Gregory's stylistic criticisms of his opponent in Against Eunomius show the terminological influence of the Art of Rhetoric and Philological Discourses of the third-century critic Cassius Longinus. There is no conclusive evidence of his familiarity with On Sublimity

Heath, M.

English

White Rose Research Online

This is a repository copy of Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa .White Rose Research Online URL for this paper:http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/392/Article:Heath, M. (1999) Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa. Vigiliae Christianae, 53 (4). pp. 395-400. ISSN 0042-6032 eprints@whiterose.ac.ukhttps://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/Reuse See Attached Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. Vigiliae Christianae 53 (1999), 395-400 Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa Malcolm Heath University of Leeds ABSTRACT: Gregory's stylistic criticisms of his opponent in Against Eunomius show the terminological influence of the Art of Rhetoric and Philological Discourses of the third-century critic Cassius Longinus. There is no conclusive evidence of his familiarity with On Sublimity. 1. Gregory and Cassius Longinus In Against Eunomius Gregory of Nyssa repeatedly satirises his opponents style.1 The vocabulary used in the following passage is striking, and on closer investigation reveals something of Gregorys intellectual background (1.480): taàta di¦ tÁj ™mautoà lšxewj gr£fw, oÙ parermhneÚwn aÙtoà t¾n di£noian ¢ll¦ tÕ stomfîdej kaˆ katestoibasmšnon tÁj ˜rmhne…aj ™panorqoÚmenoj, æj ¨n eÙsÚnopton aÙtoà p©si tÕ boÚlhma gšnoito, di¦ tÁj kat¦ t¾n lšxin safhne…aj ™kkaluptÒmenon.  I put these things in my own words, not to distort his meaning, but to correct the bombastic and impacted quality of his diction, so that what he intends can be easily grasped by everyone, unveiled through the clarity of the language. Two words here are worthy of note. katestoibasmšnon (impacted) has only a single earlier attestation: the third-century literary scholar, rhetorician and philosopher Cassius Longinus used it in his Art of Rhetoric to describe a stylistic shortcoming of Thucydides.2 Familiarity with Longinus critical writings on Gregorys part is intrinsically plausible; Eunapius, a younger contemporary, testifies to Longinus high reputation as a critic, and to the fact that a large number of his works were still in circulation and were held in great esteem (4.1.1-6 = 6.9-7.7 Giangrande). stomfèdhj (bombastic), a word which (with the cognate stÒmfoj) Gregory uses several times in Against Eunomius,3 is also associated with Longinus. Jaeger (ad 1.480) comments that it is a technical term in rhetoric; but that is misleading.                                                  1 On Gregorys critique of Eunomius style in general see E. Norden Die Antike Kunstprosa (Stuttgart 1915) 558-62; C. Klock, Untersuchungen zu Stil und Rhythmus bei Gregor von Nyssa (Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie 173, Frankfurt 1987), 145-58. So far as I am aware, the connection with Longinus has not been noticed previously. 2 On Longinus see L. Brisson and M. Patillon, Longinus Platonicus Philosophus et Philologus, I. Longinus Philosophus, ANRW 2.36.7 (1994), 5214-99; Longinus Platonicus Philosophus et Philologus, II. Longinus Philologus, ANRW II 34.4 (1998), 3023-3108; M. Heath, Longinus On Sublimity, PCPS 45 (1999), 43-74. The Art of Rhetoric is known from an extensive fragment (179-97 Spengel-Hammer) and an epitome by Michael Psellus (208-12 Spengel-Hammer, re-edited in P. Gautier, Michel Psellos et la rhétorique de Longin, Prometheus 3 (1977), 193-9). The comment on Thucydides is preserved only in the epitome (212.3 Spengel-Hammer = 88 Gautier). Since Psellus was the epitomator, the occurrence of katestoibasmšnon in his Chronographia (6.33) is presumably also dependent on Longinus. 