Delphic Hymns and ancient Greek music

My first discovery of Greek musical annotations happened in 2012 when I saw the Seikilos column at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. This temporary exhibition held a copy of the Seikilos Epitaph from Copenhagen that showed ancient Greek music (see: Revealing ancient Greek music, the Seikilos Epitaph). It was presented as the oldest surviving example of musical composition in the world, dating back to between 200 BC and 100 AD. At that time, I learned that older Greek music inscriptions existed but only fragmentarily, as is the case for the Delphic Hymns. 

While the Seikilos Epitaph is the only complete song we have, the Delphic Hymns are simply the oldest surviving examples so far, dating from the 2^nd century BC. These Hymns were carved on the southern wall of the Treasury of the Athenians in Delphi. They contain hymns praising Apollo, his birth, his life, and his protection of Athens and Delphi, with music to be played on a shrill-sounding flute and a golden, sweet-sounding cithara. These hymns to Apollo were performed during the Pythian Games, a major venue for musical contests that originally focused on art and dance. 

The two inscriptions from the Treasury of the Athenians, now exhibited at the Museum of Delphi, belong to a series of about fifty similar hymns from ancient Greece. A study revealed that these songs of praise or triumph were composed for the Pythian Games of 128 BC, i.e., the ritual procession of the Athenians towards Delphi. Apollo is also hailed for his help in fighting the Galatians in 189 BC, as the Romans won the battle against these Celtic tribes in Asia Minor. 

Like the Seikilos inscriptions, the Delphic Hymns hold musical symbols for the instruments and other notations for the singing voice next to the lyrics. We owe the interpretation of these symbols to Alypius of Alexandria, a musicographer who lived in the 3^rd century AD. 

I followed the history of ancient Greek music and the reconstruction of ancient instruments, mainly the lyre/cithara and the flute, from 2016 onward, with several updates after Reconstructing ancient Greek music, an impossible task? We still find it difficult to accept that Homer's epics or the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides originally were sung partially or in their entirety.

The sounds produced by ancient instruments are a far cry from today’s music, even from what is considered classical music or medieval troubadours. Modern music is mostly loud, to be heard beyond the daily noises of traffic, airplanes, and too many people attending the open-air events with screaming amplifiers. It is hard to imagine a quiet, tranquil spot in nature where we could catch the sound of a faraway flute or a string instrument floating on the wind. The basic essence of musical notes no longer reaches us.

With new discoveries and future in-depth research, we may expect to learn more about the music played in antiquity that could have been familiar to Alexander. I hope.

[Pictures from the Delphi Archaeological Museum]

About Sabratha (Libya)

Sabratha is the lesser-known city of the Roman Tripolitania after Oea (Tripoli) and Leptis Magna, but it is the only one that has remains from Punic occupations to show.

It is a strange and bizarre monument labeled as a Punic Mausoleum. I have never seen any building from that era and have nothing to compare it with. We owe this reconstruction to the Italians who worked here in the days of Mussolini. To recover the elements, they had to demolish a section of the Byzantine city wall and houses of a later date. The monument may be inspired by the Libyan-Numidian Mausoleum of Duga in modern Tunisia, which is, however, a square building.

The Mausoleum of Sabratha stands 23 meters high and ends in a turret that is missing its tip. It is resting on a triangular base. The Punic construction collapsed during the earthquakes that occurred in the 4th century AD. The debris was then readily used by the Byzantines to build the city walls and reconstruct some houses.

How the Italian archaeologists have been able to sort out the parts belonging to the Punic Mausoleum seems a near-impossible task. To me, this monument is a jumbled mixture of Egyptian and Greek symbols (in the friezes above the columns) where the Egyptian god Bes is depicted taming the lions, while Heracles is attacking the lions in a very Greek fashion. Both gods are known for helping to overcome death in order to guarantee eternal life. The three consoles supposedly held 3-meter-high statues of Greek kouroi. Initially, the entire mausoleum was coated with a layer of red and blue stucco, making it an unmistakable landmark in the middle of the old city.

The eye-catcher in Sabratha nowadays is its imposing theater that is said to be the largest in Roman Africa. It was built in the 3rd century AD using local stone, and it was decorated with black and white marble columns as well as cipolin marble. The capitals were quite unique, often enhanced with masks or faces.

