rhesis

rhesis (plural rheses)

1. (theater, Ancient Greece) A passage of text in a play.
   • 1890, Richard Green Moulton, The Ancient Classical Drama: A Study in Literary Evolution, page 145:

     Such speeches (like the rheses) have the distinction of length, often exceeding one hundred lines; they give the impression that for a time dramatic effect is suspended, and, as a substitute, the recognised features of Epic Poetry supply a new interest.

   • 1975, Francisco Rodríguez Adrados, Festival, Comedy and Tragedy: The Greek Origins of Theatre, page 147:

     The chorus or chorus-coryphaeus is followed by a rhesis of the actor, followed in its turn by a stichic dialogue A/actor which usually culminates in a stichomythia.

   • 1982, Ann N. Michelini, Tradition and Dramatic Form in "The Persians" of Aeschylus, page 60:

     A scheme that includes tetrameter sets off the rhesis from dialogue even more starkly , but it considerably enhances the potential of actor-chorus dialogue to be an effective balance to the long speech.

• Hersis, Hisers, Shiers, Shires, hisser, shiers, shires