Composed in writing, yet orally delivered, revised for publication, then textually transmitted: the relationship between the oral and the literary in Athenian oratory is an intricate one. What complicates this further are the quotations encased within these speeches: of laws, poetry and oracles. Recent work on the authenticity of certain law documents quoted in these orations has reestablished interest in examining the inserted quotations and their relationship to the text which they surround (Canevaro 2013, Harris&Canevaro 2012). Less attention has been awarded to the quotations of oracles and poetic fragments (an exception is Olding 2007). Yet these are even more intriguing, as here one finds variety in the way in which texts are decontextualized, re-used and re-performed: sometimes as formal deposition of evidence, therefore read out from a written document by the clerk of the court, at other times read out orally as part of the narrative of the speech, by the speaker himself. This paper will examine the quotation of oracles and poetry in the orators, looking at the way in which the choice of different media – oral vs written, as part of the narrative vs as deposition – impacts the way in which these pieces of evidence are utilised. By decontextualising oracles from their original episodes of consultation and poetic fragments from their literary context, the orators create pieces of evidence which can be reframed in a variety of ways: Oracles, for example, are either divinely inspired poetry, or law-like statements of godly will, depending on their presentation in text or as deposition. Focusing on Lykourgos’ Against Leokrates and the speeches of Aeschines, this paper will argue that the strategy of presentation of a quotation can be a conscious one, allowing the speaker to assign a different kind of authority – legal vs divine – to the evidence he introduces.