It is, however, exciting to access this theater through the artists' entrance for I had no idea such a thing existed in antiquity. These are large rooms with colorful marble floors and walls. From here, the artists could immediately enter the now wooden stage that is 40 meters wide. It is a treat to walk in their footsteps and to look into the theater from their point of view. The high skene is three stories tall. It is said that 96 of the original columns have been put back into place, but I am not exactly charmed by the quality of this restoration. 

The ledge of the first floor once held an inscription of which, strangely enough, only the word “lacuna” has survived. The theory goes that this is what remains of “lacunaria,” referring to the wooden overhang that covered the podium to increase its acoustics. The edge of the podium facing the public is decorated with marble reliefs displaying theater masks for comedies and tragedies, two philosophers in an intimate discussion, and a dancing girl wrapped in a whirling tunica.

When the restoration work was completed in 1937, the theater was inaugurated with due pomp and circumstance by Mussolini, who personally attended the performance of Antigone by Sophocles. Walking through the vaults and corridors gives at least an inkling of the logistics involved. It is a unique way to sniff the atmosphere from times past. From the top tiers of seats, I am rewarded with a panoramic view of the ancient city and today’s harbor.

Like the theater, most buildings in Sabratha were constructed using the local yellow sandstone that is readily available. These stones were covered with stucco that was painted afterward. In the glory days of the Roman occupation, the stucco was replaced by more precious marble slabs.

Near the beach stands a temple dedicated to Isis, an eastern cult that was popular among the Romans. The goddess was depicted with a headdress of bent cow horns framing a solar disk. This temple was built under Emperor Augustus and was enlarged in 69-79 AD by Vespasian. The main entrance was facing east, where an ample colonnaded space opened toward the sea. All we see today are the steps to this entrance and a few rooms in the back of the temple for the worship of other gods. Archaeologists have, however, managed to re-erect six columns that serve as a lonely beacon. Nothing much remains of the original cella that held the cult statue of Isis, and the layout is otherwise rather puzzling.

Nearby is another temple from the 2nd century AD with no name. It may have been kept anonymous on purpose to serve the seafarers from the entire Mediterranean to worship their own gods. Most of the building stones have sadly been removed to be re-used elsewhere.

The Forum looks like a construction site with lots of rubble and piles of stones that seem to belong to different temples and other official buildings. A key position is occupied by the remains of a temple dedicated to Antoninus Pius and his family. Across lies a Basilica whose entrance is framed with pillars decorated with vines intertwined with the now-vanished silphium plant. It should be noted that silphium was by far the largest export product of North Africa - the only place in the world where this plant could be found, and now disappeared entirely. It was a natural medicine, a contraceptive, and an aphrodisiac that was in high demand, especially in Rome. It was an efficient remedy against cough, fever, indigestion, wards, and all kinds of other ailments – in fact, the aspirin of antiquity. I find it quite exciting to see traces of this unique plant.

Also recognizable is the Curia from the 4th century AD, i.e., the meeting room for the state council in which the people of Sabratha with the highest incomes could have a seat and their say. Then as now, money meant power, and we should not forget that it was the rich who took care of the maintenance of the streets, water pipes and conduits, bathhouses, and other public facilities of the city.

Between this Curia and the sea, I find the well-known Basilica of Justinian, a Byzantine church from the 6th century AD, which, unfortunately, was entirely dismantled by the archaeologists in the 1920s simply because they underestimated its value. The mosaic floors, however, have been saved and were moved to the local museum (see: Sabratha, an old Phoenician colony in North Africa).

Strolling further, I reach the street of the olive oil traders where several presses are still in situ. The inside of the successive basins was coated with waterproof stucco to make sure they saved the oil to the last drop.

Further down are the Baths of Oceanus or Neptune, displaying a significant number of mosaics. The most beautiful picture is that of Oceanus, now at the museum. That precaution is not exaggerated because these mosaics are not protected, and everybody can walk freely over them. What a shame! 

My travel experience through Libya dates from before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, and even then, I felt sorry that Libya had not taken better care of its archaeological heritage. The situation after the capture and execution of Muammar Gaddafi has gone from bad to worse. I honestly fear that many sites that have been unearthed so carefully are no longer cared for and are now left for grabs (see: Still hope, though scant, for Libya’s heritage).

What Oxyrhynchus revealed so far

Several years ago, I was at the Getty Villa in Malibu to be treated to two theatrical plays from antiquity, one Greek, The Woman from Samos by Menander, and one Roman, Casina by Plautus.

