"They Spoke the Truest of Words": Irony in the Speeches of Herodotus's Histories

Among the most salient features of Herodotus' narrative is his delightful use of both direct and indirect speech. As a number of scholars have noted, Herodotus' speeches occasionally carry overtones for his contemporary readers that the characters in the narrative could not have understood or appreciated. Such features are often considered merely anachronistic; however, the narratological distinction between a speech's intra- and extradiegetic functions elucidates the way such discourse exploits the disjunction in knowledge or perspective between Herodotus' characters and his contemporary audience in order to produce irony. With this use of irony, Herodotus develops conspiratorial intimacy with his readers.