SAVAE - Song of Seikilos (1st century Greek song)

[yudego22]

in my humble opinion this will be like this for the englis speakers

Hoson dzes phai-nou,

Meden holo-os sy lypou-ou.

Pros oligon e-esti to dze-en, to telos ho hronos apaitei-ei.

but i dont know how dou you say the ou , the "t" must be no so much dental, just like spanish speakers

anyway , ist a wontherfull song !!! thank you very much

sorry for my english

[pearlrose11]

Love it !

[Augalv]

Beautiful, simply beautiful



[Stratopeter87]

Most beautiful song I heard in a long time! It's so full of joy and love and it feels like the ghosts of a long forgotten past have awoken once again. Thank you for sharing that experience through a wonderful playing and a lovely female voice!

[P2K725]

@Stratopeter87 The pleasure is all mine, friend! I feel the same way.

[MushroomedAnymore]

@Stratopeter87 I think you about summed it up for me too! Nice to see a like mind! ;-)

[Mrpotsable]

I HATE MY BASTARD FRIEND WHO SAY: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT VOICE... I said: SONG OF SEIKILOS, he Said: THATS WAS RLLY BAD

[IsaacJustGotPwned]

Im glad i found this. It made my day a little bit better :)

[Fiskepudding127]

This song is really nice!

[nazarian3]

AHHH I WANT WHIS CD BUT I CANT FIND IT

[P2K725]

@nazarian3 Not even on eBay??

[nazarian3]

@P2K725 can't buy them on ebay because normally they don't arrive. I live to far away.

[P2K725]

@nazarian3 Or Amazon. If not I can send you all the songs.

[nazarian3]

@P2K725 I don't want to try, I would prefer the second choice hahaha :D, that would be nice :D.

[Mrpotsable]

that sweet voice

[P2K725]

@Mrpotsable Rare.

[domrivers]

I think the pronunciation of the Greek might be a bit wrong... but then I learnt Attic Greek so it might be a bit different. Really cool either way! :D

[armcelt]

Beautiful melody in Mixolydian Mode)).

[mudkipero]

@armcelt It's Phrygian, actually.

[armcelt]

@mudkipero Nope. You're quite mistaken. It's G Mixolydian.

[mudkipero]

@armcelt nope again, you're wrong. G Mixolydian doesn't have c sharp, a note which is present in the song, it's the Phrygian scale of E, that scale has A as tenor, a note which is repeated a lot of times in the song, the second being E, which is also an important note in this particular mode, and has c and f sharp, both notes used at least once in the song.

[armcelt]

@mudkipero You've mixed up everything )))))).

First, neither G Mixolydian nor E Phrygian contain any sharp or flat.

Second, where did you find C sharp and F sharp here??? They're absolutely absent in this melody.

And then, try to play the tune on piano and you'll be able to manage it perfectly only on the white keys with G starting and finalising the tune )).

[mudkipero]

@armcelt It seems i didn't express myself in the proper manner, what i meant was this piece of music its in the key of D, which has the two sharps i mentioned, but its in e because the the highest and lowest notes are an E, okay here's the part that i didn't explain, i was talking about the old tonos phrygian mode, which is the equivalent to the modern dorian mode. So in a nutshell what im trying to say is that the piece is in the key of D, and it was written in E dorian.

[armcelt]

@mudkipero Yep, the notes with flats you've mentioned (like in Wikipedia article about Seikilos epitaph) which tonally resemles E Dorian are in A Mixolydian in truth )). This tune always comes in Mixolydian mode (modern). The only subject of change is its key ).

[TheKevinDasilva]

With all due respect to this beautiful song, I have to make this joke:

Even this is better than Bieber!

(P.S. Of course it is, this song is simple, yet beautiful... Who would'a knew that one creative person that, in memorial to a loved one, invented something that would one day change humanity.)

[kaimialana]

Funny how the first recorded song said everything there is to say.

[P2K725]

@kaimialana Precisely. I love that about this song.

[0ladystardust]

This is just beautiful. Sometimes I think...has music really progressed that much since this song? This song is simple yet very profound. A song does not have to be overly complicated in order to be a work of art.

[Thekateful7]

That's strange to see how many people are living in the pass.