Set at dusk in the Peristyle of the Villa from which the statues had been removed for the occasion, it was a unique setting to see an old play in the New World.

Evidently, the Greek play caught my attention, and it was explained that Menander’s The Woman from Samos had only recently been recovered from the Egyptian desert and had never been performed before. 

The Egyptian desert as the finding place was an odd fact that I could not place at the time until, one day, I learned about the papyrus heap of Oxyrhynchus (see: Hellenica Oxyrhynchia by P.J. McKechnie and S.J. Kern and Get involved with Oxyrhynchus). At this dumpsite, many Greek texts that had been lost for centuries eventually surfaced. Large fragments have been salvaged, like works by Sappho and Alcaeus, poems by Pindar, and considerable bits of authors like Euripides and Sophocles. Also recovered were the most complete diagrams from Euclid’s Elements, a life of Euripides by Satyrus the Peripatetic, and an epitome of seven of the 120 books of Livy that are otherwise lost.

But among the pile of papyri, Menander benefited most from the finds at Oxyrhynchus, with fragments of Misoumenos, Dis Exapaton, Epitrepontes, Karchedonios, Dyskolos (The Bad-Tempered Man or The Malcontent), and Kolax. At last, we have enough works to recognize his status in the Greek theater.

Menander was an Athenian tragedian who lived in the 4th century BC. He was born around 342 BC, and who knows, Alexander may have heard of him or even seen one of his plays while he was in Asia. Menander was a prolific and much-imitated writer whose success was recognized for centuries after his death. The Romans scrambled to collect unknown plays, which they adapted and translated into Latin. Unfortunately, none of Menander’s plays survived until this chance discovery in the Egyptian desert. 

As I was flipping through a pile of papers, the very program from the Getty Villa fell into my hands again – a most gratifying rekindling of memories. It had been an evening I would never forget.

The popular The Woman from Samos is a play of deception and misunderstanding in which a marriage that everyone desires almost fails to happen, two women and a baby are almost ruined, and a loving father almost loses his only son, because the people at home and the people abroad have both been doing things behind each other's backs - but somehow everything ends happily after all. It is a complicated story, yet played in such a way that it keeps our attention on edge. It was, of course, executed in English translation. 

Horses buried upright in Thracian tomb

Thracian horses were famous throughout antiquity, and Homer, who probably lived in the 8^th century BC, already mentions that Rhesos, the mythical king of Thrace possessed massive horses, “whiter than snow”. That must have been quite a sight for sore eyes!

Tragedians like Sophocles and Euripides label the Thracians as loving their horses, while Hesiod refers to the horse-breeding qualities of the Thracians. It is not surprising to find the horse portrayed on their coins and on those of the Greek colonies in Thrace.

Alexander and his father, before him, were well aware of this high-quality breed. We will remember the incident when, in 339 BC, Philip returned home after capturing the Athenian corn ships. On his way, he thought it would be a good idea to secure his eastern front and subdue the ruling Scythians. Besides the slaves, he got hold of some twenty thousand thoroughbred horses. But his success did not last long as the Triballi, an independent Thracian tribe, attacked and stole the precious horses from the king before he could reach Macedonia. (see: Philip’s campaigns east (342 BC) and the Fourth Sacred War (339 BC)).

It is therefore not surprising to find horses buried next to their wealthy owners and leaders (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece) or depicted on the walls of their burial chamber (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings, Bulgaria).

Today, wild horses still roam in Thrace, which now extends over most of Bulgaria, as well as the eastern corner of Greece and the western part of Turkey.

Recent excavations in Svestari in north-east Bulgaria have exposed the remains of a Thracian carriage pulled by two horses that apparently were buried standing upright. Scholars believe that the chariot was led over a ramp into the pit. The horses wore their festive trimmings and elaborate harnesses.

[Picture from Sofia News Agency]

A couple of years ago, a similar chariot was found, complete with a seat, together with two horses in the village of Borissvovo, dating from the Roman era. In this case, the chariot was supported by stones to keep it in position, giving the archaeologists a unique opportunity to study how the vehicle was put together.

A closer look at Euripides

Several years ago, most of the collection of Hellenistic art at the Louvre was housed in one of the larger ground-floor rooms. The lighting there was relatively poor, and in my memory, the statues were only touched by the changing moods of daylight.