3 stÒmfoj: 2.360; stomfèdhj: 1.480; 2.360, 413, 480, 607.  MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA In Aristophanes Clouds 1367, stÒmfax was applied to the style of Aeschylus; we learn from an anonymous commentator on Hermogenes (RG 7.963.17-964.9 Walz) that Longinus interpreted this passage in the context of a discussion of the word stomfèdhj in book 21 of his Philological Discourses.4 With the possible exception of the treatise On Sublimity, the date and authorship of which are disputed (see §2 below), there is only one occurrence of a cognate word in extant literary criticism and rhetorical theory before Longinus: Hermogenes uses the verb stomf£zein (Id. 247.13 Rabe), but does not apply it directly to a style (he is describing the shape of the mouth associated with sounds appropriate to a certain style). The fact that Syrianus, in his commentary on this passage of Hermogenes (1.39.11-15 Rabe), felt the need to explain stomf£zein and stomfèdhj suggests that they were not standard technical terms. Two pupils of Syrianus also use the word: Proclus (In Tim. 1.64.22) and Hermias (In Phaedr. 9.17-19 Couvreur). This distribution of evidence suggests that stÒmfoj and its cognates were introduced into critical currency in late antiquity under Longinus direct and indirect influence.  Elsewhere, Gregory makes ironical use of the language of sublimity (Ûyoj) in his satire on Eunomius style (1.29):5 dhloàtai g¦r ™ke‹ dÁqen t¦ pepragmšna kaˆ t¦ p£qh di¦ toà lÒgou e„j Ûyoj a‡retai kaˆ e„j tragJd…aj Ôgkon ¹ ƒstor…a metaskeu£zetai For there his exploits are made known, his sufferings raised to sublimity through his discourse, and the story transformed into the magnificence of tragedy. Here, too, we can infer a connection with Longinus. Proclus reports Longinus analysis of the opening sentence of Platos Timaeus, in which he shows how its structure achieves sublimity (In Tim. 1.17.4-20). The concept of sublimity appears elsewhere in Proclus.6 In Syrianus commentary on Hermogenes it is striking that sublimity is paired with grandeur (Ûyouj kaˆ megšqouj metšcein 1.30.5), since Hermogenes himself never uses the word Ûyoj,7 although he speaks frequently of grandeur (mšgeqoj) and magnificence (Ôgkoj). Syrianus introduction of sublimity into a context where it did not originally occur suggests that the neoplatonic interest in the concept is distinctive; these writers are not simply reproducing a critical commonplace. The implication is that some predecessors treatment of the topic has exercised an influence on the tradition in which they were working, and the obvious candidate for the source of this influence is again Longinus. Ôgkoj, paired with sublimity in Against Eunomius 1.29, is also recurrent in Gregory and Longinus.8 The word means bulk, and can be used in a positive                                                  4 Longinus discussion was apparently drawn on by a later commentator on Aristophanes: cf. SV Clouds 1367. John of Sicily (RG 6.225.9-29) seems to have contaminated his sources note on stomfèdhj in the Philological Discourses with his own recollection of On Sublimity 3.1. 5 Cf. ØyhlÒj 1.551, 3.6.35, 3.7.1. 6 In Tim. 1.64.7-11 (citing Longinus pupil Porphyry), 1.64.11-23; In Parm. 646.28 Cousin. 7 The adjective ØyhlÒj occurs three times. 8 Gregory: Ñgkèdhj 2.339; Ôgkoj 1.81, 3.3.27, 3.5.26; Ñgkèsaj 3.7.1. For Longinus see 214.13, 28 Spengel-Hammer, and the fragment of the Philological Discourses quoted by Lachares 294.14-35, in H. Graeven, Ein Fragment des Lachares, Hermes 30 (1895), 289-313.  2MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA sense (magnificence) or in a negative one (tumidity). It is very widely distributed in ancient criticism (we have already noted its occurrence in Hermogenes), and is thus less distinctive. But there is one possible, if subtle, symptom of Longinian influence in Gregorys use of it. Longinus interpreted the Aristophanic stÒmfax as meaning that Aeschylus diction has fantas…a but not sÚstasij (æj tîn ·hm£twn toà A„scÚlou fantas…an mān ™cÒntwn, mhdem…an dā sÚstasin mhdā krÒthsin RG 7.964.6f.). Compare Gregorys remark (2.340) that Eunomius over-inflated (Ñgkèdhj) style, like mist seen from a distance, seems to have sÚstasin ... tina kaˆ fantas…an, although on closer inspection the sense disappears. Has the phrasing been suggested by a passage in Longinus that Gregorys use of stomfèdhj had already recalled to mind? 2. Gregory and On Sublimity The constellation of terms stÒmfoj, Ûyoj and Ôgkoj which we have traced in Gregory and Longinus also occurs in the treatise On Sublimity.9 This work was universally attributed to Longinus until the beginning of the nineteenth century; since then the attribution has been widely questioned, and most scholars now reject it. I believe, however, that the objections to Longinus authorship are ill-founded, and that there are positive connections between the treatise and the fragments of Longinus which make the traditional attribution the most credible and economical hypothesis.10 If that is so, then it is worth considering whether there is any evidence that Gregorys familiarity with Longinus critical writings extended to On Sublimity (or, if the traditional attribution is not accepted, that he was familiar with On Sublimity in addition to works by Longinus). I note the following parallels: (i) Subl. 3.1 ™n tragJd…v, pr£gmati Ñgkhrù fÚsei kaˆ ™pidecomšnJ stÒmfon (in tragedy, a thing that is by nature magnificent and tolerant of bombast): cf. Against Eunomius 1.29 (quoted above) e„j Ûyoj ... kaˆ e„j tragJd…aj Ôgkon (to sublimity ... and ... into the magnificence of tragedy). Tragic Ôgkoj is too common a notion for this parallel to be used as evidence in itself, but it may have some weight when taken with other possible echoes of the same chapter of On Sublimity. (ii) Subl. 3.2 ka… tina tîn Kallisqšnouj Ônta oÙc Øyhl£, ¢ll¦ metšwra, kaˆ œti m©llon t¦ Kleit£rcou: floièdhj g¦r ¢n¾r kaˆ fusîn ... (certain passages in Callisthenes that are not sublime so much as elevated in mid-air, and even more those in Clitarchus; for he is a pompous fellow, blowing ...): cf. the parallel progression in Against Eunomius 3.7.1 ™pˆ toÝj Øyhlotšrouj metšrcetai lÒgouj kaˆ metewr…saj ˜autÕn kaˆ Ñgkèsaj ™n diakšnJ fus»mati lšgein ™piceire‹ ti tÁj toà qeoà megaloprepe…aj ™p£xion (he proceeds to more sublime discourses, and elevating himself in mid-air and swelling himself up in empty blowing he tries to say something worthy of the                                                  9 stÒmfoj 3.1, 32.7; Ûyoj passim; Ôgkoj 3.1 (ÑgkhrÒj), 3.4, 8.3, 12.3, 15.1, 28.2 (ÑgkÒw), 30.2, 39.3, 40.2, 43.5. 10 See Heath (n.2).  3MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA grandeur of God). But the evidential value of this parallel is weakened by Philo De Ebrietate 128: 'Aarën dš ™stin Ð ƒereÚj, kaˆ toÜnoma ÑreinÕj ˜rmhneÚetai, metšwra kaˆ Øyhl¦ fronîn logismÒj, oÙ di¦ megalauc…aj kenoà fus»matoj ØpÒplewn Ôgkon, ¢ll¦ di¦ mšgeqoj ¢retÁj (Aaron is the priest, and his name means mountainousi.e. reason that is elevated and sublime, not because of the swollen tumidity of boastfulnesss empty blowing, but because of the greatness of his virtue).11   (iii) Subl. 3.3-4 expounds the paradox that ill-judged attempts to avoid aridity (xhrÒthj) lead to tumidity (Ôgkoj), and hence to the very aridity that was being shunned: cf. Against Eunomius 2.607, on Eunomius bombastic aridities (t¦j stomfèdeij ... taÚtaj xhrostom…aj: the last word is a hapax).  (iv) Subl. 3.4 links periergas…a (over-elaboration) and tÕ meirakiîdšj (puerility): cf. Against Eunomius 2.128-9, where kommwtik¾ perierg…a (over-elaborate embellishment) is linked to tÕ gl…scron kaˆ meirakiîdej (pettiness and puerility). See also Against Eunomius 1.19, on the kommwtik¾ perierg…a needed in the absence of truth.12 (v) Subl. 12.3 ™n ÔgkJ kaˆ megaloprepe‹ semnÒthti (in magnificence and solemn grandeur): cf. the pairing Ñgkèsaj ... megaloprepe…aj in Against Eunomius 3.7.1, quoted in (ii) above. Again, the parallel cannot be pressed, since this juxtaposition is not unique (cf. Aristotle Poet. 1459b28; Plut. Comp. Dem. et Cic. 1.3); but the next example involves a possible further echo of the same passage. (vi) In Against Eunomius 1.19 Gregory refers to the inherent beauty which illuminates the text like lightning (o‡koqen ™pastr£ptei to‹j legomšnoij tÕ k£lloj) when the truth is expounded pure, unadulterated and without artifice. Lightning imagery is also applied ironically to Eunomius style at 1.482: æj ™pastr£ptei tÍ sunt£xei toà lÒgou tÕ le‹on kaˆ katestilbwmšnon tÁj lšxewj (how the polished brilliance of the diction illuminates the composition of his discourse like lightning). Imagery of light, fire and thunderbolt is found frequently in On Sublimity (1.4, 12.3-4, 15.11, 17.2, 30.1,13 33.5, 34.4). Particularly interesting is Subl. 12.3, already mentioned under (v) above, where Platos magnificence and solemn grandeur is described as having less intensity (oÙc oÛtwj ™pšstraptai) than Demosthenes. Since ™pistršfein has a recognised use in stylistic criticism to denote vehemence or intensity, it is methodologically correct for modern editors to retain the transmitted ™pšstraptai. But Bentleys conjecture ¢pastr£ptei (justly described by Russell ad loc. as brilliant), introducing a reference to lightning that fits well with the                                                  11 A number of other parallels between Philo and On Sublimity have been noted in the past: see D.A. Russell (ed.), Longinus On the Sublime (Oxford 1964), xxix-xxx. There is no consensus as to whether these parallels prove that the author of On Sublimity had read Philo. 12 Cf. ¢nal»qeij in Subl. 3.4? A purely verbal echo, at most: the context and sense are different. 13 The parallel with Longinus Art of Rhetoric 186.19-20 Spengel-Hammer has long been recognised.  4MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA  5                                                surrounding images of flame (™kflegÒmenon) and thunderbolt (skhptù ... keraunù), would give a striking parallel to Gregorys use of ™pastr£ptei. (vii) Subl. 34.2 skèmmata oÙk ¥mousa (jests not lacking in taste): cf. Against Eunomius 2.561 ¥mousa skèmmata, the only exact parallel I have traced,14 although there are looser parallels in Plutarch (Alexander 39 tini tîn perˆ pÒton kaˆ skèmmata oÙk ¢moÚswn) and Lucian (Merc. Cond. 34 oÙk ¢moÚswj ... ¢poskèptwn); cf. also Libanius Prog. 12.6. These parallels are not by any standard of reckoning conclusive. But we could scarcely have hoped for conclusive evidence that Gregory had read On Sublimity: he is not a mechanical imitator, and has no reason to make a specific allusion to that text, the concerns of which are only incidentally relevant to his project. Given the probability that Gregory was familiar with the critical writings of Longinus (see (§1) above), the parallels might be thought suggestive if it is accepted that Longinus was the author of On Sublimity; but no stronger claim is warranted.  14 I report here the findings of a search of the TLG D CD-ROM. 

Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa

Malcolm Heath

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This is a repository copy of Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa .
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Heath, M. (1999) Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa. Vigiliae Christianae, 53 (4). pp. 
395-400. ISSN 0042-6032 
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https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/
Reuse 
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Vigiliae Christianae 53 (1999), 395-400 
Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa 
Malcolm Heath 
University of Leeds 
ABSTRACT: Gregory's stylistic criticisms of his opponent in Against Eunomius 
show the terminological influence of the Art of Rhetoric and Philological 
Discourses of the third-century critic Cassius Longinus. There is no conclusive 
evidence of his familiarity with On Sublimity. 
1. Gregory and Cassius Longinus 
In Against Eunomius Gregory of Nyssa repeatedly satirises his opponents 
style.
1
 The vocabulary used in the following passage is striking, and on closer 
investigation reveals something of Gregorys intellectual background (1.480): 
taàta di¦ tÁj ™mautoà lšxewj gr£fw, oÙ parermhneÚwn aÙtoà t¾n 
di£noian ¢ll¦ tÕ stomfîdej kaˆ katestoibasmšnon tÁj ˜rmhne…aj 
™panorqoÚmenoj, æj ¨n eÙsÚnopton aÙtoà p©si tÕ boÚlhma gšnoito, di¦ 
tÁj kat¦ t¾n lšxin safhne…aj ™kkaluptÒmenon.  
I put these things in my own words, not to distort his meaning, but to correct the 
bombastic and impacted quality of his diction, so that what he intends can be 
easily grasped by everyone, unveiled through the clarity of the language. 
Two words here are worthy of note. katestoibasmšnon (impacted) has only 
a single earlier attestation: the third-century literary scholar, rhetorician and 
philosopher Cassius Longinus used it in his Art of Rhetoric to describe a stylistic 
shortcoming of Thucydides.
2
 Familiarity with Longinus critical writings on 
Gregorys part is intrinsically plausible; Eunapius, a younger contemporary, 
testifies to Longinus high reputation as a critic, and to the fact that a large number 
of his works were still in circulation and were held in great esteem (4.1.1-6 = 6.9-
7.7 Giangrande). 
stomfèdhj (bombastic), a word which (with the cognate stÒmfoj) Gregory 
uses several times in Against Eunomius,
3
 is also associated with Longinus. Jaeger 
(ad 1.480) comments that it is a technical term in rhetoric; but that is misleading. 
                                                 
1
 On Gregorys critique of Eunomius style in general see E. Norden Die Antike Kunstprosa 
(Stuttgart 1915) 558-62; C. Klock, Untersuchungen zu Stil und Rhythmus bei Gregor von Nyssa 
(Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie 173, Frankfurt 1987), 145-58. So far as I am aware, the 
connection with Longinus has not been noticed previously. 
2
 On Longinus see L. Brisson and M. Patillon, Longinus Platonicus Philosophus et Philologus, I. 
Longinus Philosophus, ANRW 2.36.7 (1994), 5214-99; Longinus Platonicus Philosophus et 
Philologus, II. Longinus Philologus, ANRW II 34.4 (1998), 3023-3108; M. Heath, Longinus On 
Sublimity, PCPS 45 (1999), 43-74. The Art of Rhetoric is known from an extensive fragment 
(179-97 Spengel-Hammer) and an epitome by Michael Psellus (208-12 Spengel-Hammer, re-edited 
in P. Gautier, Michel Psellos et la rhétorique de Longin, Prometheus 3 (1977), 193-9). The 
comment on Thucydides is preserved only in the epitome (212.3 Spengel-Hammer = 88 Gautier). 
Since Psellus was the epitomator, the occurrence of katestoibasmšnon in his Chronographia 
(6.33) is presumably also dependent on Longinus. 
3
 stÒmfoj: 2.360; stomfèdhj: 1.480; 2.360, 413, 480, 607.  
MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA 
In Aristophanes Clouds 1367, stÒmfax was applied to the style of Aeschylus; we 
learn from an anonymous commentator on Hermogenes (RG 7.963.17-964.9 
Walz) that Longinus interpreted this passage in the context of a discussion of the 
word stomfèdhj in book 21 of his Philological Discourses.
4
 With the possible 
exception of the treatise On Sublimity, the date and authorship of which are 
disputed (see §2 below), there is only one occurrence of a cognate word in extant 
literary criticism and rhetorical theory before Longinus: Hermogenes uses the verb 
stomf£zein (Id. 247.13 Rabe), but does not apply it directly to a style (he is 
describing the shape of the mouth associated with sounds appropriate to a certain 
style). The fact that Syrianus, in his commentary on this passage of Hermogenes 
(1.39.11-15 Rabe), felt the need to explain stomf£zein and stomfèdhj suggests 
that they were not standard technical terms. Two pupils of Syrianus also use the 
word: Proclus (In Tim. 1.64.22) and Hermias (In Phaedr. 9.17-19 Couvreur). This 
distribution of evidence suggests that stÒmfoj and its cognates were introduced 
into critical currency in late antiquity under Longinus direct and indirect 
influence.  
Elsewhere, Gregory makes ironical use of the language of sublimity (Ûyoj) in 
his satire on Eunomius style (1.29):
5
 
