesson stop at the

Poetry which

further that,

in

Do

it

it

present

has failed to render

88

jippendix

a proper likeness.
natural actions, as

There are
Timomachus

her children, and

Theon Orestes

I
artists

painted

who paint unMedea slaying

slaying his mother,

Our

pupil

we must

teach

and Parrhasius Ulysses feigning madness.

should be made familiar with

him

we do

that

these

all

not praise the action, of which the

imitation is before him, but the art

the action properly

tells us,

feelings

what

is

approve

which has imitated

that accordingly,

when Poetry also

form, of bad actions and vicious

in imitative

and characters, he

is

not to accept as true

admired and successful therein, nor yet to

it

as beautiful, but only to prdse

as

it

as

when we

is suitable

it

in so far

and proper to the given person.

heair

Just

the squealing of a pig, and the dull

noise of a windlass, and the whistling of winds, and

the roar of the sea,

if

we

are troubled

any one imitate these

give the sow, and

it.

full

Again,

and disgusted, but

naturally, as

Parmeno used

to

Theodoras the windlass, we enjoy

we shun

man

stricken

by sickness and

of sores, as being a disagreeable spectacle

but

we

look with pleasure at the Philoctetes of Aristophon,

and the Jocasta of Silanion, represented

and dying men.

Just so,

what

the

Thersites

when

buffoon,

a young
or

like

wasted

man

reads

Sisyphus,

or

a Batrachus, has been exhibited saying or doing, let

him be taught to

praise the art

and the power which

imitated such things, but as for the disposition and the

conduct described, to repudiate and think meanly of

them.

It is

one thing to imitate a beautiful object,

and another to imitate an object

beautifully.

For

Plutarch
'

beautifully

only

means

'

and

fit

shoes of

Demodocus

were shabby

The

lines

ugly the

suitably, but to the

fitly,

suitable things are the ugly.

affairs,

Why,

the

lost,

and

which he

the cripple,

then prayed that they might

well,

8 9

the feet of the thief

fit

but they fitted him.

If thou must sin at all, take courage man,

Sin where a kingdom is the prize,
[Eur. Phoen. 245.]

an^

Make

As
ad_
To

thou thy credit angel-white, thy deeds

both for gain
dark as desperation

ylnon.

take or not to take?

talent I can pass, yet live

As sleep the
Down there,

just

'he

no,

(tr.

a talent

E. M.)

humph

and

sleep,

never shall they say

lost his soul

and won a

groat.'

uinon.

are so

many

vicious

but good enough for Eteocles

lies,

and Ixion and a hoary

artist in sixty

per cent.

\De Audiendis

Poetis, c.

iii.]

DION CHRYSOSTOM
Dion Chrysostom (about 50-117 *!>.), a native of Prusa in
a famous rhetorician and sophist ; in philosophy an
Bithynia

eclectic,

with a strong attraction to Stoic and Platonic views.

His Orations, really Essays on literary and philosophical subjects,

have charm of thought and purity of

or seriousness of aim.

The

style,

with

passage translated

is

little

severity

an interesting

comparison of the methods of Poetry and Sculpture, put into the

mouth of Phidias, whose

art

is

supposed to be put upon

its

defence.

THE DEFENCE OF PHIDIAS

To
man

all

this Phidias

might perhaps

reply, being

no

without a tongue, a citizen of no city without


Appendix 1

90
a

'

and

and moreover a friend

tongue,

Pericles

of

intimate

Men

of Greece, the issue

ever been tried

for

is

the greatest which has

not about power or office in

it is

a single city, nor about numbers of navy or of army,

and

their right or

upon
rules

my
all,

wrong

administration, that I

defence this day; but about the

and his

likeness,

whether

handsomely and with truth to

the best rendering which
or whether
that

it

man can

first

has been wrought

give of the divine,

But consider

unfit.

the

be

to

put

wanting nothing of

life,

be unworthy and

was not the

it

am

God who

expounder and

among you. For I. was not bom in the

when Greece had still no clear and steady

teacher of truth
early days

principles about these things

elderly,

she was already in a sort

and had convictions about the gods, which she

held with vehemence.

Of

the works of stone-cutters

and masons which are older than

my own

handiwork,

harmonious enough unless as to accuracy of

I have nothing to say.

But

and immovable, to which no opposition was

and I found other

to full

able,

much

possible,

much

older

wiser, I

mean

artists in divine things,

than myself, and claiming to be

the poets

finish,

found your opinions old

they said, to lead us by their poetry

knowledge of the

divine,

whereas our works

have only just this passable resemblance.

For

appearances, those of the sun and moon, and

divine

heaven, and the stars, are most wonderful in their

selves,

but their imitation

man were

is

simple and artless,

to try to copy the phases of the

the

all

own
if a

moon

or

Dion Chrysostom
the disk of the sun.
are full of character

nothing of the

Again, the objects themselves

and of thought,

in their likenesses

Accordingly the

exhibited.

sort is

Greeks of old took

91

For mind and wisdom,

this view.

no sculptor or painter

as they are in themselves,

will

ever be able to represent, they are absolutely unable

to see such things or to search

them

out.

not guess at that wherein this originates,

and therefore

body

recourse to

we

we

have no pattern and despair of getting one,

seek to exhibit under a visible and

form that which

visible

is

beyond our

and we use

than some

effectually

liken the divine to

He who

pretexts.

human

attaching a

it,

which contains wisdom and

to a god, as a vessel

reason
so

we have

But we do
we know it,

the

aid

of

and

trifling

in-

more

symbol,

who, they

barbarians,

animals upon

most

intelligible

intelligence

tell

us,

and absurd

greatly excels in a sense of

beauty, dignity, and magnificence should be the best

artificer

by

said that
a

it

far

of images of the gods.

were

.better that

Nor can

it

be

no shrine, no likeness of

god should be exhibited among men, as though we

ought to gaze only on the heavenly things.

All those

heavenly things are honoured by a sensible man,

deems them
afar.

to be blessed gods, beholding

But because of our

divine, ail

men have

who

them from

towards what

feeling

is

a strong desire to have the deity

near them, to honour and to care for

addressing themselves to

it

incense,

and placing crowns.

children

when

torn from

approaching, and

with conviction, burning

For

father and

just

as

mother

young
feel


Appendix I

92

and

strange yearning

hands

do men

gods

to

who

are not there, so also

they rightly love them because of

and

benevolence

and often stretch out their

desire,

dreams to those

in

and

kinship,

eager

are

many

barbarians, in the poverty

call

art,

hills,

stones by the

gods than

and meagreness of

and motionless

form.

If I

no way nearer to

in

am

their

and unmarked

trees,

name of gods, though

is their

do

to

Accordingly

anything to follow and be with them.

to be

blamed about

the figure, you cannot be too prompt in directing your

wrath against

form

in a

Homer

first

he not only imitated the

manner most closely resembling

and

ing the hair of the god,

mention-

when he speaks of Thetis

beginning of the poem,

entreating for the honour of her son

but, besides all

he ascribes to the gods meetings, deliberations,

this,

harangues,

how

they came from Ida and arrived at

Olympus and heaven,

their

courting,

ornament of

Agamemnon
butes
'

their

with great

verse,

a mortal likeness.

yet

sleeping,
loftiness

keeping

drinking,

their

no

closely

and

doubt,

always

to

Yes, and when he dared to compare

to the

god

in

his

most sovereign

attri-

In eyes and head

But the work of

my

like thunder-loving

view of beauty or

Zeus '.

handicraft no man, no lunatic,

could ever compare to mortal man,

in

art,

his beard too, at the very

size.

