What is longinos?

Longinus (also known as Cassius Longinus) was a Greek philosopher, literary critic, and rhetorician who lived in the first century CE. He is best known for his treatise On the Sublime, which discusses the elements of great literature and argues that true greatness in writing comes from an emotional and metaphysical connection with the reader.

In addition to his work on literature, Longinus was also known for his writings on political philosophy and his philosophical views on the nature of the soul. He was associated with the Neoplatonic school of philosophy and argued that the human soul was divine, eternal, and connected to the divine.

Longinus' life is poorly documented, but it is known that he was a teacher of rhetoric and philosophy during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero. According to tradition, he was executed for his involvement in a plot to overthrow Nero, although the details of his death remain unclear. His influence on literary criticism and philosophy endured for centuries, and his work continued to be studied and admired by scholars in both the East and West throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.