There were no huge crowds in those days, although this is where we would find the Resting youth by Polycleitus; the elegant Aphrodite said to be a replica of Callimachus’ original; a young satyr playing the flute, a replica of an original Praxiteles; the touching elderly Faun holding a Child; a copy of Hermes attaching his sandal; the Hunting Diana in full swing; the Eros ready to shoot his arrow which is a replica of Lysippos as well as the famous Azara Hermes of Alexander the Great another replica of an original Lysippos, and several others. I often sighed that the statues were so dusty, itching to get some water and soap out to wash them off. Despite all this, the unique atmosphere in that half-lit room made you feel close to times long gone. 

Almost lost in a corner near one of the large windows stood the small statuette of a seated Euripides staring out into a world that was not his. However, it caught my attention because the back panel of this statuette listed 32 of his plays. Exhibited at eye level, I would read the titles one by one, and it was as if each name disclosed an entire shelf of papyri ready to be unscrolled.

Then the room was closed for years until the entire collection was moved elsewhere and arranged in a way that complied with the demands of today’s visitors, where each piece of art is highlighted in appropriate floodlights. There was, however, no trace of “my” Euripides, and I wondered what had happened to him. Maybe he was moved to a different room to fit another topic. Who knows?

Yet, all was not lost! At times, it takes patience, and the reward came last year when I visited a temporary exhibition at the Louvre-Lens called Music, Echoes from Antiquity. Many old musical instruments had been brought together, not only from the Greek and Roman era but also from Egyptian, Persian, Sogdian, Assyrian, and Sumerian times. To complement the instruments, several paintings, vases, reliefs, and statues represent the musicians in action.

For no apparent reason, it was here that I suddenly found my precious Euripides! The reason for this presence among the vases and small musicians was not obvious, except that Greek theater plays included choral songs that told the story. I was overjoyed to find my friend sitting in front of this oversized window presiding over his oeuvre.  

Euripides was by far the most prolific tragedian of his time, producing more than his contemporaries Aeschylus and Sophocles together. During his lifetime (ca. 480 - ca. 406 BC), he stayed in Pella at the court of King Archelaus, Alexander’s great-grandfather, and at least two of his plays were performed in Macedonia, one of which is the Bacchae. It tells the story of the  king of Thebes, Pentheus, who is killed by his mother and other women in a maenadic frenzy.

It seems no coincidence that the Bacchae is being performed this summer at the theater of the Getty Villa in Malibu, California. This production is directed by Anne Bogart (one of the three Co-Artistic Directors of the SITI Company and Professor at Columbia University)  and translated by Aaron Poochigian (who earned a Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University). This is an excellent opportunity to immerse ourselves in history and watch a play that Alexander must have seen more than once!

It is not surprising that Alexander grew up with an intimate knowledge and great love for theatrical performances, which he loved to organize all through his eastern campaigns – often inviting celebrated actors from Athens for the occasion.

Isn’t it amazing how much one small statuette has to tell?

Another reconstruction of ancient Greek music

In one of my earlier posts on the subject, Reconstructing ancient Greek music, an impossible task? I spoke about Armand D’Angour, a musician and tutor in classics at Oxford University, who reminded us that the epics of Homer, the love poems of Sappho, and the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides originally were music. This means that pieces composed between 750 and 400 BC were to be sung partially or in their totality, accompanied by the lyre, reed pipes, and some percussion instruments.

At present, he and other scholars claim to be able to reconstruct and perform those ancient songs with 100% accuracy. Hereunder is a rendering by David Creese, a classicist from the University of Newcastle. This is an ancient Greek song composed by Seikilos (see: Revealing ancient Greek music, the Seikilos Epitaph) and performed on an eight-string zither-like instrument with movable bridges. 

 

  So, how about that for a lazy afternoon listening?

Reconstructing ancient Greek music, an impossible task?

This is what I thought: it is an impossible task. Lately, I saw a replica of the Seikilos Epitaph from 200 BC/100 AD found in Aydin, Turkey (see: Revealing ancient Greek music, the Seikilos Epitaph). Since then, I have come across many articles treating and analyzing this unique subject.