So

it

if fairly

comes

examined

to this, that if

I do not appear to you a far better and wiser poet than

Homer, whom you have decided

to be a peer of the


Dion Chrysostom
gods

in

own

am

wisdom, I

you choose.

am

ready to undergo any penalty

resourceful and independent

it

express

which

its

grandeur,

wants a tongue to help

it

can never be

these are

it

be

passion or

speaking voice

at fault for a

and his words o'erflow

lightly,

move

'Full swift: and wide their range to

race

is likely

to

',

it

has

left

and

fro'.

of

this alone

it

has

Nothing reaches the

up marvellous great wealth.

which

in to

go short of everything

sooner than of speech and language

senses,

fact,

own

its

Homer's own words

For the human

laid

of

whatever

very distinctly.

all this

Man's tongue wags

can,

it

the wishes of the soul

all

thought perceives, figure or

to announce
'

it

a copious undertaking,

is

and a supply of words, and then

self,

my

speaking with the powers of

For poetry

art in view.

93

unspoken or unstamped; down

goes upon the conception the clear seal of a word, often

several

words

for

one thing

speak any one of them,

and you convey a thought scarcely

reality.

So man has very

great

less powerful than the

power and resource

language to express what occurs to him.

of the poets
that of

is

But the

very wilful and irresponsible, most of

Homer, who

is

bolder than they

all

in

art
all

he did not

choose one type of language, but mixed up

all

Hellenic language, long distinct in

Dorian

and Ionian, and Athenian

into one as dyers

not stop at his

tors

mix

own

too,

he mixed them

colours, only

generation, but

had a word dropped

out,

its parts,

more

freely;

the

all

up

he did

went back to ances-

he was sure to pick

it

appendix I

94

up, like an old coin out

sparing no single

word which seemed

enjoyment or intensity

and, besides

in metaphors, not only

at

of an uncldmed treasure-house,

words ; and again many barbarian terms,

for love of

all

have in

to

it

he drew

these,

all

neighbour-words or those lying

hand, but the very most remote, to charm his hearer,

Even

and astonish and bewitch him.

own

allow to keep their

and contracted

came out

there,

as a

and altered

round ; and at

all

maker not of verses

terms, speaking out of his inner

inventing

names

these he did not

ground, but lengthened here,

for things,

last

only, but also of

self,

sometimes just

sometimes giving a new

sense to standard words, as if he were impressing upon

a seal a clear and yet more distinct

alone, but, in a

of wind, and

seal, leaving

no sound

word, imitating sounds of river and wood,

fire,

and

sea.'

\0r.

Olympicui.^

xii,

LUCIAN
Lucian (about

120-200

a.d.), of Samosata, the capital of

A brilliant and witty

CommagenS.

a great variety of subjects.

speaking, a pure Attic.

writer,

His style

The

is

has

left

and

is,

works on
generally

on the question

treatise

History should be written,' shows, as do

much

who

excellent,

many of

'

How

his writings,

discrimination and literary feeling.

HOW NOT TO WRITE

There

is

just after the accession of

The

HISTORY'

a story of a curious epidemic at Abdera,

passage which follows

King Lysimachus.

It began

by the kind permission

irom the translation of Lucian by H. W, Fowler
and F. O. Fowler (Clarendon Press, 4 vols., 1905).
'

of the

translators,

is

extracted,

;;

Lucian

9f

with the whole population's exhibiting feverish symptoms,

strongly

marked and

attack.

About

in

some cases by a
by

in others

from the very

uninterraittent

the seventh day, the fever

stage-struck,

Their favourite

Andromeda of Euripides ; one

recitation

mental
all

at the

was the

would go

the whole place

who were

of pale ghosts,

full

The

they were

after another

through the great speech of Perseus

was

mouthing blank verse and ranting

top of their voices.

first

relieved,

from the nose,

violent flow of blood

perspiration not less violent.

however, were most ridiculous

effects,

was

our seventh-day

tragedians vociferating,

Love, who

and the

rest

of

lord'st

over

it

Gods and men,

This continued

it.

for

some

time,

till

the coming of winter put an end to their madness with

a sharp frost.

I find the explanation of the form

took in this fact

actor,

and

in the

it

Archelaus was then the great tragic

middle of the summer, during some

very hot weather, he had played the Andromeda there

most of them took the fever

valescence

was followed by a

Andromeda haunting
ing,

Gorgon's head

epidemic.

is

They

into tragedy, the

memories, and Perseus hover-

their

like

the majority of our

suffering

from an Abderite

not

would have been a minor

mind's eye.

like,

with

now
are

and con-

in hand, before the

Well, to compare
educated class

in the theatre,

relapse

stage-struck, indeed;
infatuation

that

to be possessed

with other people's verses, not bad ones either 5

but from the beginning of the present excitements

no

the

appendix I

9<J
barbarian war, the
victories

nay, every one you

be the father of

has

it

meet

The

a Xenophon.

historians

Annenian

disaster, the succession

you cannot find a man but

a Thucydides, a Herodotus,

is

old saying must be true, and war

all

things,

now teemed

Such sights and sounds,

what a

seeing

litter

my

Fhilo, brought into

my

A report

was marching on the town had thrown

Corinth into a bustle

of

forth at a birth.

head that old anecdote about the Sinopean.

that Philip

of

writing history;

is

all

one was furbishing his arms,

another wheeling stones, a third patching the wall, a

fourth

strengthening a battlement, every one making

himself useful
nothing to do
a job

somehow

Diogenes having

or other.

of course no one thought of giving htm

was moved by

the sight to gird up his philosopher's

cloak and begin rolling his tub-dwelling energetically up

and down the Craneum

got, the explanation

do not want

'

an acquaintance asked, and

only idler in such a busy multitude

to be thought die

am

rolling

my

tub to be like the rest.'

I too

am

my cask

at so

I do not like walking across the

stage, like a 'super,' in gaping silence

roll

dumb man

reluctant to be the only

vociferous a season

as best I could.

so I decided to

do not intend to write

a history, or attempt actual narrative

am

not coura-

geous enough for that; have no apprehensions on

account

the rocks, especially if

brittle

my

I realize the danger of rolling the thing over

earthenware like

it

is

only a poor

mine;

knock against some pebble and

little

jar

of

should very soon

find

myself picking up

Lucian
Come,

the pieces.

97
my idea for campaign-

I will tell you

ing in safety, and keeping well out of range.

Give a wide berth

to

all

foam and

that

spray,

and to the anxieties which vex the historian

shall

be wise enough to do

little

advice,

that I

and lay down a few principles for the

of those who do venture.

benefit

but I propose to give a

I shall have a share

in their building, if not in the dedicatory inscription

finger-tips will at least

However, most of them

there might as well be

history-writing

your thoughts
it

without

into

But the

old friend

Thucydides

a hearing from

offended

their

work;

able,

it

in cases

would be
it

it.

we

truth

is

you know

not a task to be

it is

a possession for ever,'

Well, I

who have finished and produced

where

folly to

its first

reception

was favour-

expect the authors to recast or

not the stamp of finality?

a State document

words

uni-

know I shall not get

many of them, and some will be seriously
calls

especially any

correct; has

is

care as any sort of composition

whatever, if one means to create

as

or eating i

or carried through without effort;

much

needs as

it

seeing,

comes natural,

necessary is thefaculty of translating

words.

my telling,

lightly undertaken,

no,

is

my

see no need for advice here;

an art of talking,

is perfectly easy,

versal gift ; all that

have touched their wet mortar.

is it

Yet even they may

not almost

profit

by

are not likely to be attacked again

have disposed of

all

our enemies

my
we

but there might be

a Celto-Gothic or an Indo-Bactrian
friends' composition

war

then our

might be improved by the applica-

appendix I

98

my

tion of

recognize

measuring-rod

always

supposing that they

them do

correctness; failing that, let

its

own mensuration

with the old foot-rule

not particularly mind, though

Abdera

all

their

the doctor will

on

insists

spouting the Andromeda.

