Aristotle's Poetics; Demetrius On Style; Longinus On The Sublime
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Three of the ancient world's most enduring and authoritative texts on the art of writing and rhetoric are united in this landmark volume from Everyman's Library. Aristotle's Poetics — the foundational work of Western literary criticism — presents a rigorous analysis of tragedy, epic poetry, and the mechanics of dramatic composition, arguing for the primacy of plot, character, and mimesis as the pillars of artistic excellence. Alongside it, Demetrius on Style instructs the reader in the four essential registers of prose — the plain, the grand, the elegant, and the forceful — while Longinus' On the Sublime presents a passionate and penetrating account of what elevates great writing beyond mere technical skill into the realm of the transcendent. Together, these three treatises form a kind of classical curriculum in literary aesthetics, tracing a continuous tradition of Greek rhetorical thought that shaped every subsequent era of Western letters. With an authoritative introduction by John Warrington, the volume situates each text within its historical and philosophical context, making the ancient discourse on beauty, persuasion, and genius accessible to the modern reader. Whether one approaches this collection as a student of classics, a practising writer, or a lover of ideas, the central question it poses — what makes language truly great? — remains as urgent and unanswered as ever.
Author: John Warrington
Format: Hardback
Published: 1966, Everyman's Library (Dent: London / Dutton: New York)
Genre: Classic fiction
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Wear and tear with damage
Pages: Good
Three of the ancient world's most enduring and authoritative texts on the art of writing and rhetoric are united in this landmark volume from Everyman's Library. Aristotle's Poetics — the foundational work of Western literary criticism — presents a rigorous analysis of tragedy, epic poetry, and the mechanics of dramatic composition, arguing for the primacy of plot, character, and mimesis as the pillars of artistic excellence. Alongside it, Demetrius on Style instructs the reader in the four essential registers of prose — the plain, the grand, the elegant, and the forceful — while Longinus' On the Sublime presents a passionate and penetrating account of what elevates great writing beyond mere technical skill into the realm of the transcendent. Together, these three treatises form a kind of classical curriculum in literary aesthetics, tracing a continuous tradition of Greek rhetorical thought that shaped every subsequent era of Western letters. With an authoritative introduction by John Warrington, the volume situates each text within its historical and philosophical context, making the ancient discourse on beauty, persuasion, and genius accessible to the modern reader. Whether one approaches this collection as a student of classics, a practising writer, or a lover of ideas, the central question it poses — what makes language truly great? — remains as urgent and unanswered as ever.