 

The remains of ancient Greek music are very scant, leaving the impression that music was not popular in ancient Greece. Nothing is further from the truth since music then was all around, in theaters, athletics, education, and everyday life to express joy or sorrow. Ancient Greek music has been brought back to life thanks to, for instance, the achievements of the group LyrAvlos, a contraction of "lyra" (lyre) and "avlos" (flute). The group made several appearances, among which The Athens Hall of Music and the Warsaw Opera shows, the Festival of Old Music in Stockholm, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, the co-operation with the National Orchestra of Athens in the First Greek Musical Celebrations, as well as at the 2004 Olympic Games.

 

Stefos, the leader of Lyravlos, worked hard to construct precise replicas of the old instruments to play the music from eons past. So far, 61 ancient songs have been saved, some on papyrus, others on shards or stone like the above-mentioned Seikilos Epitaph. Such stones and papyri from Egypt, dating overall between 300 BC and 300 AD, show a vocal notation consisting of letters and signs placed above the vowels of the words. Besides, the Greeks had worked out the mathematical ratios of musical intervals, in which an octave is 2:1, a fifth 3:2, and a fourth 4:3.

 

On the other hand, a musician and tutor in classics at Oxford University, Armand D’Angour, reminds us of Homer's epics, the love poems of Sappho, and the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides that originally were music. This means that pieces composed between 750 and 400 BC were to be sung partially or in their totality, accompanied by the lyre, reed pipes, and some percussion instruments.

 

The oldest musical document discovered to date shows only a few bars from Orestes, probably written by Euripides himself in the 5^th century BC. How Euripides exactly fits modern analysis is hard to figure out, but it is known that with the words “I lament” and “I beseech,” he uses a falling, mournful cadence, while with the words “my heart leaps wildly,” the melody is rising. It is astonishing to learn that Athenian soldiers earned their meals while singing Euripides during their captivity in the quarries of Syracuse in 413 BC - a moving detail reported by Plutarch. From Homer, we know that the bards used a four-stringed lyre, the “phormix,” and we may assume that those strings were tuned to the four notes that survived in the later basic Greek scales. 

A thorough analysis has proved that rhythms, for instance, are preserved through the words themselves, based on the short or long syllables. The instruments are known from statues, paintings, and literary descriptions, by which a musician can amazingly find the timbre and range of pitches they produce. For instance, the letter A at the top of the scale is actually a fifth higher than the letter N halfway down the alphabet. Absolute pitch can then be figured out based on the vocal ranges required to sing the surviving tunes. 

Yet this music is very far from our Western conception and comes closer to the sounds produced in India or the Middle East. It seems, however, that instrumental practice from the ancient Greeks still survives in some specific areas of Sardinia and Turkey. More technical details can be found in the article “How did ancient Greek music sound?” by Armand D'Angour.

Another important story is about a chip of papyrus found in a forgotten corner of the Louvre’s basement in 2002. It turned out to be a partition of Medea by Carcinos the Younger (approximately 360 BC) that was mentioned by Aristotle in his Rhetorics, and in which the heroine, unlike in Euripides’ version, is innocent. So today, we can listen to the bewitching aria sung in a deep voice, as in antiquity, the role of women was held by men. Annie Bélis, a world-renowned specialist in ancient music, studied this papyrus and other bits and pieces; she now concentrates on performing both vocal and instrumental scores that have survived, creating an ensemble called Kérylos. All the music partitions are authentic. The already known chorus score from Euripides’ Orestes, and the Seikilos Song of the two Delphic Hymns to the Pythian Apollo, have been deciphered and reproduced in her musical works. Among them, there also is an excerpt from Aristophanes’ Birds (nothing to do with Hadjidakis’ interpretation), a paean by Mesomedes of Crete (favorite composer of Emperor Hadrian), a piece from Carcinos’ Medea mentioned above, and an anonymous paean to the stars to name just a few. 

 

Based on strict archaeological references, Annie Bélis uses carefully rebuilt lyres, kitharas, flutes, and percussion instruments. For instance, statues, mainly of Apollo playing the lyre, and remains of instruments gleaned from different archaeological locations. So far, she has performed with the Ensemble Kérylos in several countries, including Greece, at Delphi. More recently, a special concert in Paris was organized in the frame of the exhibition “Au Royaume d’Alexandre le Grand. La Macédoine Antique” in 2011. Sorry to have missed it. More details can be found on the Kérylos site.

Based on all the above information and interpretation, we can almost recreate Alexander the Great's music. Isn’t that wonderful?

