Seikilos Epitaph - The Tune

The Tune

Above the lyrics (transcribed here in modern Greek font) is a line with letters and signs for the tune:

Translated into modern musical notation, the tune is something like this:

Seikilos epitaph
Tune performed on a computer

The following is the Greek text (in the later polytonic script; the original is in majuscule), along a transliteration of the words (which are sung to the melody), and a (somewhat free) English translation:

Ὅσον ζῇς, φαίνου,
Hoson zês, phainou,
While you live, shine,
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ·
mêden holôs su lupou;
have no grief at all;
πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν,
pros oligon esti to zên,
life exists only for a short while,
τὸ τέλος ὁ xρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.
to telos ho chronos apaitei.
and time demands its toll.

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