Advice has two provinces

of avoidance;
avoid

let

of what

us

first

faults

one of

choice, the other

decide what the historian

he must purge himself

is

to

and

then proceed to the measures he must take for putting

This

himself on the straight high road.

will include

the manner of his beginning, the order in which he

should marshal his

facts, the questions

of proportion, of

discreet silence, of full or cursory narration,

Of

and connexion.
the present

we

that,

however,

deal with the vices to

As

are liable.

all

to those faults

of comment
on

later

to every kind of composition, to discuss

But

my

them

space nor relevant to

my

common

is

neither

purpose.

there are mistakes peculiar to history; your

observation will

show you

just those

you have only to keep your ears open

way
a

It will

to a

few

be convenient, however, to refer by the

begin with.

It

neglect the examination of facts,

is

Here

is

the fashion to

and give the space

gained to eulogies of generals and commanders

own

me

at every oppor-

illustrations in recent histories.

serious fault to

of their

own

which a constant

attendance at authors' readings has impressed on

tunity.

for

of diction, construction,

meaning, and general amateurishness, which are

compatible with

which bad writers

those

side they exalt to the skies, the other side

they disparage intemperately.

They forget

that between

Lucian
history

and panegyric there

communication;

is

in musical phrase, the

The

a couple of octaves apart.

one concern

^^

a great galf fixed, barring

to commend and

some way or other ;

two things

are

panegyrist has only

gratify his living

theme

if misrepresentation will serve his

purpose, he has no objection to that.

History, on the

other hand, abhors the intrusion of any least scruple of

falsehood
tell

it

is like

the windpipe, which the doctors

us will not tolerate a morsel of stray food.

Another thing these gentlemen seem not

and history

that poetry

the

has but one law

poet's fancy.

and possessed by the Muses

his car with

know

is

and have

Poetry enjoys unrestricted freedom

their separate rules.

it

to

offer different wares,

winged

if

He

is

inspired

he chooses to horse

steeds, or set others a-galloping

over the sea, or standing com, none challenges his right;

his Zeus, with a single cord,

may haul up

and hold them dangling together

cord

may

smashed

break, the load

to

Agamemnon,

atoms.
there

is

there

earth and sea,

is

no

fear the

come tumbling down and be

In a complimentary picture of
nothing against his having Zeus's

head and eyes, his brother Posidon's chest, Ares's belt

in fact, the

son of Atreus and Aerope will naturally

be an epitome of

all

Divinity;

Zeus or Posidon or Ares

could not singly or severally provide the requisite perfections.

But, if history adopts such servile arts,

it is

nothing but poetry without the wings; the exalted tones

are missing

assistance
is

and imposition of other kinds

of metre

is

virithout

the

only the more easily detected.

It

surely a great, a superlative weakness, this inability to

"

appendix 1

loo

from poetry ; what, bedizen history,

distinguish history
like her sister,

exaggerations

muscles of

with

tale

and eulogy and

as well take

their attendant

some mighty

athlete with

him up with purple drapery and

steel, rig

meretricious ornament, rouge and

powder

his cheeks

would one make of him with such

faugh, what an object

defilements

[Quoffist/o Historia contcribenda sit, sect.

1-8.]

CASSIUS LONGINUS
Cassius Longinus
literary teacher,

Emesa

(113-273 a.d.)

bom, according

in Syria, or

He was

rhetoric.

and did not

great philosophical and

to varying accounts, at Palmyra,

Athens, where his uncle, Phronto, taught

a

great

student

satisfy the Neoplatonist

and interpreter of Plato,

teachers, being called

Plotinus a philologer and no philosopher.

by

Porphyrins the com-

mentator on Homer was one of his most distinguished pupils. He

became the teacher, and afterwards the political adviser, of Queen

Moved by a genuine love of liberty, he encouraged the

Queen to assert her independence of the Emperor Aurelian ; and for
his share in the rising he paid with his life, when Palmyra was
taken and destroyed. Considerable fragments of his works
Zenobia.

remain, the most notable being a part of his Rhetoric, which had

been intermixed in MSS. with a similar work by Apsines, and

was extricated by the insight of the great scholar D. Ruhnken,

though not published till after his death by W. Bake.

LONGINUS ON THE TIMAEUS OF PLATO

'

One, two,

three

but where, dear Timaeus,

is

the

fourth of our guests of yesterday, our entertainers of

to-day

where
*

is

he

The opening words of the Timaeus

of Plato.

;'

loi

Cassius Longinus
Longinus the

of which the

considering this passage as to

critic,

language, says that

it

somewhat

is

first

composed of three members

is

trivial

and ordinary,

because the expression wants connexion, but

by the second, through the

dignified

wording, and the continuity of the phrases

however, receive a

much

from the

third.

elevation^
three,'

is

'

that both,

greater accession of grace

Thus

style

our fourth, dear Timaeus, where

varied by the ordinal

numbers used before;

'

fourth

it is

'

and

the clause, 'One, two,

composed of unconnected terms, made

The next clause,

rendered

is

variation in the

is

flat.

he ?

as against the cardinal

also constructed

of words

in

an effective manner, and in both ways makes the expression

more

dignified.

But the words, 'of our guests

of yesterday, our entertainers of to-day,' over and above

the grace and beauty of the words used, give spirit and
elevation to the

whole period by the fresh

turn.

\_From the Commentary of Proclus, Voucher, p. 274.]

LONGINUS ON STYLE
Not the least important
Art of Rhetoric is Style;

part of an inquiry into the

for the arguments

and

all

the parts of Discourse appear to the hearers just what

Style
light

for the judges the

Style

Such Discourse may be

makes them.

is

cogency of the proof.

not to be neglected

greatest care should be given to

1
'

called a

of thoughts and of trains of reasoning, illuminating

The Greek word

Sublimity.'

is

Accordingly,

on the contrary, the

it,

and those orators

that used in the Treatise to express

Appendix I

I02
taken as

ment,

models

and

have

who

have excelled in

invested

There

utmost beauty and variety.

slightest

this

will

depart-

with

delivery

their

the

not be the

use in a ready and nimble wit applied to

the judgement, the discrimination, the sagacity of a

whole
you

train

fail

of reasoning, and

to use those cadences

steps,

number of

which are most

if

and

suitable, attending

and arrangement of nouns, and to the

to the selection

charm a

its individual

to set the thoughts to the best expression,

verbs.

For

there are

hearer, wholly apart

many

things which

from the thought, and the

treatment of facts, and a study of character which

carries conviction.

Music and harmony of expression

are found even in those animals

much more
a sense

in

one social and

of symmetry.

which herd together,

rational,

and possessing

If then you could produce what

is

musical, harmonious, and rhythmical, and elaborate

it

to the utmost nicety, cutting out here, and adding there,

taking the measure of

what the

time, the needs of the

passage, the sense of beauty require, your discourse will

be truly convincing and eloquent ; even as the poetry of

Homer, who did not reckon this a paltry or a cheap

matter, for each of his poems has a good and easy
style.
Take again Archilochus of Paros, for he, too,
has taken great pains with
poets in a body, or those of

not even those

who

careless or disdainful

this.

Or

take the Tragic

Comedy, or the Sophists

write of philosophy have

been

of style: Plato and Xenophon,

Aeschines and Antisthenes have been extraordinarily

careful,

and have used

all

due pains.