dhloàtai g¦r ™ke‹ dÁqen t¦ pepragmšna kaˆ t¦ p£qh di¦ toà lÒgou e„j 
Ûyoj a‡retai kaˆ e„j tragJd…aj Ôgkon ¹ ƒstor…a metaskeu£zetai 
For there his exploits are made known, his sufferings raised to sublimity through 
his discourse, and the story transformed into the magnificence of tragedy. 
Here, too, we can infer a connection with Longinus. Proclus reports Longinus 
analysis of the opening sentence of Platos Timaeus, in which he shows how its 
structure achieves sublimity (In Tim. 1.17.4-20). The concept of sublimity appears 
elsewhere in Proclus.
6
 In Syrianus commentary on Hermogenes it is striking that 
sublimity is paired with grandeur (Ûyouj kaˆ megšqouj metšcein 1.30.5), since 
Hermogenes himself never uses the word Ûyoj,
7
 although he speaks frequently of 
grandeur (mšgeqoj) and magnificence (Ôgkoj). Syrianus introduction of sublimity 
into a context where it did not originally occur suggests that the neoplatonic 
interest in the concept is distinctive; these writers are not simply reproducing a 
critical commonplace. The implication is that some predecessors treatment of the 
topic has exercised an influence on the tradition in which they were working, and 
the obvious candidate for the source of this influence is again Longinus. 
Ôgkoj, paired with sublimity in Against Eunomius 1.29, is also recurrent in 
Gregory and Longinus.
8
 The word means bulk, and can be used in a positive 
                                                 
