Art & MusicGreek → English
Parodos
/ˈpærədɒs/noun
In Greek drama, the side passage by which the chorus entered the orchestra, and the song it sang while entering.
The Greek roots
παρά
pará
beside, alongside
ὁδός
hodós
way, road
Literally: “the way alongside”
The story of the word
One word for the door and for what happens in it. The chorus came in along the side ramps between the seating and the stage building, singing as it walked, and left at the end through the same passages with the exodos. The counterpart term is episode, ἐπεισόδιον, literally a coming in besides, which was the spoken scene wedged between two choral songs and is now what a streaming service sells you.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → English
Same family
episodeexodusmethodperiod
In a sentence
The parodos of the Agamemnon is the longest choral entry in surviving tragedy.
Both parodoi at Epidaurus still have their gateways standing.