To

the great

io|

Lmginus

Cassius

leader of the choir of orators this merit belongs as his

own

by

come within

The

he would seem

this

to surpass

all

others

who

the same class.

of style

office

to give our hearers a clear,

is

clean, intelligible, rational account; and, while doing so,

never to drop proper dignity, but to appear to use and

combine the same elements of speech, the same symbols,

to express the subject of thought, with

mankind

and also that which

strange,

all

the rest of

but to mingle with the familiar that which

the utterance;

is

is

novel and beautiful in

here are two marks to set before us,

clearness in statement,

and with clearness

pleasure.

If

you should use Hyperbata out of season, forcibly sepa^

rating words, breaking the events,

you

sequence,

and

displease

will

language will be ambiguous and

if

and disturbing the

irritate,

show

the period be unseasonably extended, and

exceed

all

You

measure.

and your

great gaps, even

will not carry

its

limits

men with

you,

unless you are a wizard with grace and pleasure in your

gift,

changing and embroidering your terms.

Avoid
breaking

the

staining
its

body of your discourse and

continuous texture by words too archaic

and unfamiliar.

Again,

it

to observe the injunctions

will not

be without service

of Isocrates; not to make

your style rough by the juxtaposition and concurrence

of vowels, so

called,

which do not admit of combination

and therefore seem to make the texture of the language

discontinuous, not passing

without a

trip,

flow of voice.

it

to the ear smoothly and

but arresting the breath and staying the

appendix I

I04
The

distinctive

any one

who

mark of good rhythm

turned and

rhythmical, well

of which,

discoverers

to

clear

is

has been accustomed to the effect of

rounded sentences, the

who

those

exhibited

first

specimens of beautiful language, I enumerated above.

If you give your

mind

to the matter,

you

how

will see

they discriminate and apportion their study of euphonious

Now

speech.

they add a detail to the common, plain,

dull phrase, the

one in prevailing use among the mass

of ordinary people, and found

body

the

naii^eic

first

nearly

all

mouth.

can say

cxuv presents a

phraseology

in every

person you meet

there are

distinctive type

Any-

irait,tis,

but

of language and

many such redundant additions,

down to single letters.

the parts of speech,

They even add two

such parts, or even more; but with

these you must take care, and observe the standard of

language; for you must not introduce or appoint yourself

as a law of your

own

making, to which to refer

law of language does not

rest

upon

us,

but

the

we upon

the law.
[Rhetoric of Long'mus, ch.
3.J

II

The

and Latin

Treatise on Sublimity
Critics

COMPARISON of the

tained

in

Appendix

is

the contrast, if

we

analytical,

Even more

Aristotle

as a part

and

race,

it

of the

present before us.

notably in his

'

Plato,

actually existed,

much

as

equipment of

elevation,

own

his

in

which

sublime
;

but

is at

writings, and

Myths,' strikes a note which

of the word,

his

is,

in

any

criticism

he disparages poetry as

and places the

on a scale of nine, above the

;

literature,

does not come in his way to touch

whimsical and intangible

tyrant

business-like,

is

intellectual

upon that quality of sublimity, or

sense

in

striking

ready with a shrewd anecdote or a point

Bacon does,

human

con-

works of Aristotle

turn back to the

of caustic humour; he deals with

the

critics

wide divergence

I shows a

on Rhetoric and Poetic Art.

Sublime

the

Greek

and conception.

style, treatment,

on

Treatise

with the specimens of the later

ideal poet

artisan,

is
it

one degree,

and two above the

he exhibits the eloquence of Pericles and Cimon

as ineffectual, if not mischievous.

Treatise venerates Plato,

meet on any common ground as

Thus we

The

author of the

and copies him, but they do not

critics.

cannot but be aware of a certain non-Greek

character in the

work ;

of this which led

it

may have been

Mommsen

to write

partly a sense


Appendhc II

J0(S
'

The

dissertation

on the Sublime, written

unknown

period of the Empire by an

works preserved to us from

finest aesthetic

certainly

proceeds,

who

from a man

if

not from a Jew,

Homer and

revered alike

\The Provinces, Bk.

And

again

in the first

author, one of the

at

antiquity,

any rate

Moses.'

viii.

ch. il.J

The gulf between

that treatise on the Sublime, which

Homer's Poseidon, shaking land and
sea, and Jehovah, who creates the shining sun, side by
side, and the beginnings of the Talmud which belong
'

ventures to place

marks the contrast between the Judaism

to this epoch,

of the

and that of the third century.'

first

Assuming, for there seems

question

it,

to be

[Ibid.]

no special reason to

the substantial integrity of the text in the

passages to which reference

is

made,

we

observe that,

if

the writer had been himself a Jew, he would not have

quoted the opening words of the

Nor
the

can

we

work of

Law

incorrectly.

speak with any certainty in the absence of

Caecilius

many of whose

repeated in the Treatise, and

who

was,

if

illustrations are

we may

believe

Suidas, a Jew.
It remains to ask

whether the language and thought

of the Treatise betray the influence of the Latin basis

of the great

His

latest

Empire under which the author

English editor

'

lived.

has pointed out Latinisms of

construction and rhythm, which

we cannot usefully follow

out here, but which seem undeniable.

We notice also

the frequent lists of words unconnected by conjunctions.

'

See

Rhys Roberts, pp. ii and iS8.


and Latin

Sublimity
Such

lists

may be found

'

107

Critics

Longinus and Dionysius,

in

but not so framed as to give the sense of intensity and

we

fervour of which

are often aware in the Treatise,

especially

when

Rhetoric,

fall into pairs,

the terms, by a device familiar in Latin

or other combinations

Coincidences of detail with the

40-118
'

have been pointed out.

A. D.)

Some

in,

penetration, enjoying

not heard them.'

'

Such

are pleased with these obscurities

have taken them

What

'.

critic Quintilian

are

(about
:

when they
own

they are delighted with their

them as though they had discovered,

{Quint,

2.

viii.

21

cp. p. 12.)

we may

the Greeks call fantasies

call

visions

whoever has conceived these well

will be

matters of feeling.'

29; cp. p. 32, &c.)

away from the judge,

'

The

which

{Quint,

Apostrophe,

is

wonderfully

38

{Quint, ix. 2.
'

As
If

we

specifics,

infants.'

{Quint,

are likely to have

in expression,

" so

we must come
to speak,"

stirring.'

cp. p. 38.)

vi.

i.

36

cp. p. 55.)

gone to hazardous lengths

to the rescue with certain

and the

{Quint,

viii.

like.'

3,

37;

cp. p. 57.)

The treatment of the Figures and of Composition

Quint, ix may be compared with pp. 70-2 of the
'

in

though you were to attach the mask and buskins

of Hercules to
'

in

vi. z.

turning of the speech

is called

most effective

'

'

Treatise.

These

instances

See also Vaucher,

'

are

p. 85,

drawn from Vahlen's

and add

Although these luminous

notes,

effects appear to shine

See pp. 17, 23-4.

and

appendix II

id8

show

to a certain extent to

in relief,

compare them to sparks

true to

of smoke than to flame

whole speech
shine,'

they are not seen at

viii.

6.

29;

much

rate there is not

the professional

critic,

midst

when the

cp. p. 41.)

It is possible that these details

by both writers from the

all

just as stars disappear in sun-

is in light,

{Quint,

would be more

it

glittering in the

lost

may have been borrowed

work of

Caecilius.

common between

in

At any

Quintilian,

writing with a limited educational

many of

purpose in view, though

his judgements go

deeper than this and are admirably expressed, and the

exponent of the Sublime, writing for men already in public

life.

