LITERARY CRITICISM

DURING ROMAN
EMPIRE:

HORACE & LONGINUS

 Introduction
Plato and Aristotle are succeeded by a
number of Roman literary critics.
There are some who expand upon Plato’s
and Aristotle’s thought, such as Plotinus.
There are others who strive to study other
aspects of literature, such as Horace and
Longinus, whose works concern aspects of
literature not yet described by Plato and
Aristotle.
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 Horace
Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) is more
interested in the notions that:
1. “A poem is like a painting.” In poetry, words are like
various colours that are put beautifully.
2. Poetry should “teach and delight,”
3. Poetry is a craft which requires labour.
His most influential work remains Ars Poetica (The
Art of Poetry).
Horace’s text takes the form of an informal letter
from an established poet giving advice to the
would-be poets of the wealthy Piso family in Rome.
The Ars poetica is written as a poem.

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 Horace
Horace’s text can be seen as focused on the
following issues:
1. the relation of a writer to his work, his knowledge of
tradition, and his own ability;
2. the moral and social functions of poetry “to teach and
delight”;
3. the contribution of an audience to the composition of
poetry, viewed both as an art and as a commodity;
4. an awareness of literary history and historical change in
language and genre.
These principles claim to be drawn from practical
experience rather than theory.

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 Horace’s Theory of Imitation
Horace’s theory of imitation differs from that of
Plato and Aristotle.
It recognizes the importance of copying nature.
But, it emphasizes imitation of the methods of the
great classical writers.
Unlike Plato, who had regarded the poet as
necessarily distorting reality by offering a mere
imitation of it, Horace sees poetry as a repository
of social and religious wisdom.
“The principal fountainhead of writing correctly is wisdom”.

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 Horace’s Theory of Imitation
In the depiction of character, the poet must be
aware of the various characteristics of men from
childhood, youth, and manhood to old age.
Hence, the poet’s work must be based on
knowledge; not bookish knowledge but a detailed
empirical knowledge derived from acute
observation of actual life.
“My instruction would be to examine the model of human life and
manners as an informed copyist and to elicit from it a speech that
lives”.

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 The Functions of Poetry
Horace stresses the moral and social functions of
poetry.
for him, Poetry establishes a repository of
conventional wisdom.
It provides moral examples through characterization
It promotes civic virtue and sensibility.
Horace focuses on the moral function of literature.
In drama, for example, the depiction of good
character is indispensable.
This function, he says, should be effected partly by
the chorus.
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 The Functions of Poetry
according to Horace, poetry should afford pleasure
as well.
In a famous statement, Horace remarks that a poet
should mingle the useful with the pleasant [miscuit
utile dulci], by charming and, not less, advising the
reader.

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 Horace: Artist as a Craftsman
Horace stresses the amount of labour required for
composing good poetry.
Part of this labour is seeking out valid criticism of
one’s work from sincere and qualified people.
Horace admonishes the poet to store his work away
for nine years.
He warns that, once a poem is published, the words
used by the poet will forever become public
property:
“it will be permissible to destroy what you have not published: the voice
once sent forth cannot return”.
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 Horace: Artist as a Craftsman
Itis the writer's business to refine and polish his text
that the highest standards of propriety and artistry
are maintained.
However, Horace demands a craft man’s skill in an
artist;
he does not utterly neglect the role of natural talent
in art.
In fact, he is insisting on a complementary
relationship between learned artistry and genius. 

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 Horace: Decorum
For Horace, decorum calls for a “proper”
relationship between form and content, expression
and thought, style and subject matter, diction and
character.
A writer must choose a subject within his power
and appropriate to his gifts;
He must say at any given moment what needs to be
said, and no more.
He must choose vocabulary, meter and form that
are right for his subject, whether noble, exciting, or
joyous.

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 The Rules of Decorum
Horace outlines the following rules of decorum to
be in good poetry so that the pragmatic effect of
poetry (Teach and delight) can be achieved:
 Form and content matched
 Appropriate use of Diction
 Appropriateness of meter
 Consistency of characters
 Style (Starting and ending)

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 The Rules of Decorum
1. Form and content matched: 
◦ The style should be proper.
◦ By proper, he means that the trivial matters should not
be written in grand style.
◦ And in the same way, the treatment of serious matter
should not be in trivial form.
◦ Therefore, from and content should be matched.
◦ Poets and painters should not create monotony by
showing dolphin in the forest and elephant in the sea.
◦ Such unnatural combination fails to teach and give the
delight.

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 The Rules of Decorum
2. Appropriate use of words:
◦ The words come and go like the leaves of a tree.
◦ The words need to be used in proper places according to
the nature of the words.
◦ Cliché should not be used and the language of common
people should be magnified.
◦ Poets should use familiar words in quite different way.
◦ If characters want to speak words then it is okay but it
should have its origin in Greek.

