Longinus, On the Sublime 12.4-5: Demosthenes and Cicero

This article discusses the critical comparison (sigma upsilon gamma x rho tau sigma i zeta) of the styles of Demosthenes and Cicero in Longinus, On the Sublime 12.4-5. Many readers have claimed that Longinus here presents Demosthenes and Cicero as two different models of the sublime. A detailed analysis of the passage, however, reveals that while the two are both credited with grandeur (mu epsilon gamma epsilon theta o zeta), they are in fact not treated on a par with respect to sublimity (nu psi o zeta). While the style of Demosthenes is described with keywords of Longinus' conception of the sublime (nu psi o zeta), Cicero's style is consistently associated with the quality of diffusion (chi upsilon sigma tau zeta), which is closely associated with amplification (alpha nu xi eta sigma iota zeta). Longinus' discussion of Cicero may have pleased the Roman readers in his audience, as he is presented as a canonical author of ` great' literature. We argue, however, that in the end, Longinus reserves the status of sublimity for his heroes of classical Greece.