What happened during the parodos in an Aristophanes comedy?

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In the structure of Old Comedy, the parodos refers to the entrance of the chorus onto the stage.12

In the plays of Aristophanes, this entry was a significant formal convention that often featured the chorus dressed as animals. Following the prologos—which establishes the plot's central dilemma—the parodos serves as the chorus's arrival, setting the stage for the subsequent agon, or ritualized debate, between the play's characters.2