Listen to the world's oldest complete recorded song- The Seikilos epitaph

Fragments of ancient music have been found going back as far as the eighteenth century B.C., the most ancient ones recorded on cuneiform tablets, but there is only one complete song from antiquity known to have survived: the Seikilos epitaph. It was discovered carved on a marble column-shaped stele in Tralleis, near Ephesus, Turkey, in 1883, and is now in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Dating to the first or second century A.D., the stele announces its function clearly in the inscription. “I am a tombstone, an image. Seikilos placed me here as an everlasting sign of deathless remembrance.”

It’s the song that ensured the stele would truly be an everlasting memorial because he didn’t just have the lyrics engraved, but rather also included the melody in ancient Greek musical notation. The lyrical message is your basic carpe diem. These are the lyrics in transliterated Greek and in an English translation:
Hoson zes, phainou
Meden holos su lupou;
Pros oligon esti to zen
To telos ho chronos apaitei

While you live, shine
Have no grief at all;
Life exists only a short while
And time demands its toll

Here is a link to the article

Here is the song being played by an ancient music researcher:


It is supposedly a drinking song. Seems quite peaceful to me.

Chilling! And yet, vaguely familiar. How many voices sang, fingers played, ears heard in its day? The mind reels at the scope of music on mankind's past.

I wonder if it is to late to claim royalties for the last 3500 years

reply to post by jburg6


Is it just me or does that sound similar to the Zelda theme?

Either way it's very interesting.

Redboxin
Chilling! And yet, vaguely familiar. How many voices sang, fingers played, ears heard in its day? The mind reels at the scope of music on mankind's past.

I wonder if it is to late to claim royalties for the last 3500 years

Familiar Enough !! well the first few Frets!! a lot Slower in this Ancient Song
hmm wonder if you played it faster !! would kinda sorta sound like This OLD MAN


This Old Man
en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by jburg6


Romantic
2nd

I liked it, I agree with the others it does sound somewhat familiar.

Thank you for posting this and bringing it to our attention.

So they got the lyrics and the musical notations?? Ouutstanding!! nice find S&F..