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 Longinus defines literary sublimity as 'excellence in language'. The sublime in literature refers to use of language and description that excites thoughts and emotions beyond ordinary experience. The author of sublime defines sublimity in literature as the 'echo of greatness of spirit', that is the moral and imaginative power that pervades his work. This is the first known instance in which greatness in literature is ascribed to qualities innate in the writer rather than his art. The concept of sublime is generally accepted to refer to a style of writing that elevates itself above the ordinary. Longinus sets out five sources of sublimity: great thoughts, strong emotions, certain figures of thought and speech, noble diction, and dignified word arrangement. The effects of sublime are : loss of rationality, an alienation leading to identification with the creative process of the artist and a deep emotion mixed in pleasure and exaltation.

 The word Mimesis is greek which means imitation. Plato and Aristotle spoke of mimesis as the representation of nature. According to Plato, all the artistic creation is a form of imitation. In his theory of Mimesis, Plato says that all art is mimetic by nature; art is an imitation of life. He believed that 'idea' is the ultimate reality. Art imitates idea and so it is imitation of reality. He gives an example of a carpenter and a chair. The idea of 'chair' first came in the mind of carpenter. He gave physical shape to his idea out of wood and created a chair. Thus painter's chair is twice removed from reality. Hence he believed that art is twice removed from reality. He gives first importance to philosophy as philosophy deals with the ideas whereas poetry deals with illusion. So to Plato, philosophy is superior to poetry. Plato rejected poetry as it is mimetic in nature on the moral amd philosophical grounds.  Aristotle replied to the charges made by his guru Plato ...