If

we

look for the most characteristic views of the

latter, for

the purpose of comparing them with anjrthing

to be found in Latin authors,

we may

two of a

select

general kind, the love of civil liberty, and the sense of

greatness in Nature.

concern

literature,

great thoughts

Others, which more immediately

may be

stated as precepts

^Think

live with great authorsform your own

standard with reference to their practice

dare

to look

beyond your own contemporaries for applause.

The blessings

of

and the numbing depression

liberty,

of the imperial system are commonplaces in Tacitus,

and

are specially prominent in the Dialogue on the Causes

of the Decay of Oratory.

fan

described

men

Eloquence requires motion to

that stir of free civil

it,'

fanatic

'

in

each

the
is

Treatise.

life,

which

Yet

neither author

is

so forcibly
is

aware of the weakness which makes

praise the past, at the expense of

what

is

within

and Latin

Sublimity

Tacitus reminds us that the boasted liberty of

reach.

was often turmoil and lawlessness; he allows

may be more patriotic

the Republic
that

109

Critics

dignified opportunism

than a pretentious death,

and

that

examples were

needed that even under bad emperors there might be

great

Both

men.

beyond mere

writers look

political

freedom which character alone gives

status to the

the

emancipation from distracting desires and fears.

are slaves besides

be ruled than to
latter

of

whom

and perhaps for such

live free.

it is

'

felt

All

better to

Here Cicero and Horace

thought and

(the

more earnestly on these

he sometimes receives

subjects than

Persius

'

credit for doing),

and Juvenal, are vehemently with them

in

opinion.

The awe
familiar to

in the

presence of what

great in Nature

is

is

Horace speaks of those who could

Romans.

look ' with no fear ' on the mighty regularity of the heavenly
bodies

but he makes

it

he is not a good enough

clear that

He

laughs at the

man

who likes to draw his pint of water from a great

but
or who cuts his mouthfuls from a great mullet

river

Epicurean to be one of them.

he

is

and the

dealing with the avaricious man,

and any

good enough

stick is

to belabour them.

then

glutton,

Cicero's

mind was impressed by the vastness of Nature and of

the Universe

he

felt

works often makes

than in the

as a poet, and in his philosophical

this clear,

Dream of Scifio,

the Republic preserved

Nile thundering

nowhere

by Macrobius.

down from

in

more

a fragment of his

the

cliffs

detail

work On

We hear

in

it

of

and deafening the

dwellers around, of Ganges, of Ocean, in his different

1 1

Appendix II

and under his

parts,

of Caucasus

all

diflerent

names, of the great barrier

dwarfed when seen

in relation to the

system and the Universe, yet, even

Solar

The

and wonderful.

vast

so,

heavenly bodies themselves are

immensity, and in the regularity of their

awfiil, in their

courses, especially in the conception of that great cycle

of time of which the years then recorded by history were

not a twentieth part, which was to bring the heavens

back to their ancient order.

As

Cicero and Horace have not much in com-

critics,

mon with

Cicero was profoundly interested

one another.

in the history

and prospects of

never mentions

it,

Latinity which

it

for the future of

Roman

oratory

Horace

unless to express approval of the pure

Horace was deeply concerned

exacts.

Roman

poetry

Cicero loved poetry,

especially that of his countrymen,

and had much poetry

in his

own

genius, but he does not contemplate poetical

literature as a critic.

ideas

in

Greek models, and of them

the greatest

Pindar, Alcaeus, Sappho,

Alexandrians.

He

is

pointed out (see note on

inspiration

himself, as
p.

Horace

the Treatise.

constantly exhorting the young poets of

Homer,

we have

In both authors, however,

which meet us also

Rome

his

Alcman

is

to study

own were

not

the

Addison has well

31), singularly responsive to

drawn from Homer. Cicero, besides giving

us in the Brutus a series of careful and sympathetic

portraits

the

of

Speeches

Roman

orators,

reproduced

of Aeschines against

Demosthenes On

the

Crown,

in

Ctes'tphon

as an orator,

he

Latin

and

tells us,

not as a translator, thus meeting the question,

How

Sublimity

and Latin

would these masters of language have

had they spoken

in

III

Critics

said this or this,

Latin? Horace, proud of his supre-

macy as lyric poet of Rome, assured to him by the voice of

his contemporaries, yet looked to a
in

more

fame which should be part of

Cicero thanks Brutus in touching terms

him of performances

'

which

own when mine

their

is

reward

lasting

Roman
^ for

history.

reminding

of

will speak with a voice

silent,

and

when

live

am

dead.'

The most
that in

remarkable judgement in the Treatise

is

which the author expresses his preference for

great excellence, though marred

excellence,

however

flawless.

by

failure, to

It

was hardly to be

moderate

expected that Horace should proclaim the same view,

and indeed

Rome.

it

was a dangerous one

His anxiety was

to send abroad in

upon men of his

to impress

generation the truth that a happy gift of verse, even if

it

should amount to genius, would not ensure them

success without study of the

art,

grammar of the

poetic

whatever might have been the case with Greeks

working upon their more

work

is

plastic material

that slovenly

bad work; and that a poem which declines

from the highest,

at

once sinks to the lowest.

Cicero, in

the person of Antonius, requires perfection in an orator,

since any failure

is

taken to

both writers would allow,

come of

'

stupidity.'

we may be

Yet

sure, unstinted

praise to actual genius, even if it flagged palpably or spoke

with a stammering tongue.

Certainly

Horace discusses

with excellent good sense the old question of Genius

^

Brutus, end.

112

Appendix II

and Art

he allows that

he himself chafes

at

Homer can be

drowsy, though

every nod.

Even more remarkable than

this

judgement

itself is

the basis upon which the author of the Treatise rests

Perfection

is to

of art;

is

it

be exacted in a statue, for that

it.

a work

is

not to be found in literature,_/or words

are an endowment luhich comes

This

from Nature,

might seem to contradict Aristotle's view that Poetry

and Painting, or Sculpture, are

alike imitative arts.

Aristotle expressly distinguishes arts which, like

But

Music

(and he ranks Poetry with Music), reproduce action and

character themselves from arts which, like Painting or
Sculpture, imitate the features or gestures accompanying
action or character

between the imitation of nature in

her processes, and the imitation of nature in her effects.

Burke touches on the point

Essay, but

is

hardly explicit

Poetry, goes nearer to

So

Shelley, in his Defence of

it.

far as ancient literature is concerned, the reasoning

remains

unique,

anticipated

in

and we cannot expect

Latin,

furnishes a practical
essential, link
is

Yet

Latin

commentary on the

that

strange, yet

which Roman genius

two such works

their authors,

less

left

and given to the world

impwfect condition by other hands.'

'

'

It

of the

sets before

poem of

as the didactic

Lucretius and the Aeneid of Virgil were

it

itself

between greatness and imperfection.

vastness of the task

by

find

to

literature

a noticeable result,' writes Professor Sellar,

itself,

of his

in the last chapter

;

unfinished

in a

more or

No poem was

ever projected upon lines more likely to produce the

Sublimity and Latin Critics

'

legitimate

poem ' which Horace

Aenad, none was more

the great

all,

desires, than

113
was the

faithfully elaborated, and, after

poem needs

to be studied with allowances,

over and above those due to failing time.

