Epode

Lore & Background

In the performance of a choral ode, the choirs would chant first to the right of the altar or stage (strophe), then to the left (antistrophe), and finally combine and sing in unison or let the coryphaeus sing alone while standing in the center (epode). The epode soon took its place in choral poetry but lost it when that branch of literature declined. It extended beyond the ode into early drama, where monologues and dialogues were framed on the epodical system.

Reader's Guide

The epode is significant as a structural element in ancient Greek choral poetry, completing the movement of the ode. In Latin poetry, it was cultivated in conscious archaism, both as part of the ode and as an independent form. Catullus's epithalamia, imitating Pindar, provide examples of strophe, antistrophe, and epode. Horace's Epodes, his early work, introduced a new form in Latin literature by imitating the iambic distichs of Archilochus. The first ten epodes use alternate verses of iambic trimeter and iambic dimeter; the remaining seven diversify the measures while retaining the distich character. These poems are short lyrical satires, displaying a truculence absent from Horace's later writings. The name 'epode' now mainly refers to Horace's collection, though it bears little resemblance to the epode of early Greek literature.

Did You Know?

• The epode is the third part of an ancient Greek choral ode, following the strophe and antistrophe.
• In performance, the choirs combined and sang in unison or let the coryphaeus sing alone for the epode.
• Horace's Epodes consist of poems in iambic distichs, imitating Archilochus.
• The first ten of Horace's epodes use alternate verses of iambic trimeter and iambic dimeter.