Epanodos repeats terms after an interval, often reversing their sequence so that a later phrase echoes an earlier one. A poet might write, “We carry grief into sleep, and from sleep grief carries us.” The returning pattern creates a sense of circularity, reciprocity, or inescapability. Though related to other reversal figures, epanodos is especially concerned with the reappearance of key ideas after intervening material, allowing the poem to fold back upon its own language.

Epanodos repeats key words or ideas in reverse order, creating a verbal return or turning point. A simple pattern is “A leads to B; B returns to A.” The reversal can show reciprocity, irony, or a shift in power. It resembles chiasmus, though epanodos especially emphasizes the recurrence of the same terms or concepts.