Yet, if Horace

had been consulted by Varius and Tucca, he would

certainly
poet,

with

have given his voice against that of the dying

and preserved to the world so much greatness,

inseparable imperfections.

its

It is not desired to

draw any conclusion from these

observations, nor indeed

research

would any be

may have some

the Treatise in

its

complete form, or as to

and any discovery may be

It

may

Future

possible.

discovery in store for us as to

in the nature

its

authorship,

of a

surprise.

therefore not be wholly idle to point out certain

afEnities to

Latin thought, to remind ourselves that

Horace began

his literary life

by writing Greek

lyrics,

and to add that the professions of Greek nationality

implied on p. 28
conventional,

no one.

may have been understood

thin

disguise

which

to be merely

need

deceive

114

III

Passages translated from Bishop Lowth^s

Oxford Lectures on Hebrew Poetry

ROBERT LOWTH
Robert Lowth (1710-87), a native of Winchester, and educated
in the College there, and at New College, Oxford, of which he was
a Fellow (1729-50). He was Professor of Poetry at Oxford
(1741-50), and from that Chair delivered in Latin the Lectures on

Hebrew Poetry from which our extracts are tramlated. An argument

used in this course drew on him an attack from Warburton, which
he answered in a letter which has become a classic. In later life
(1778-9) he published Isaiah, a New Translation with notes.
He was Bishop successively of St. Davids (1 766), Oxford (l 'j66-'j'),
and London (1767-87).
The extracts have been chosen

solely for their literary interest,

and as showing

how

in the thoughts

of eighteenth-century

points relating to
possible,

'

the Treatise on the Sublime was constantly

the Figures

however, that,

if

'

also because

many

receive illustration in them.

It is

critics

the arguments and illustrations were

checked by a competent Hebrew Scholar, the contents of the

Lectures would even

now be

found of value.

OF SUBLIMITY IN DICTION
I

the

HERE
word not only the

great

understand Sublimity in the widest sense of

sublimity

which puts forward

subjects with magnificent images

and elaborate

words, but that indescribable power in style which

strikes the
feelings,

mind through and through, which

stirs

the

which expresses ideas with clearness and

l^ohert
never

distinction,

Lowth

iif

thinking whether

the words

be

simple or ornate, choice or vulgar: and in this I follow

Longinus, the greatest authority upon Sublimity,

its

meaning and treatment.

Sublimity

lies either in

In most cases

it

arises

the diction or in the feelings.

from both causes simultaneously,

the one helping the other, and sharing with

it its

force and weight, in a sort of friendly partnership.

own
This

does not prevent our being able to treat each separately

much

without

We will

inconvenience.

therefore

first

look into the poetic diction of the Hebrews, in itself

and as compared with prose, and ask what

name given

deserve a

it

has

in it to

of sublimity.

in virtue

Poetry, in whatever language, has a diction peculiarly

own

its

vigorous, grand, sonorous, in

its

exaggeration, in their arrangement choice

far

removed from vulgar usage by

words
and

its entire

full to

artistic,

form and

complexion, often, in the freedom which indignation

gives,

breaking the

voice;

which confine common

barriers

Reason speaks with a low, temperate, gentle

speech.
is

orderly in arranging

setting terms to

studies first

of

not

much

subjects,

plain

in
it

all

perspicuity, careful to leave nothuig

With

confused, obscure, involved.

is

its

them, distinct in their exposition;

care for

all

this

the Feelings, there

ideas flow tc^ether in

swollen stream, they struggle within; of these the more

vehement burst out as chance wills it, wherever they
may; whatever has life and glow and speed they snatch
up, they

do not seek

out.

In a word. Reason uses

unassisted speech, the Feelings utter the language of

t 2


Appendix III

ii(J

Whatever be the

poetry.

the

which

feeling

mind goes deep down

into that

clings there, labouring to give

it

stirs

which

utterance;

enough to express a thing barely and as

is;

must express

it

tion,

with

according to

it

splendour,

to express

magnificence, distinction

itself

not

it

actually

own

concep-

melancholy, or

feelings

the mind, they strive

methods;

and

is

it

by

their

own

towards fullness of speech; they

marvellously enhance and exaggerate

principal

its

be, or

For the

exultation, or horror.
natural force are borne

may

it

the mind,

stirs it

and

either

by

all
it

that is within

with elevation,

this they effect

illustrating

by two

the subject

with splendid images drawn from elsewhere, or

by introducing new and strange forms of speech; which

have great power just because they copy, and in a manner
reproduce, the actual condition of the

Hence

mind

at the time.

those Figures of which rhetorical writers

so much, attributing to

Art

others belongs to Nature

make

the one thing which of

all

For Nature forms our spirits to receive

Each bent that outward circumstance can give;
She kindles pleasure, bids resentment glow.
Or bows the soul to earth in hopeless woe;
Then, as the tide of feeling waxes strong.
She vents it through her conduit pipe, the tongue.
Horace, A. P.

What

of the nature of

is true

all

poetry will be at

Hebrew
much power it has

once acknowledged to hold specially good of

poetry.

We have already seen how

in transferring

and adapting Images, and what great

117

J^bert Lowth
brilliance,

Then,

majesty, elevation

in diction,

and dignify

is

often employs,

we have

has drawn from

it

this.

observed what power to adorn

possessed by the poetic dialect which

and also by the

it

arrangement of

artistic

sentences, so closely connected with a metrical system,

which

is

We

itself entirely lost.

have

now to ask
in Hebrew

whether there are any other potent elnents

poetic

prose

which separate

diction,

it

off from

of

that

Nothing can be conceived simpler than the ordinary

Hebrew

language:

sane, simple;

all

in

carefully chosen

there

is

even a thought about them

for the
first,

is

it

bare,

straightforward,

the words are neither far-fetched nor

no
;

attention to periods, not

the very order of words

is

most part constant and uniform, the verb comes

then the noun which denotes the agent, the rest

follow;
adjuncts

separate phrases express separate things, the

are subjoined

by themselves, the parts are

never involved, and do not obstruct one another

important of all, a single particle

most

may carry the connexion

unbroken from beginning to end, so that no struggling,

or abruptness, or confusion

apparent.

is

Thus

whole order of the writing, and the conUnuity of

the
its

connected parts, are such as to show an even mental

condition

in

the

writer,

a calm and tranquil

the case

is

spirit.

quite different.

to

reflect

But

The

in

spirit

the

image

Hebrew

of

poetry

dashes on un-

checked, having no leisure or will to attend to minute

and

frigid details

its

conceptions are often not clothed

or adorned by language, but laid open and hare

veil

;;

Appendix III

ii8
is

drawn

look straight into every

and movement of the mind,

impulse, the

onward

it

to be satisfied of this will, I

for himself, if he will only

make an

Let him take up the book of Job,

ment.

sudden

the

rush, the manifold turnings.

Any one who wishes

sure, see

we

so that

aside,

condition

am

experi-

read

first

through the historical preface, and then pass on to the

metrical part, and carefully examine Job's

I think that he will

happened

now

when he came

speech.

to the poetry, he felt himself

what

carried suddenly into

first

allow that something has

is

almost another language

the difference in style appeared to him greater than

if

he passed from Livy

Herodotus

Homer,

to

Virgil,

to

or

put

or

even

plunge into a chorus of Sophocles or Euripides.

so indeed

from

down Xenophon

this passage imitates a passion so

to

It is

vehement

no poet has ever attempted anything more burning

that

and intense: not only are thoughts and images admirable

in force, beauty,

and sublimity, but the whole

style

and

character are such, the verbal colouring so vivid, the

up of matter so abundant, the sentences so close

piling

and continuous
spirited

more

in their multitude, the

whole

Most of

poetical.

these points are so clear that

they cannot possibly escape a diligent reader

especially those

relating

somewhat deeper ;
effect,

in

into

found to vanish.

to

some

and easy to take

when you look

is

fabric so

and passionate, that Poetry herself has nothing

cases,

what

in mentally, is

it, it

As

form and

seems
it is

clear

much

others,

structure,
is

lie

powerful in

hard to explain
handle

it,

and

it

to our point, I shall

T{ohert Lovoth

119

endeavour, with your indulgence, to put before you a

specimen of these beauties of

The

reader should

style.

notice

first

how violently the

grief

of Job, long boiling within his bosom, and forcibly

confined there, breaks out

Let

the day perish

And

I was to be born on it
(i.e. on
which I was to be born)
the night (which) said, There is a man child

conceived '.

