Longinus’s Sublime Rhetoric, or How Rhetoric Came into Its Own

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Abstract

This essay argues that Peri Hypsous (On Height or On the Sublime, traditionally attributed to “Longinus") marks an important moment in the history of rhetoric, as rhetoric is presented therein as an autonomous, sublime object. Through notions of hypsos (height) and physis (nature), and an amalgamation of Ciceronian/lsocratean arid Gorgianic notions of rhetoric, “Longinus” frees rhetoric from the project of legitimation. He makes it a marvel that needs no justification—rhetoric “comes into its own.” Even as I account for the emergence of this conception of rhetoric in Peri Hypsous, I question its helpfulness for rhetorical studies.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)71-89
Number of pages19
JournalRhetoric Society Quarterly
Volume34
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2004

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Linguistics and Language

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