Reconstructing the Lost Sounds of Ancient Greek Music

Scholars have reconstructed ancient Greek music using archaeological discoveries, papyrus fragments, and ancient writings. Music permeated all aspects of Greek life—education, religion, warfare, and entertainment. Two notation systems (vocal and instrumental) developed around 400 BC, tabulated by bishop Alypius around AD 500. Key surviving sources include the Euripides Orestes papyrus fragment (ca. 200 BC), two Delphic Hymns to Apollo (ca. 138 BC), the Seikilos Epitaph (first century AD), and hymns by Mesomedes of Crete (second century AD). The Orestes fragment, discovered in Hermopolis, Egypt, from mummy cartonnage, contains seven lines of music. The Delphic Hymns, found by French archaeologist Théophile Homolle, were transcribed by Théodore Reinach. The Seikilos Epitaph, discovered in 1883 near Aydin, Turkey, by Edward Purser, is the oldest complete surviving song. Mesomedes' hymns were preserved through Byzantine manuscripts and studied by Vincenzo Galilei in 1581. Modern reconstructions by Michael D'Angour and others have brought these ancient melodies to life.