⏑ – ⏑ – ˃ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – χρον⁝ος δε | τοι πρυμν|ησι|ων ξυν | εμβολ|αιςꞈ‖ 1 2 3 4 5 6 – ⏑ ⏗ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ψαμμι|ας | εξ ακτ|ας βεβ‖ηκεν | ευθ υπ | Ιλι|ονꞈ‖ 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 – ⏑ – ⏑ – ⏑ – ωρτο | ναυβατ|ας στρατ|οςꞈ‖ 1 2 3 4 That is: 4 + 4, 6, 4 + 4, 4. This would be an obviously well-balanced structure but for the last colon, to which nothing corresponds. Such an extra sentence is called a “postlude” (ἐπῳδικόν). Non-corresponding sentences like this are far from rare.[879] They may occur at the beginning of the period (“prelude,” προῳδικόν), in the middle (“mesode,” μεσωδικόν), or at the end. This very period supplies an example of a mesode as well as of a postlude. The scheme is:— ⎰ 4 ⎛ ⎱ 4 ⎜ 6—mesode. ⎝ ⎰ 4 ⎱ 4 4—postlude. The whole passage, then, consists of two periods connected by meaning and grammar, but—for us—by no more intimate musical bond than the common use of trochees. But the dance and music which accompanied the whole would clearly demonstrate its unity. The end of a period is indicated by ‖. It is necessary now to consider briefly the passage which immediately follows (vv. 988 _sqq._):— Πεύθομαι δ’ ἀπ’ ὀμμάτων νόστον, αὐτόμαρτυς ὤν· τὸν δ’ ἄνευ λύρας ὅμως ὑμνῳδεῖ θρῆνον Ἐρινύος αὐτοδίδακτος ἔσωθεν θυμός, οὐ τὸ πᾶν ἔχων ἐλπίδος φίλον θράσος. σπλάγχνα δ’ οὔτοι ματάζει πρὸς ἐνδίκοις φρεσίν τελεσφόροις δίναις κυκλούμενον κέαρ. εὔχομαι δ’ ἐξ ἐμᾶς τοι[880] ἐλπίδος ψύθη πεσεῖν ἐς τὸ μὴ τελεσφόρον. This is an exact counterpart in syllables, feet, cola, and periods, of the first passage. The first is called the “strophe” (στροφή, “turn”), the second the “antistrophe” (ἀντιστροφή, “counter-turn”). The chorus, while singing the one, performed various evolutions about the orchestra, and these were repeated exactly, but in reversed order, while they sang the antistrophe. All these lyrics are so constructed; the normal tragic “chorus” consists of one or more such pairs, though occasionally the antistrophe is followed by a passage called an “epode”.[881] The epodes correspond to each other, not to the strophes. This equivalence of strophe and antistrophe is often of value in determining the quantities or the text in one of them. We have now gained some insight into the nature of a Greek choric song. But before proceeding further it will be well to deepen our impression by taking from the _Agamemnon_ (vv. 160 _sqq._) another, and a simpler, pair of strophes:— Ζεύς, ὅστις ποτ’ ἐστίν, εἰ τόδ’ αὐτῷ φίλον κεκλημένῳ, τοῦτό νιν προσεννέπω. οὐχ ἔχω προσεικάσαι, πάντ’ ἐπισταθμώμενος, πλὴν Διός, εἰ τὸ μάταν ἀπὸ φροντίδος ἄχθος χρὴ βαλεῖν ἐτητύμως.