Parodos is a term used in Ancient Greek comedy

Ancient Greek comedy

Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece . Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy...

 and tragedy

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...

. A parodos is both the first entrance of the chorus

Greek chorus

A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....

 into the orchestra and the choral ode

Ode

Ode is a type of lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three major parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist...

 that they sing and dance as they enter (which is usually the first choral song of the drama). The parados usually follows the play's prologue

Prologue

A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance...

.

The term parodos is also used to describe the two entrances that flank either side of the skene stage-building, along which the chorus enter. These entrances are more commonly called eisodoi

Eisodos

Eisodos is a term used for Ancient Greek Plays in order to describe any of two passageways leading into the orchestra, between theatron and skenê ....

.