Observe the concise, abrupt structure of the

and the bold

the second.

figure,

Ask

and

still

more abrupt

yourself whether so sharp a contor-

tion of language could have been

style,

first line,

construction, in

endured in any prose

or even in verse, without underlying passion of the

strongest kind to support

I think, that the sense

it.

Yet you

of the period

will acknowledge,

is

thoroughly

so clear that, if the expression were fuller

explicit, it

would give the thought and

speaker less
accident

we

fitly

and

less distinctly.

are able to put this

to

feeling

By

clear,

and more
of the

a fortunate

the proof;

for

Jeremiah has a passage so like this one, being so to

say

its

sense

is

twin, that

it

The

might seem to be copied.

the same, and the words not very unlike

but

Jeremiah has filled in the gaps in the structure, smoothing

out the broken language of Job, and expanding the short
distich into a pair of long lines, such as he often uses:

Cursed be the day wherein I was bom:

Let not the day wherein my mother bare
blessed.
'

Job

iii.

3.

me

be

appendix III

I20

Cursed be the man

who

bringing glad tidings to

my

father,

Saying,

man

made him

child is born unto thee,

very glad'-

The

result is that Jeremiah's imprecation is rather

than indignant;

querulous

plaintive, so

it

is

a feeling in which this Prophet

whereas Job does not

stir pity,

Let us move on a
points

the

more

framed as to arouse pity

closely

quiet,

high degree,

especially strong

is

but inspires terror.

We

little.

pass over obvious

thoughts,

set

gentle,

in a

following

in

but

connexion, and bursting with impetuosity and

slight

force from a burning breast ; the grand and magnificent

words

rolled along in a headlong stream of indignant

eloquence
as

many

poetry

we have

short lines,

to dwell

fullness

the others are

it,

on

of

space

it

would seem,

all

this,

what

is

still

more

twice
in

poetry,

unfamiliar.

the meaning of the

of language, which takes the place of the former

curtness, in this

That
In

in

two of them constantly occur in

at least,

and never out of

Not

four,

only used,

night

this, again,

let

darkness have

we have an

and mental disturbance.

it.

indication of strong feeling

No

doubt he

first

conceived

the sentence thus

Let
But,

and the

that night be darkness.

when he had started, he caught up his own words,

result is increased spirit

'

and

Jeremiah xx. 14, 15,

intensity.

'

121

1{ohert LoToth

We return

to

Job

Lo,

He

let that

seems to

night be barren

form and image

set before his eyes the

of that night, to look into

it,

to point to

it

with his

The doors of my womb ' for the doors of

my mother's womb (v. lo) is an ellipsis which is easily
'

finger.

'

'

to be supplied, but

which no one when

Not

master of himself would venture.

much of your

time, I will only quote

and

tranquil

to take

up too

one passage

towards the end of this speech

Wherefore

will he give light to him that is in misery.

unto the bitter in soul;
Which long for death, but it cometh not;
And would dig for it more than for hid treasures;

And

life

Which would rejoice exceedingly, and exult.

They would triumph if they could find the grave
To a man whose way is hid from the sight of God,

And whom God hath hedged in

For my sighing cometh before I eat,
And my roarings are poured forth with my
?

The
let

composition of the whole passage

us touch briefly on single points.

he give light to him that

God, no doubt

whom

failed to notice that

in

what went

is in

'

misery?'

is

drink'.

admirable

Wherefore

Who

the speaker had in mind, and

no mention had been made of

before.

will

will give?

He

Him

seems to speak of the

miserable in general terms, but by an abrupt turn of

thought he applies these to himself:

cometh before

I eat':

from which

it

'for

my

appears that

sighing
all

the

foregoing expressions are to be understood specially of

'

Job.

iii.

7.

Job

iii.

ao-4.

appendix III

22

He

himself.

from

passes from singular to plural, and back

to singular,

plural

first

introducing that grand

expansion of phrase by which he expresses the desire

death,

for

a bold and powerful

passage

he

then

suddenly resumes and continues the original thought

which he seemed
it is

in

to have

done with.

clear, I think, that the

From

this

all

excitement and disturbance

the speaker's mind are expressed, not only by happy

boldness

in

and images,

thoughts

and the

weighty words, but even more by the whole

of

use

drift

and

tenor of the speech.

What

I have thus far tried to point out in this noble

my

passage, holds good, in

of

all

Hebrew

and matter;
character,

Hence

opinion, in a high degree

Poetry, regard being had to the subjects

it

uses a language of an active, ardent

and one naturally adapted to mark the

it is full

feelings.

of turns of speech from which their

own

prose style shrinks, and which sometimes seem to have

a hard and unfamiliar, even a barbarous sound;

which, as

we may

reasonably conjecture, have their

but

own

force and purpose, even

when

a step further,

perhaps be worth our while to

it

will

least patent to us.

Going

venture our experiments on other points of the kind, in

the hope of clearing up

some of them.
[Lecture xiv.J

OF SUBLIMITY IN DICTION
In order
characteristic

to bring out

more

{continued)

clearly Sublimity as a

of Hebrew poetry contrasted with prose,

I sent the reader to the

Book of

Job, where he

may

I^obert

Lowth

123
and

easily observe the great difFerence, both in matter

also in diction, between the historical preface, and the

As

metrical sequel.

may seem

the comparison

drawn upon a passage where, even

if

unfairly

both parts had been

written in metre or both in plain prose, the difFerence in

subject-matter
style, let

us

would have required

now make

taking one where the

prose,

and

same subject-matter

where Moses takes the two

a most

is treated in

We

also with a poetical setting.

an excellent example in the

First, in

a great difference in

the experiment on another place,

shall find

Book of Deuteronomy,
of orator and poet.

parts

impressive speech, he exhorts the

Israelites to observe the

Covenant, setting before them

the richest rewards, and deters

by threats of the greatest

them from breaking

penalties

then, that this

it

may

sink deep and remain fixed within their hearts, he sets

out the same theme, by the express

in a

poem which

is essentially

command of God,

sublime.

In both passages

we perceive every quality of force, grandeur, magnificence,

possessed by the Hebrew language in either style, and
and we see meanwhile the
its great power in both
;

points of difference between the two, in thoughts, images,

arrangement of subjects, form and colouring of the

diction.

Any

one

who may wish

to look closely into

the nature and genius of poetical expression in

will

do well to compare these passages

Hebrew

carefully with

one another, and see the great difference between the

one

style,

grand, no doubt, and vehement, and

also orderly, flowing, consecutive, and, for

all

full,

its

but

rush

and vehemence, moving evenly on, and poetry, with

its

appendix III

124

sharp, swift, thrilling sentences, elevated in thought,

glowing in words, novel in their arrangement, varied

in

as the spirit of the prophet once and

structure,

again hurries itself from this to that, and never rests

Most of these points

stationary.

are such that

easier for a careful reader to note

observation, than

it

them

to understand

is

to explain

common

a class

Hebrew

much

his

own

intelligently, or

Certain points,

how-

poem, which belong to

poetry, yet

and sometimes by their extreme

force,

more

in

them

as explained.

ever, call for notice in this noble

it is

them from

by

their great

difficulty,

demand

careful examination.
first

point which I wish to notice as of general

application, taking

my example

frequent change of persons; I

from

mean

this passage, is the

in addresses, for

of

the introduction of various speakers I have already spoken

sufficiently.

