An antistrophe is the paired response to a strophe in ancient Greek choral poetry. It usually matches the strophe's meter and follows it as part of a larger song or ode, creating a balanced back-and-forth structure.
In discussions of Pindaric odes, antistrophe can also mean the second section of the triadic pattern, coming after the strophe and before the epode.
Example
Strophe: We call to the bright day,
asking the dawn to stay.
Antistrophe: Dawn answers our prayer,
shifting its gold through the air.
Related Definitions
[n] the section of a choral ode answering a previous strophe in classical Greek drama; the second of two metrically corresponding sections in a poem