Abstract This article examines reported direct speech embedded in narrative sections of Greek tragedy, analyzing the content of reported speeches, their metrical form, and the descriptions of their sound. Reported direct speech is revealed to be considerably restrained, even when it occurs in highly emotional contexts. This restraint is interesting, given the prevalence of non-linguistic cries in tragedy, and it is brought into particular relief by comparison with the descriptions of violent utterances that often precede or follow sections of direct speech. There is a discernible, though inconsistent, trend towards the loosening of this restraint in later Euripides.