Longinus, On the Sublime 9.13
ὅθεν ἐν τῇ Ὀδυσσείᾳ παρεικάσαι τις ἂν καταδυομένῳ τὸν Ὅμηρον ἡλίῳ, οὗ δίχα τῆς σφοδρότητος παραμένει τὸ μέγεθος. οὐ γὰρ ἔτι τοῖς Ἰλιακοῖς ἐκείνοις ποιήμασιν ἴσον ἐνταῦθα σῴζει τὸν τόνον, οὐδ' ἐξωμαλισμένα τὰ ὕψη καὶ ἱζήματα μηδαμοῦ λαμβάνοντα, οὐδὲ τὴν πρόχυσιν ὁμοίαν τῶν ἐπαλλήλων παθῶν, οὐδὲ τὸ ἀγχίστροφον καὶ πολιτικὸν καὶ ταῖς ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας φαντασίαις καταπεπυκνωμένον·
Hence, in the Odyssey one might compare Homer to a setting sun, whose greatness endures but without its fierce heat. For the intensity of those Trojan tales here no longer survives, nor does the unfaltering grandeur, never slipping, never subsiding, nor the pouring forth in close order of sufferings, nor the sudden transitions, nor the stateliness, nor the concentration of images reflecting the truth;
| Relevant guides | Homer: A Guide to Sculptural Types |
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