Pseudo-Longinus°
PSEUDO-LONGINUS°
PSEUDO-LONGINUS °, name ascribed to the author of the Greek treatise "On the Sublime." The oldest manuscript of the treatise ascribes it to Dionysius Longinus. The only Longinus known, however, was named Cassius not Dionysius, and the opening of this manuscript notes the author as "Dionysius or Longinus." The work must therefore be regarded as of uncertain date and authorship. The book tries to answer the question: "What are the characteristics of great writing?" In 9.9, the author cites Genesis as an example of greatness of thought: "Similarly, the lawgiver of the Jews, no ordinary man – for he understood and expressed God's power in accordance with its worth [cf. Jos., Ant. 1:15 for similarity of language] – writes at the beginning of his Laws: 'God said' – what? – 'Let there be light,' and there was light; 'let there be land,' and there was land." The fact that Longinus gives only the substance of the biblical passage suggests an intermediate source, and since Longinus' treatise was written explicitly in answer to a work of *Caecilius of Calacte, who was apparently a Jew, the latter may well be the source. Another possible source is *Philo, whose language and sentiments resemble those of "Longinus" in chapter 44.