[P2K725]

@Thekateful7 In order to cherish where you're going you must acknowledge how and where it had begun. ^_^

[MushroomedAnymore]

@P2K725 Well, I suspect that spiritually the next incarnation in progress of soul toward enlightenment may be so-called backwards-in-time (eg from 2012 to birth in Rome 212 BCE). Skeptically who knows really. It stikes me looking at the Fayum Mummy Faces and other remnants of Antiquity that Matters of Self & Soul have ultimately little to do with Time! Thanks for the wonderful video! Oh, have you heard Ensemble De Organographia's reconstructions of Ancient Music? They are haunting! :-)

[TheOmegaHG]

@Thekateful7 I prefer to live in the underpass.

[hacking38]

Greetings from Georgia! nice

[CyberianHusky74]

Wow! This gives me flashbacks. I was an engineer on these sessions. :)

[P2K725]

@CyberianHusky74 REALLY? =DDD

[odniwr]

A more modern translation that follows the prosody of the original:

All through life -- Shine on!

Let nothing dampen your fire;

We have but a short while to live,

Until the end that time will desire.

[SergioAlejandroLira]

Ὅσον ζῇς, φαίνου/Hoson zês, phainou/Mientras vivas, brilla/While you live, shine//μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ/mêden holôs su lupou/Nada se haga tu sufrimiento/don't suffer anything // πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν/pros oligon esti to zên/pues la vida existe solo un breve momento/life exists only a short while//τὸ τέλος ὁ xρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ/to telos ho chronos apaitei/y el tiempo pedirá su derecho/and time demands its toll.

[xBoykex]

what is the name of the picture on 4:36?

[mariax2010]

it's really beautifu!!!soooo muchhhh beautiful!!!!!!and not only for it's music but for what it says,too!!το ειχαν πιασει το νοημα τηs ζωηs οι Ελληνεs απο τοτε λεμε!!!μπραβο για το post αυτο!!ευτυχωs που υπαρχουν και καποιοι που ανεβαζουν και κατι τηs προκοπηs εδω μεσα..κατι που πραγματικα να αξιζει!!ευγε!!!

[santero9999]

@mariax2010 does she just repeat the lines or does she go on??

[mariax2010]

@santero9999 you mean if there are other words after that?if i understood right,these words here:

Hoson zes phai-nou,

(As long as you live, shine!)

Meden holo-os sy lypou-ou.

(Let nothing grieve you beyond measure.)

Pros oligon e-esti to ze-en, to telos ho chronos apaitei-ei.

(For your life is short, and time will claim its tribute.)''

are the words of this song and she repeats these words Sant!

[Xystus234]

"Little did he know, somewhere in the far, distant future, long after he had died and everything he had ever known had long ceased to exist, someone out there in the vast reaches of space and time, in a civilization that did not yet exist, heard his song and felt his pain."

[P2K725]

@Xystus234 I like this a lot. You think of that?

[eliopoulosgiannis]

I admired the synthesis but I distinguish the distinction of long and short voyels. It had ceased to be made at that time. The song is mistakenly executed.

[P2K725]

@eliopoulosgiannis Can't just enjoy the songgg? =(

[eliopoulosgiannis]

@P2K725 I enjoyed it and I loved what I heard!!

[P2K725]

@eliopoulosgiannis Yaaaay!

[Forcroi]

@P2K725 Can ou enjoy the food that was inadequately cooked?:)

[kostas68]

@eliopoulosgiannis

That's right,my friend.Most linguists agree that in Hellenistic time the accent was almost identical with modern Greek,i.e. η was pronounced as ι instead of lomg ε,the diphthongs αι,ει and οι as ε,ι and ι respectivelly and the consonants β,γ,δ and θ were also pronounced like in modern Greek.

[ZeeGooner]

wow greek sounds soo similar to armenian

interesting

[P2K725]

@ZeeGooner Well, at the time, did Hellenic culture not cross the Dardenelles into Turkey and beyond to modern-day Armenia? I could be wrong.

[ZeeGooner]

@P2K725 well depends really, because many scholars believe, in particular an english one Robert Ellis who believes the Etruscans have their origins from Armenia.. i mean technically speaking the Armenian civilization does predate the Greek ( no hostilities what so ever mate just using historical facts ) i wouldn't be surprised if their was influence from both ends.. i tend not to look at mainstream history it is distorted and used to satisfy the needs of those nations exploiting it.

