Ep"ode (?), n. [L. epodos, Gr. &?;, fr. &?;, adj., singing to, sung or said after, fr. &?; to sing to; 'epi` upon, to + &?; to sing: cf. F. épode. See Ode.] (Poet.) (a) The after song; the part of a lyric ode which follows the strophe and antistrophe, -- the ancient ode being divided into strophe, antistrophe, and epode. (b) A species of lyric poem, invented by Archilochus, in which a longer verse is followed by a shorter one; as, the Epodes of Horace. It does not include the elegiac distich.