In the Odyssey one may liken Homer to the setting sun, of which the grandeur remains without the intensity.

The remark is attributed to the ancient Greek critic traditionally called “Longinus,” author of the rhetorical treatise commonly known as *On the Sublime* (probably 1st century CE, though the authorship and date are debated). In a section comparing Homer’s two epics, the critic argues that the *Iliad* shows the poet at the height of his “sublime” power—forceful, vehement, and concentrated—whereas the *Odyssey* reflects a later manner: expansive, narrative, and often charming, but less continuously intense. The simile of the setting sun captures this idea of enduring magnificence accompanied by a waning of fiery energy.

The image of Homer as a “setting sun” suggests a distinction between greatness and intensity. Longinus implies that the *Odyssey* retains Homer’s grandeur—his command of language, invention, and scope—yet lacks the sustained, blazing force that produces the highest “sublime” effects. The comparison is not simply dismissive: sunsets can be majestic, but their light is softer and less scorching than noon. The judgment also reflects Longinus’s critical values: sublimity depends on concentrated elevation and emotional power, not merely on beauty, variety, or narrative pleasure. Thus the quote frames the *Odyssey* as mature, spacious, and magnificent, but less vehement than the *Iliad*.