Talk:Seikilos epitaph

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I created the score and midi using lilypond so that people who are more knowledgable on ancient greek music can write the actual article. If you follow the link to the score image, you will get the source code for lilypond if you want to make edits. You could also load the midi into a midi based editor or run it through the guido noteserver to get guido code to edit. Or leave me a message and I will fix any errors and reupload the files.

I've also heard media files on the web that have this melody set to chords, but I don't know enough to know whether the chords are accurate or supposition. If they're accurate, I'll add them to the files too.

--Chinasaur 21:39, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC)

As far as I know--as far as current research shows--there is no reliable evidence for any kind of chordal accompaniment in any ancient Greek music. There is a bit of conflicting evidence about use of a drone (though it sure sounds good to play it with one) but even this is usually disputed. At any rate the tune chiseled on the stone is purely monophonic. Good work putting this up! Antandrus 21:54, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] A more exact translation...

I've taken the liberty of giving what I think is a more faithful translation (especially with regard to "shine" instead of "dance and sing, be joyful").Ex0pos 22:59, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

hey guys! I was just wondering about the transliteration of the lyrics. It appears that they've been transliterated using the reconstructed Classical Attic pronunciation system. This seems a little strange to me, considering that the song is dated to the second or third century AD, and by this time most of the major phonological changes between ancient Attic and Koine Greek had already taken place. I think that the transliteration should look something more like this:

   Oson zis, phainou
   Miden olos si lupou
   Pros oligon esti to zin
   To telos o chronos apaitei

I'm hesitant to change it in the article without consultation, because I'm not sure if there's a specific reason it's been transliterated Classical Attic in the first place. Also,I've been studying and singing this music for about a year now - I'd be happy to make a short recording.

Byz 12:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Yes on both counts! It needs a recording, and your explanation looks good to me. By all means update the transliteration, and if you're willing to release a recording as public domain or GFDL that would be wonderful.

As far as I know the date of the stele is somewhat in doubt, with estimates ranging from about 200BCE to 100CE (unfortunately there was nothing to carbon-date; it was just a stone monument). Thanks! Antandrus (talk) 15:02, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

hey Antandrus!

I made a short recording - it's not brilliant, but it's decent. I've taken a few artistic liberties (including using the musical intro to Mesomedes' "hymn to the muse" as an opening riff), but nothing too far out of the box. The problem is, we really aren't completely sure how the music would have sounded - we can only make educated guesses. I'd certainly be willing to release it as public domain - I've converted it to ogg, but I'm not sure about how to upload it!

Byz 10:21, 18 May 2006 (UTC)