4
 Longinus discussion was apparently drawn on by a later commentator on Aristophanes: cf. SV 
Clouds 1367. John of Sicily (RG 6.225.9-29) seems to have contaminated his sources note on 
stomfèdhj in the Philological Discourses with his own recollection of On Sublimity 3.1. 
5
 Cf. ØyhlÒj 1.551, 3.6.35, 3.7.1. 
6
 In Tim. 1.64.7-11 (citing Longinus pupil Porphyry), 1.64.11-23; In Parm. 646.28 Cousin. 
7
 The adjective ØyhlÒj occurs three times. 
8
 Gregory: Ñgkèdhj 2.339; Ôgkoj 1.81, 3.3.27, 3.5.26; Ñgkèsaj 3.7.1. For Longinus see 214.13, 
28 Spengel-Hammer, and the fragment of the Philological Discourses quoted by Lachares 294.14-
35, in H. Graeven, Ein Fragment des Lachares, Hermes 30 (1895), 289-313. 
 2
MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA 
sense (magnificence) or in a negative one (tumidity). It is very widely 
distributed in ancient criticism (we have already noted its occurrence in 
Hermogenes), and is thus less distinctive. But there is one possible, if subtle, 
symptom of Longinian influence in Gregorys use of it. Longinus interpreted the 
Aristophanic stÒmfax as meaning that Aeschylus diction has fantas…a but not 
sÚstasij (æj tîn ·hm£twn toà A„scÚlou fantas…an mān ™cÒntwn, 
mhdem…an dā sÚstasin mhdā krÒthsin RG 7.964.6f.). Compare Gregorys 
remark (2.340) that Eunomius over-inflated (Ñgkèdhj) style, like mist seen from 
a distance, seems to have sÚstasin ... tina kaˆ fantas…an, although on closer 
inspection the sense disappears. Has the phrasing been suggested by a passage in 
Longinus that Gregorys use of stomfèdhj had already recalled to mind? 
2. Gregory and On Sublimity 
The constellation of terms stÒmfoj, Ûyoj and Ôgkoj which we have traced in 
Gregory and Longinus also occurs in the treatise On Sublimity.
9
 This work was 
universally attributed to Longinus until the beginning of the nineteenth century; 
since then the attribution has been widely questioned, and most scholars now 
reject it. I believe, however, that the objections to Longinus authorship are ill-
founded, and that there are positive connections between the treatise and the 
fragments of Longinus which make the traditional attribution the most credible 
and economical hypothesis.
10
 If that is so, then it is worth considering whether 
there is any evidence that Gregorys familiarity with Longinus critical writings 
extended to On Sublimity (or, if the traditional attribution is not accepted, that he 
was familiar with On Sublimity in addition to works by Longinus). I note the 
following parallels: 
(i) Subl. 3.1 ™n tragJd…v, pr£gmati Ñgkhrù fÚsei kaˆ ™pidecomšnJ stÒmfon 
(in tragedy, a thing that is by nature magnificent and tolerant of bombast): cf. 
Against Eunomius 1.29 (quoted above) e„j Ûyoj ... kaˆ e„j tragJd…aj Ôgkon 
(to sublimity ... and ... into the magnificence of tragedy). Tragic Ôgkoj is too 
common a notion for this parallel to be used as evidence in itself, but it may have 
some weight when taken with other possible echoes of the same chapter of On 
Sublimity. 
(ii) Subl. 3.2 ka… tina tîn Kallisqšnouj Ônta oÙc Øyhl£, ¢ll¦ metšwra, 
kaˆ œti m©llon t¦ Kleit£rcou: floièdhj g¦r ¢n¾r kaˆ fusîn ... (certain 
passages in Callisthenes that are not sublime so much as elevated in mid-air, and 
even more those in Clitarchus; for he is a pompous fellow, blowing ...): cf. the 
parallel progression in Against Eunomius 3.7.1 ™pˆ toÝj Øyhlotšrouj 
metšrcetai lÒgouj kaˆ metewr…saj ˜autÕn kaˆ Ñgkèsaj ™n diakšnJ 
fus»mati lšgein ™piceire‹ ti tÁj toà qeoà megaloprepe…aj ™p£xion (he 
proceeds to more sublime discourses, and elevating himself in mid-air and 
swelling himself up in empty blowing he tries to say something worthy of the 
                                                 
9
 stÒmfoj 3.1, 32.7; Ûyoj passim; Ôgkoj 3.1 (ÑgkhrÒj), 3.4, 8.3, 12.3, 15.1, 28.2 (ÑgkÒw), 30.2, 
39.3, 40.2, 43.5. 
10
 See Heath (n.2). 
 3
MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA 
grandeur of God). But the evidential value of this parallel is weakened by Philo 
De Ebrietate 128: 'Aarën dš ™stin Ð ƒereÚj, kaˆ toÜnoma ÑreinÕj 
˜rmhneÚetai, metšwra kaˆ Øyhl¦ fronîn logismÒj, oÙ di¦ megalauc…aj 
kenoà fus»matoj ØpÒplewn Ôgkon, ¢ll¦ di¦ mšgeqoj ¢retÁj (Aaron is the 
priest, and his name means mountainousi.e. reason that is elevated and 
sublime, not because of the swollen tumidity of boastfulnesss empty blowing, but 
because of the greatness of his virtue).
11
   
(iii) Subl. 3.3-4 expounds the paradox that ill-judged attempts to avoid aridity 
(xhrÒthj) lead to tumidity (Ôgkoj), and hence to the very aridity that was being 
shunned: cf. Against Eunomius 2.607, on Eunomius bombastic aridities (t¦j 
stomfèdeij ... taÚtaj xhrostom…aj: the last word is a hapax).  
(iv) Subl. 3.4 links periergas…a (over-elaboration) and tÕ meirakiîdšj 
(puerility): cf. Against Eunomius 2.128-9, where kommwtik¾ perierg…a (over-
elaborate embellishment) is linked to tÕ gl…scron kaˆ meirakiîdej (pettiness 
and puerility). See also Against Eunomius 1.19, on the kommwtik¾ perierg…a 
needed in the absence of truth.
12
 