[ZlorfikF17]

@P2K725

No, that's absolutely right

[P2K725]

@ZlorfikF17 =)

[jarblewarble]

@ZeeGooner They're both Indo-European languages.

[Argurotoxe]

i can't even find the words to describe this gift

everyday when people wake up, they should think about this song

they knew it so many years ago, why does mankind dishonour this?

there are enormous amounts of animal kinds, but only one kind of beast

[P2K725]

@Argurotoxe Yet no one stops to ponder the mastery and powerful message behind songs like these. In ancient times there were hardly any distractions from nature and peace...but in our modern world it's impossible to get someone to sit and LISTEN. Except for the viewers of this video. =)

[maire83]

Best version by far

[P2K725]

@maire83 Hehe, biased though I agree.

[scoupe1666]

love it...

[vanderbilt887]

"Had Greek civilization never existed, we might fear God and deal justly with our neighbors, we might practice arts and even have learned how to devise fairly simple machines, but we would never have become fully conscious, which is to say we would never have become, for better or worse, fully human."

W.H. Auden

[1969yaman]

ı am live in seiklos quarter at tralleis Aydın /Turkey

[P2K725]

@1969yaman NICE. And was this accurate, is it still standing?

[Kwikspur]

In proper Ancient Greek (i.e. polytonic) orthography it's:

Ὅσον ζῇς, φαίνου

Μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ

Πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν

Τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.

[Tauromenio]

I putted off my dress and watched the sun goes down....thinking what we losed

[elementz1986]

The words to this ancient song are inpiring:

While you live, shine

Don't suffer anything at all;

Life exists only a short while

And time demands its toll.

[DukeLongfellow]

I find it breathtaking that the oldest piece kept in it's fullest is a song about celebrating life. :)

[TheTimeTraveler100]

This is really beautiful. I would love to acknowledge the ancient music of other countries. This should be a good start.

[P2K725]

@TheTimeTraveler100 Try South and Southeast Asia as well. Though Hellenic culture is a wonderful beginning.

[P2K725]

@DwaynHicks I wish that too. But if there was this wouldn't serve as intriguing. That little glimpse is enough to make it beautiful and mysterious, I think.

[nicodagger]

Why is ancient Greek so different from modern Greek? thank you.

[P2K725]

@nicodagger

Like periphyseos said, both pronunciation, accents, and dialects were all radically different.

[P2K725]

@nicodagger

The Greek we know today is the descendant of that form of speaking, not as pure, I suppose.

[giorgiodieffe]

La più antica canzone occidentale, di cui si conoscano testo e musica...dedicata da un marito greco alla giovane moglie defunta.

Per il tempo che ti resta da vivere, splendi!

Non lasciarti affliggere oltre misura.

La vita è breve e il tempo reclama il proprio tributo.

[aardmaat]

can anyone tell me where I can find sheet music for this song?

it sounds really nice

[KarenSDR]

@aardmaat The melody is written out in the wikipedia article on Seikilos

[P2K725]

@KarenSDR Thank you for answering that question for him, KarenSDR. Hope you enjoyed!

[KarenSDR]

@P2K725 Enjoyed isn't a big enough word. My husband found this video and told me about it, and I spent a week learning to sing it, and we've come back again and again over the past month to listen to it. Thank you so much for posting it.

[mauricioamf]

i like it, althought i really dont think a woman sang this in the ancient greece.....

[Tritalas]

haha, she didn't said "ἀπαιτει" (apeti) she said "ἀπαϊτέι" (apaitei). In Greek the ai is e and the ei is i

[designedsayer]

@Tritalas a is always a and is always i.

αι originally was pronounced as aï not ε like in modern Greek.

υμεις και ημεις sound exactly the same, how in the world am I suppose to tell if the speaker means you or we?

[Tritalas]

@designedsayer I didn't knew that!

OK. But when I learned Ancient Greek (Attic dialect & some Macedonian dialect) I did not learned that!

Maybe it's in some dialects.

[designedsayer]

@Tritalas Yeah η was probably a long e

and υ as a french u or i in later greek.

