Abstract
A full list of passages containing apostrophe, the figure of speech when a speaker turns away temporarily from his audience and addresses a third party, shows many more instances of it in later than earlier Greek oratory, reflecting the change from the more impersonal role of the speechwriter to that of the career politician who increased his influence by supporting clients robustly in the lawcourts. This paper also classifies the types of apostrophe and considers to what extent its presence may be due to the characters of particular orators and the cultural trends of the Fourth Century.