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 The Rules of Decorum
3. Appropriateness of meter:
◦ Horace prefers Virgil's opinion that to follow Homer is
to follow nature.
◦ Homer says it is appropriate to use hexameter in epic,
iambic pentameter in tragedy and hexameter and iambic
pentameter in elegy.

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 The Rules of Decorum
4. Consistency of characters:
◦ The characters should be consistent and life like.
◦ His views on characters are identical to Aristotle.
◦ Character traits should be based on age, there should
not be any exaggeration, that is which is not possible
to the character must not be presented.
◦ Therefore, characters should be convincing, probable
and consistent.

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 The Rules of Decorum
5. Style (Starting and ending):
◦ The writer can take one of the following techniques to
present the content:
 Prolepsis (flash back): What happened before the action takes
place.
 Analepsis (foreshadowing): What happens next to ongoing
action. 
 Anachronistic (random): Mixture of all techniques.
 

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 The Rules of Decorum
Whatever the technique there is, the end of poetry
should teach and delight.
To teach, actions should be physical than verbal
because whatever people see, they are likely to
believe.
Therefore, it is better to perform everything. But
scenes of murder, violence etc. should not be
shown on the stage.
Deus ex machina (God from the machine) is to be
hidden.

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 Longinus
After the period of the early Roman Empire, two
broad intellectual currents emerged during the first
four centuries:
1. The Second Sophistic (27BC–AD 410), named after a new
generation of sophists and rhetoricians who took for their model
the classical language and style of Attic Greece.
2. Neo-Platonism, whose prime exponent was Plotinus.
The major rhetorical treatise of the Second
Sophistic period was written in Greek.
It is entitled peri hypsous or On the Sublime.
It is conventionally attributed to “Longinus,” and
dates from the first or second century AD.
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 Definition of Sublime
     Longinus defines sublime as
◦ Longinus offers an initial definition, stating that the sublime consists
“in a consummate excellence and distinction of language ... the effect
of genius is not to persuade the audience but rather to transport them
out of themselves.”
◦ It is a kind of greatness and excellence in language raising the style of
the ordinary language.
◦ It springs from a great and lofty soul, thereby becoming "one echo of a
great soul".
◦ It should not only be distinct and excellent in composition.
◦ It should move the readers along with the effects of pleasure and
persuasion.
◦ Such effects should be subtle, flashing at the right moment, scattering
everything before it like a bolt of lightening and at once displaying the
power of plentitude.

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 Definition of Sublime
• The true sublime will produce a lasting and
repeated effect on “a man of sense, well-versed in
literature”.
◦ sublime is lofty and excellent poetic creation with power to please,
persuade and move the readers through lifting up their souls.
◦ Sublimity can be achieved through the reconciliation of the (innate)
poetic inspiration and (acquired/learned) rhetorical mastery of the
writers.
The greatness in literature can be judged it by its
emotional effects on the reader or listener.
Longinus broadens his definition to say that the
“truly beautiful and sublime ... pleases all people at
all times”.
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 The Five sources of the Sublime
◦ The five sources, Longinus mentions for the
sublime, are either innate or acquired
◦ Two innate sources are related to the author and
three acquired sources are related to the poem.
1. Power of forming “full-blooded” or robust ideas (grandeur
of thought).
2. The inspiration of vehement emotion.
3. The proper construction of figures – both figures of thought
and figures of speech;
4. Nobility of phrase, which includes diction and the use of
metaphor
5. The Dignified and elevated composition

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 The First Source
• the power of “full-blooded” or robust ideas:
 It is concerned with the grandeur of thought in writers.
 It is the first essential source of sublime.
 Lofty and natural expression is possible when there are noble
and lofty thoughts.
 The great thoughts come from the imagination of a great
creative genius and from a sound interpretation of the
imitation of nature and of the great predecessors.

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 The Second Source
• The inspiration of vehement passion:
◦ The emotion should be strong and natural
expressed in lofty and elevated language.
◦ So, it can move the readers with pleasure and
persuasion.
◦ It should match with the grandeur of subject,
thought and lofty style.

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 The Third Source
The proper construction of figures
◦ The formation and use of figures help the elevated
expression if they are properly used.
◦ Such a use of figures should not be mechanical and
forceful.
◦ They should be used genuinely and as per the demands
of the contextual environment.
◦ Example
◦ The proper use of rhetorical question makes an immediate appeal to
the emotions. It is a statement in question form that suggests its own
answer.

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 The Fourth Source
Nobility of Phrase
◦ It includes both figures of thought and figures of speech.
◦ Longinus says that the use of proper and striking words
captivate (hold attention) the hearers.
◦ The words, to him, should be noble corresponding to the
subject matter and emotion.
◦ So as to convey grandeur and beauty, giving breath in to
dead things.

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 The Fifth Source
The Dignified and elevated composition
◦ The verbal order should be rhythmic and harmonious
which helps pull off persuasion and pleasure.
◦ Such a composition appeals to the soul and enables the
readers to participate in the emotions of the author.

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