αμήν in Spanish is Amén, not Amín, from Latin amen, from Greek αμήν.

[designedsayer]

@Tritalas sorry α is always α and ι is always ι.

ε is always ε. so, ει was ¨εϊ και αι αϊ. υι possibly was vi or wi, not just ι as in modern Greek. οι=¨οϊ

[designedsayer]

@Tritalas They make a few mistakes here in the video like εί as εΪ instead of e-í ε-ί

[Tritalas]

@designedsayer I searched and you have right to this! Also Η was double E, really (they wrote: ΠΕΡΙΚLΕS in Attic dialect)

Don't forget the Ω too, which was double O. In school they learned us the polytonic system with the small letters, but ancient Greeks used only capital letters and they don't use polytonic or monotonic system. Polytonic & small letters start from 9th century AC.

[periphyseos]

Nobody can possibly be acquainted with the sound of ancient Greek words to the extent of judging accents to be right or wrong, for the quite obvious fact that there are no vocal records (though it is generally agreed that it didn't sound like modern Greek). Besides, there always existed many accents along a wide country, as it presently happens. So don't be so foolish as to woory about it and try to enjoy before time claims its tribute!

[googlephi]

@periphyseos

It may not be possible to know for sure, but linguistic reconstruction can work backwards to a good approximation of the original sounds. With sufficient evidence, this works so well that linguists even have approximations for /most/ of the sounds in a few hundred words of Proto-Indo-European (the common ancestor of English, Greek , Persian, Russian, and Sanskrit some six thousand years ago).

But you're correct about many kinds of Greek existing at the same time.

[periphyseos]

@googlephi No linguistic reconstruction whatever can work so well as to reveal the nature of the accent of a few Greek words, not of the sound, but of the ACCENT, which is a quite different thing and was what some people were arguing about. I was only talking of our ignorance of the accents and the silliness of holding that the singer has a "foreign" accent. Your remarks, therefore, are not relevant to the question.

[VolkColopatrion]

@periphyseos however we can judge the melody by the instruments of the time.

[darthsyphus]

She sounds American, not Greek (either ancient or modern)

[P2K725]

She IS American.

[AenigmaVitae]

Although she is American, her pronuntiation of ancient Greek is perfect.

In the first century a.D., Greek was not pronounced like it is today; so, thanks to some philological theories and evidences, we can suppose that the way Italian scholars read Greek today is one of the most faithful ways we can read Greek in.

And, as a matter of fact, she pronounces Greek as Italians do today.

[fellinian]

This song was written in the first century AD, so under the rule of the Emperor Tiberius.

[darthsyphus]

When French singers sing Bach or English ones Italian arias they are expected to lose their accent and sing in the accent of the original. So, I was just making a comment on the performance.

[andromedahellinis]

oso zis fenou (as long as you live, shine) miden olos si lipu (dont feel any sorrow) pros oligon esti to zin (cause life is sort) to telos o xronos apeti (time leads to our death, time demand the end)..

[andromedahellinis]

Οσον ζής φαίνου, Μηδέν όλως σύ λυπού

Προς ολίγον εστί το ζήν

Το τέλος ο χρόνος απαιτεί...

[P2K725]

@andromedahellinis Thank you!

[andromedahellinis]

how nice!! very touching.. as a Greek i was deeply affected at the sight of this video ..but is this in greek?? i cant realise my ancient language..the accent of the singer doesnt sound like greek..love to all from Ελλάς..

[doston1]

you just liked that archer's tits or that greek military Utilikilt after depending on what side your bread is buttered on.

[grigorakis12]

This is ancient greek language. The new greek is a slavic-albanian-turkish-ancien­t greek language. This is why the musicity and majesty of this epic song sounds to you like no greek.

[andromedahellinis]

this girl is foreigner..thats way i cant understand the accent..our language is 4000 years old..same alphabet apart three letters..what albanian and turkish?..yes, we share some turkish words..so what?..we r neighbors and lived together for ages..

[Lysandros]

really amazing!

[DomiCro1]

it should be sing by the men

[flyingtoothpaste]

nice one

[Mefistico]

I liked it, but there are instruments which didnt exist in greece at that time, anyway i enjoyed it.

[P2K725]

Yay!