Papyri, a precious source of information

As far back as the ancient Egyptians (i.e., as far back as 4,000 BC), papyrus was used as writing support for essential documents. Manufacturing papyrus is an art by itself and a very time-consuming operation. The papyrus reed has to be picked upstream of the Nile, where the stems are harvested. After being cleaned, the triangular stems were cut into long strips. These thin strips were then laid out in two layers, one horizontal and one vertical, that were then pressed together and dried to form the ultimate papyrus sheet. Thanks to its natural gum, these sheets could also be laid side by side to produce a roll, which, when inscribed, would become the known scrolls from antiquity. It is mind-blowing to think how much reed had to be turned into papyrus to produce all the literature from antiquity. We cannot even imagine how many people were involved in making papyrus, whose production must have been organized on an industrial scale.

In the dry desert climate of Egypt, such scrolls could safely survive for centuries, as was proven by the thousands of pieces that emerged from the garbage heap at Oxyrhynchus. Elsewhere, documents were primarily preserved by chance. One such find happened, for instance, in Herculaneum, the Italian city buried under a thick layer of volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

In those days, Herculaneum, just like Pompeii, was a plush resort town where rich people from Rome sought solace from the summer heat. One such Roman was Lucius Calpurnis Piso Caesoninus, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar, who built a grand seaside villa lavishly decorated with more than eighty bronze and marble statues of the finest quality. This is the Villa that Paul Getty copied in Malibu, California, to house his collection of antiquities.

Besides the impressive collection of artwork, Piso’s Villa also yielded a library of some 2,000 scrolls, the only one that survived from the classical world. Unfortunately, we cannot read any of these scrolls since they turned into lumps of charcoal, the result of the pyroclastic blast that carbonized the papyrus before the city caught fire and sank into oblivion under the volcanic ashes. When first discovered, these black burnt logs were not recognized as scrolls, and some were hacked into pieces. A later conservator of the Vatican tried in the 18th century to painstakingly unroll them, spending four years on one single scroll, and many chips just broke off. Even in the 1980s, experts from Oxford University could not do much, and the reading was challenging even under changing light or under a microscope. Manipulating the papyri did more damage than good as fragments crumbled to dust. Towards the end of the 1990s, infrared light helped to decipher some of the texts, followed by multi-spectral imaging providing more precise images of the letters and texts. Unrolling the scrolls was the major problem. In 2009, the Institut de France in Paris used Computerized Tomography (CT) scans to read the internal surfaces of the scrolls. The task was tough even with this modern technology since the rolls were tightly wound and creased. The easy sections could be converted into 2D images, but another problem arose when it was discovered that the chemistry of the ink blended with the chemistry of the paper; the main reason is that ancient ink does not contain any metal.

This all means that we may need new technology or procedures to come to our rescue to decipher these scrolls that may contain lost works from known or even unknown antique authors.

The Hellenistic world, which ruled the Mediterranean roughly from 323 to 31 BC, counted several major libraries, the best known and probably the greatest being the Library of Alexandria, founded in 300 BC. It was severely damaged by Julius Caesar’s fire in 48 BC and was finally destroyed at some time between 270 and 275 AD during the attack of Emperor Aurelius. Next in order was the Library of Pergamon, with some 200,000 volumes, which Marc Anthony “generously” gave to his wife, Queen Cleopatra. The Roman Empire created its own libraries in Rome, often apparently located in separate buildings containing Greek and Latin works. We possess a catalog listing all the facilities of Rome from circa 350 AD, in which no less than 29 public libraries are mentioned!

It is clear that since Hellenistic times, many people were literate and could read either or both Greek and Latin texts. What a shame that so much knowledge and such linguistic skills have been lost since then!

In an article published in the BBC News Magazine,  Robert Fowler, Professor of Classics at the University of Bristol, was so kind as to compose a list of the main lost works from antiquity: 

Aeschylus - only 7 of his 80 plays survive

Aristophanes - 11 out of 40 plays survive

Ennius - his epic poem Annales, is almost entirely lost

Euripides - 18 of his 90 plays survive

Livy - three-quarters of his History of Rome is lost

Sappho - most of her nine books of lyric poems are lost

Sophocles - only 7 entire plays survive of the 120 he wrote

But returning to the Villa dei Papyri, we should be aware that the scrolls found so far lay in and around one room, but there are more rooms on the same level that have never been excavated, nor have the lower levels of the house been. Some of the scrolls discovered were packed in tubular boxes (capsae) used to carry them around, which could imply they came from another room or another part of the Villa. There is a theory that this Villa was not only a holiday residence but a mouseion, a place where the owner could show off his collections of works of art and literature.