Near the beginning of the poem, Moses

sets out the absolute truth

counsels and doings of

and

God

justice observed in all the

and he takes the oppor-

tunity to inveigh suddenly agdnst the criminal perfidy of

the ungratefiil People

present

first,

as though they were not

They have

corrupted themselves, they are not his

children,

Then he

it is

their blemish

addresses them directly

perverse and crooked generation.

Do

ye thus requite the Lord,

and unwise ?
Is not he thy father, that hath bought thee
He hath made thee and established thee.

foolish people

'

Dent, xxxii, 5.

:'

lay

'Robert Lorvth
Then, as

his burning indignation abates a

little,

and

he looks more deeply into the matter, he sets out

most

beautiful terms the indulgence

more than

turned

his

own

people,

away from the

God

towards the

fatherly affection

witnessed continually since the day

them to be

of

and

Israelites

in

and his

Israelites,

when he chose

all this

in

language

then he marvellously

emphasizes the dullness and stupidity of the ungrateful

and impious people, or rather sheep.

Now

mark with

what a burst the indignation of the prophet once again

breaks forth

But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:

art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou
art become sleek;
Then he forsook God which made him.
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation '.

Thou

In one brief sentence the speech

to the Israelites,

with admirable effect;

is

it

fervid,

pared with this passage of

traitor

suddenly directed

most

Moses

ingenious,

forcible,

pointed,

Worthy to be com-

charged with hate and indignation.

less burning but

is

and then turned from them afresh,

is Virgil's

apostrophe,

where he taunts the

with his crime, and at the same time clears the

king of the odium of cruelty

'Not

far off

Mettus had already been torn asunder by

the chariots driven apart

but a keeper of your

word

^ah,

false

Alban, were you

*
!

[Lecture xv.]

Dent, xxxii. 15.

Aen.

viii.

642.


IV

I2<J

Additional Note on Paraphones

'Deux

[p. f3).

musicistes grecs postfirieurs i I'ere

autres

chrftienne font mention d'une catfigorie intermSdiaire

d'accords:

les paraphones, expression

rendre en franjais par demi-comonances.

qu'on pourrait
Thrasylle, con-

temporain de N^ron, donne la qualification de paraphones

aux

intervalles

de quinte

et

de quarte.

L'dcrivain le

plus recent, Gaudence, difinit les paraphones

" sons

[accouplls] tenant le milieu entre les symphonies et les

diaphonies, et qui, dans le jeu hStfaophone des instru-

ments, paraissent consonants ".

de

Tels sont,

ajoute-t-il,

parhypate et de la
paramese, ainsi que la tierce majeure compose de la
diatonique et de la paramese.' (Gevaert et VollgrafF,

de

I'accord

triton, formfi

la

Problhnes musicaux d'Aristote, Gand, 1899.)

The
tion

is

date of Gaudentius
quite

resolution of one

sound

essentially the use

few.

It

may

tion quoted

is uncertain.

No

explana-

which does not imply the

satisfactory

into several, since periphrasis is

of many words

therefore be

in place

of one or

of interest to add an explana-

from the Abb6

Amaud

(1721-84):

'Je suis convaincu que, par les sons paraphones,

Denys Longin n'entend autre chose que ces notes que
nous appelons de gofit et de passage, et qui, loin de

d&aturer la subsistance du chant, I'enrichissent et

Foment infiniment.
De mSme que les variations
musicales, qui portent dans un air un beaucoup plus
grand norabre de sons, sans en altfirer le sens et le
theme, lui prStent plus d'agrlment et de vie, ainsi la
piriphrase, qui consiste i expliquer une chose par un
certain, nombre de mots au lieu de la d&igner par son
terme propre, donne souvent i cette chose plus d'&ergie
et de grice.
Des lors il n'y a plus d'obscuritfi; la
comparaison devient on ne peut pas plus juste.'

127

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES

OCCURRING IN THE TEXT
(TA references are
Achilles, 35.

Aegyptus, 48.
Aeschines, 40.
Aeschylus, 5, 34-5.
Agathocles, 9.
Ajax, 14, 18.
Alexander, 8, 15, 57.
Alvadae, 13.

Ammonius, 30,
Amphicrates, 6, 9,
Anacreon, 56.
Apollonius, 6r-3.

Aratus, 25, 50.

Archilochus, 25, 30, 62.

Arimaspeia, The, 24.

Aristeas, 24.
AristogeitoD, gl-a.

Aristophanes, 73-

to pages.')

Danaus, 48.
Demosthenes, 4, 25, 28-9, 31-2,
36, 38, 46, 49, 51, 57, 63,
66, 72.
Dion, 9.
Dionysius, 8, 35, 45.
Dirce, 73.
Elateia, 35,

Elephantina, 50.
Eratosthenes, 62.
Erigone, 62.
Etna, 66.
Eupolis, 39.
Euripides, 33, 35, 73.

Gorgias, 6.

Aristotle, 57.

Artemisium, 40.

Hecataeus, 51.
Hector, 48, 51.

Bacchylides, 62.
Boreas, 5.

Hegesias, 6.
Helios, 33.

Cadmus, 48.

Heraclidae, 51.
Heraclides, 9.

Caecilius, 1,

8,13,14,56,57,

59Callisthenes, 6.

Cassandra, 34.
Ceyx, 51.
Clvieroneia, 36, 39-40.
Cicero, 28.
Circe, a I.

Hercules,

*j^,

Hermocrates, 8.
Herodotus, 9, 10, 13, 45, 50,
54. 56> 69> 75Hesiod, 16.

Homer,

16-22, 24,
61-2, 66, 79.
Hyperides, 36, 63-5.

Cleitarchus, 6.

The, 20.

Cleomenes, 56.
Colossus, The, 67.

Iliad,

Cyrus, 49.

lonians, 46.

Ion Chius, 62.

32,

43,

Index of Proper Names

128

Isocrates, 8, 44,
Ister,

68-9.

Postumius Terentianus,
Pygmies, The, 79.

Lycurgus, 35.
Lysias, 60, 63, 65.

Rhine, The, 66.

Matris, 6.

Megillus, 9.
Meidias, 44.

Salamis, 38-40.

Meroe, 50,

Taking

Pythes, 56.
Pythia, The, 30.

Marathon, 38-41.

Miletus,

Polycleitus, 67.

Poseidon, 17.

The, 66.

of,

49.

Moses, quoted, 18.

Sappho, 23.
Sarpedon, 48.
Simonides, 35.
Sirius,

34.

Socrates, 9.

Nile,

The, 66.

Ocean, 66.
Odyssey, The, 19-22.
Oedipus Tyrannus, 48, 61.
Oedipus Coloneus, 35,
Orestes, 36.

Parmenio, 15.
Pelops, 48.
Peloponnesus, 49.
Penelope, 52.

Phaethon, 33.
Philip, 42, 56, 57.
Philistus, 73.

Phocaea, 45.
Phrynichus, 49.
Pindar, 62.
Plataea, 38, 40.
Plato, 9, 28, 29, 31, 48, 53>

58-60, 65, 66.

The, 34.

Pleiads,

Sophocles, 6, 48.
Spearman, The, 67.
Stesichorus, 30.

Terentianus, I, 3, 8.
Theocritus, 61.

Theodorus, 7.
Theophrastus, 57.
Theopompus, 35-7, 75.
Thermopylae, 69.
Thucydides, 31, 46, 49, 69.
Tiber, The, 66.
Timaens, 8, 9.
Ulysses, 21, 22.

Xenophon,

9, 13,

43, 49, 53,

58. 77Xerxes, 6.

Zeus, 21.
Zoilus, 21.

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HoRACB Hart, M.A.

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