(v) Subl. 12.3 ™n ÔgkJ kaˆ megaloprepe‹ semnÒthti (in magnificence and 
solemn grandeur): cf. the pairing Ñgkèsaj ... megaloprepe…aj in Against 
Eunomius 3.7.1, quoted in (ii) above. Again, the parallel cannot be pressed, since 
this juxtaposition is not unique (cf. Aristotle Poet. 1459b28; Plut. Comp. Dem. et 
Cic. 1.3); but the next example involves a possible further echo of the same 
passage. 
(vi) In Against Eunomius 1.19 Gregory refers to the inherent beauty which 
illuminates the text like lightning (o‡koqen ™pastr£ptei to‹j legomšnoij tÕ 
k£lloj) when the truth is expounded pure, unadulterated and without artifice. 
Lightning imagery is also applied ironically to Eunomius style at 1.482: æj 
™pastr£ptei tÍ sunt£xei toà lÒgou tÕ le‹on kaˆ katestilbwmšnon tÁj 
lšxewj (how the polished brilliance of the diction illuminates the composition of 
his discourse like lightning). Imagery of light, fire and thunderbolt is found 
frequently in On Sublimity (1.4, 12.3-4, 15.11, 17.2, 30.1,
13
 33.5, 34.4). 
Particularly interesting is Subl. 12.3, already mentioned under (v) above, where 
Platos magnificence and solemn grandeur is described as having less intensity 
(oÙc oÛtwj ™pšstraptai) than Demosthenes. Since ™pistršfein has a 
recognised use in stylistic criticism to denote vehemence or intensity, it is 
methodologically correct for modern editors to retain the transmitted 
™pšstraptai. But Bentleys conjecture ¢pastr£ptei (justly described by Russell 
ad loc. as brilliant), introducing a reference to lightning that fits well with the 
                                                 
11
 A number of other parallels between Philo and On Sublimity have been noted in the past: see 
D.A. Russell (ed.), Longinus On the Sublime (Oxford 1964), xxix-xxx. There is no consensus as 
to whether these parallels prove that the author of On Sublimity had read Philo. 
12
 Cf. ¢nal»qeij in Subl. 3.4? A purely verbal echo, at most: the context and sense are different. 
13
 The parallel with Longinus Art of Rhetoric 186.19-20 Spengel-Hammer has long been 
recognised. 
 4
MALCOLM HEATH, ECHOES OF LONGINUS IN GREGORY OF NYSSA 
 5
                                                
surrounding images of flame (™kflegÒmenon) and thunderbolt (skhptù ... 
keraunù), would give a striking parallel to Gregorys use of ™pastr£ptei. 
(vii) Subl. 34.2 skèmmata oÙk ¥mousa (jests not lacking in taste): cf. Against 
Eunomius 2.561 ¥mousa skèmmata, the only exact parallel I have traced,
14
 
although there are looser parallels in Plutarch (Alexander 39 tini tîn perˆ pÒton 
kaˆ skèmmata oÙk ¢moÚswn) and Lucian (Merc. Cond. 34 oÙk ¢moÚswj ... 
¢poskèptwn); cf. also Libanius Prog. 12.6. 
These parallels are not by any standard of reckoning conclusive. But we could 
scarcely have hoped for conclusive evidence that Gregory had read On Sublimity: 
he is not a mechanical imitator, and has no reason to make a specific allusion to 
that text, the concerns of which are only incidentally relevant to his project. Given 
the probability that Gregory was familiar with the critical writings of Longinus 
(see (§1) above), the parallels might be thought suggestive if it is accepted that 
Longinus was the author of On Sublimity; but no stronger claim is warranted. 
 
14
 I report here the findings of a search of the TLG D CD-ROM. 


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Echoes of Longinus in Gregory of Nyssa

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