Longinus, De Sublimitate 9.13

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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 ποιήμασιν Jahn-Vahlen, bracketed by Russell : παθήμασιν Wilamowitz : πνεύμασιν or νοήμασιν suggested Richards. 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 someone might perceive Homer as a setting sun, whose violent heat is now aside but whose great spirit remains. For the pitch of those Trojan tales no longer survives, nor does the unfaltering height, never slipping, never subsiding, nor the pouring forth in close order of sufferings, nor the sudden changes, nor the stateliness, nor the thick texture of true insights;


Relevant guides Homer: A Guide to Sculptural Types