On the Sublime

Addressing his “dear friend” Postumius Terentianus, Longinus recalls when the two of them read a treatise on great writing, by Caecilius. Longinus feels that Caecilius’s work, although well-intentioned, is “not worthy of its subject” (3), and fails to instruct the reader about how to become a great writer. The friends agree on the basic principle that “great writing does not persuade; it takes the reader out of himself” (4). Postumius has asked Longinus to write down his own opinions on great writing, and Longinus will now do precisely that.

Some believe that “great writers are born, not made” (5), and that it is impossible to teach great writing by technical rules. Longinus disagrees: Even natural talent is not “random or altogether devoid of method” (5), and genius needs the discipline of knowledge and training. Readers also need critical training to perceive literary effects, including those produced through inborn talent.

At this point there is a lacuna in the text. When it resumes, Longinus quotes from a lost play by Aeschylus. He criticizes the play’s language as excessively theatrical, bombastic, and full of confused images. This example leads Longinus to identify the first major fault in writing: