A palinode or palinody is an ode in which the writer retracts a view or sentiment expressed in an earlier poem. The first recorded use of a palinode is in a poem by Stesichorus in the 7th century BC, in which he retracts his earlier statement that the Trojan War was all the fault of Helen.[citation needed]The word comes from the Greek παλινῳδία from πάλιν (palin, meaning 'back') and ᾠδή ("song"); the Latin-derived equivalent "recantation" is an exact calque (re- meaning 'again' and cant- meaning 'sing').It can also be a recantation of a defamatory statement in Scots Law.