New and more in-depth excavations in Herculaneum may answer many of the above questions. Still, the Italian authorities are not too keen to allow more digging as the archaeological site is located just underneath the modern town of Ercolano. This is an understandable argument, of course, but let us not forget that Mount Vesuvius is an ever-present menace, the last major eruption occurred in 1944, and the next one may bury the fragile remains of Herculaneum under an even deeper layer of ashes.

[Picture of the Getty Villa is from their site - click here]

About Greek theater plays

Whoever travels to Greece or Turkey cannot miss the ever-present remains of antique theaters, all in relatively good condition.  

The origin of theater tragedies goes back to the 6th century BC, thanks to the feasts that were held in honor of Dionysos, the Dionysia. For the first time in 534 BC, they are considered a permanent program element. Theaters are no longer exclusively used for religious performances but have become the place where the lives of heroes and half-gods are related. The tragic poet is the most essential element. He not only writes the tragedy but also expresses his songs as an actor, accompanied by 12-15 singers and dancers.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC) is the first author to break traditions by introducing a second actor to create a dialogue between two people. Although the choir is still essential, it is now pushed to the background. In those days, we discovered a difference between light comedy and tragedy, which treated the conflicts between men and the gods.

A third actor is introduced by Sophocles (405-406 BC), enabling the creation of intrigue between the other two persons. The choir at this stage serves only to support the action. When in 460 BC, Sophocles stops performing, an actual separation between writing theater plays and acting occurred.

The third playwriter was Euripides (ca. 480-405 BC), who spent several years at the Macedonian court in the days of King Archelaus, where he died. He must have written more than ninety plays, of which at least 20% have come to us more or less complete. His fame is because he actually wrote dialogues that sounded like spontaneous conversations instead of carrying the ritual contexts from older plays. In his lifetime, most of his public did not appreciate this "modern" style. Only after his death did he become the favorite of Athenian theaters.

It is evident that Alexander grew up with theater plays, as his father before him, as well as his ancestors, who all loved to watch a good play. From 449 BC onward, the Greek States chose plays with three main actors: the principal role was performed by the Protagonist, who in turn hired the supporting actors, i.e., the second actor, the Deuteragonist, and the third actor, the Tritagonist. The choir was not composed of professional actors but of civilians appointed by the city. The principal actors, however, were also allowed to compete for prizes in special competitions. The peak of acting was reached in the fourth century BC, and actors even became more important than playwriters. The most famous players went so far as to adapt parts of the play to match their egos or ambitions. In the heyday, actors were exonerated from taxes and military service. Thanks to their popularity, they enjoyed the admiration and protection of kings and the social elite. In return, the kings and the nobility entrusted them with significant political and diplomatic missions, by which the actors could make history away from the theater.

We will remember the Pixodarus affair when Alexander asked the tragic actor Thettalus to plead in his favor with the Carian satrap for his daughter's hand. By this maneuver, Alexander hoped to thwart his father's plan, who had offered his retarded son, Arrhidaeus, Alexander's half-brother, in marriage to the infant daughter of Pixodarus of Caria. Because of their political immunity, actors were often asked to act as mediators with rulers or politicians, and Alexander knew how to exploit that possibility. This time, however, Alexander had to pay a high price for interfering with his father's plans, as King Philip banished all Alexander's friends from Macedonia except Hephaistion.

In the summer of 331 BC, when Alexander installed himself temporarily at Tyre after leaving Egypt, he organized a grand celebration in honor of Melqart-Heracles. The kings of Salamis and Soli, who sponsored the event, hired the most celebrated actors of the day, including evidently Thettalus, who by now had become a personal friend of the king. Unfortunately for Alexander, Thettalus did not win the contest.

The same actor was again invited by Alexander in 324 BC when he organized the mass wedding in Susa, where he married the Persian princess Stateira (or Barsine). Her sister, Drypetis, was given to Hephaistion. Alexander's close companions were all married to girls from high Persian nobility. Eighty other couples shared the feast in a wonderfully idealistic dream to bring East and West closer together.