Function of Speeches

• To add to the dramatic impact of the performance
• allows for a variety of tone and pace, speeches include threats, squabbles, prayers, oaths, supplications and laments
• Allows different characters to take the centre-stage
• To convey emotion directly, for example, lamenting, praising, grieving, or showing hatred
• Allows heroes to demonstrate their past prowess, for example, Phoenix and Nestor's recounts of their past
• Allows Homer to raise moral questions, for example, Hector berating Paris for his unheroic ways and Achilles' attacks Agamemnon's compensation
• Engage the audience with convincing points and arguments alongside the characters
• Portraying the characters through what they say and how they react rather than simply describing them
• Allows the audience to judge the nature of the gods directly without narrative bias
• Conveys the solemnity of situations with vows, oaths and prayers