Speech in Speech

Speech in Speech explores the techniques by which Classical Greek texts written primarily for public performance weave in direct quotations (oratio recta) of "other voices"-imagined or real. This "speech in speech" is usually perceived as endowed with a greater vividness and authenticity than indirect quotation, even when the words report what someone might say, or enliven the verbal texture of plays and speeches, and examines the intricate relation of direct quotations to their "originals". As the first synoptic and detailed study of oratio recta in Classical Greek literature, Speech in Speech will be useful to anyone interested in ancient literary technique.

“Speech in Speech combines the thoroughness of traditional Teutonic studies of Reden in a single author with a more cosmopolitan erudition and an element of theoretical caution. This book will be of enduring benefit to literary historians.”

An interesting and valuable book . . . The subject is an important one that has received relatively little notice to date: Bers offers a rich collection of material and an abundance of useful insights on texts both ancient ad modern. -- John R. Porter, University of Saskatchewan Phoenix
Speech in Speech combines the thoroughness of traditional Teutonic studies of Reden in a single author with a more cosmopolitan erudition and an element of theoretical caution. This book will be of enduring benefit to literary historians. -- Andrew Laird The Classical Review
Anyone interested in ancient literature will be intrigued by Bers's examination of these and other problems in the use of direct speech in Greek. When one reads it one wonders repeatedly why no one thought of writing this book decades ago. Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Victor Bers is Professor of Classics at Yale University. He is author of Enallage and Greek Style and Greek Poetic Syntax in the Classical Age.

Speech in Speech explores the techniques by which Classical Greek texts written primarily for public performance weave in direct quotations (oratio recta) of "other voices"-imagined or real. This "speech in speech" is usually perceived as endowed with a greater vividness and authenticity than indirect quotation, even when the words report what someone might say, or enliven the verbal texture of plays and speeches, and examines the intricate relation of direct quotations to their "originals". As the first synoptic and detailed study of oratio recta in Classical Greek literature, Speech in Speech will be useful to anyone interested in ancient literary technique.

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