[Neoptolomos]

Sorry but I think thats wrong.... Which of the used instrumnets didn't exist??

Every instrument used in this song exits in ancient times too, for sure....

[stchat]

It is in Hellenistic Koine, something between Classical Attic Greek and Modern. However, the pronunciation is far from any really existing (or existed) Greek pronunciation...

[dontbannme]

Hellenistic? oh no! not seleucia!

[kerberosdelhades]

It is Ancient Greek, Koine variant.

[P2K725]

Hehe.

[Aegialeus]

Great  video thank-you.

[P2K725]

Thank YOUUU.

[alexandrakarras]

modern

[gold333]

The language in which she sings, is it modern greek or ancient greek?

[PitaRnR]

i think ancient ^^

[gold333]

I'd like to know for sure whether it's modern, medieval, Koine classical or ancient Greek.

[PitaRnR]

maybe Koine classical..

THERE'S SOMEONE THAT CAN TELL US WHICH TYPE OF GREEK IS THIS LYRIC??

[Aegialeus]

It is sung in an Erasmian pronunciation/phonetics which is not ancient Greek pronunciation/phonetics as is taught in many Western schools.

As for which Greek, could be Katharevousa also Koine, but not entirely Attic. Also hear and read Demotic modern Greek in it.

[PoesSoul7]

Hoson zes phai-nou,

Meden holo-os sy lypou-ou.

Pros oligon e-esti to ze-en, to telos ho chronos apaitei-ei.

[MidnaLover]

I LOVE this. Thank you so much, and posting the lyrics was just a wonderful asset!

Love to you <3

[digiric]

wonderful interpretion, thank you!!!

[P2K725]

No prob!

[DERUHQYYYYYTIUUUUUUU]

LA ESTOY DANDO YO AHORA EN EL COLEGIO

[jamie1519]

Magyar fordítás:

Hungarian:

A napfény felvidít,

mikor az égre felragyog,

de sohase várd a holnapot,

mert titokban izen a zord halál.

A szépség boldogít,

amíg a réten száz virág,

de ha sose szívod illatát,

a sötétben izen a zord halál.

[madderbass]

I love this arrangement! I'm in love with this song!

[P2K725]

Hehe. <3

[Aurense]

and that's because they don't get the pronunciation/accent thingie muehehehe

[darkRoyalty]

it's not just the pronunciation, there are many spelling mistakes too

apa-iiii-teiiii

[darkRoyalty]

sorry but ancient greek in not pronounced like this. and greeks DO understand ancient greek automatically! we get to know ancient greek from the age of 13 :) start listening to some 'daemonia nymphe' and not this crap!

[Aurense]

true!

and the "Corvus Corax - Seikilos" version is much closer to the ancient accent-pronunciation.

daemonia nymphae kickz ass!

[P2K725]

Alrighty then.

[Aurense]

thx for letting ppl know about this song tho :)

[P2K725]

You're welcome, friend. =]

[Aurense]

sry, but I think that's not the point for you. I find it sad when I cannot enjoy a greek song like it should be. Imagine how great would it be if she also had the correct pronunciaton...tell u the truth I didn't realize she was singing in greek the first time..until I read the lyrics on the side :o

that imho...

[DarthJesco]

She's supposed to sing ANCIENT greek, which is very different to modern greek.

Pronuncation of any language changes over the centuries.

Italians don't undertsand Latin automatically either.

[Aurense]

...lemme assure u thats not ANCIENT greek!

I know how the ancient greek dialect should be spoken or how the ancient greek should be sung. That's just a foreign accent singing greek with a foreign pronunciation thingie. Ancient greek dialect was a bit singie, but not that LIGHT...this is like english-butterflies singing. Dunno about italians tho...

Hint: don't try to defend sth u have no idea about.....imho

[DarthJesco]

Well, the slightly agressive style in which you wrote and the remark that you are fluent let me assume you were refering to modern greek. ;)

[Aurense]

dude! I speak greek fluently and I thought she speaks some LotR shit!

Let a greek sing this!

[velerephon]

sorry, not proper accent but proper pronounciation

[P2K725]

Yah.

[smirnov21ruso]

Really beautifull!!!thanks also listen to the version of Corvus Corax The Seikilos from the album of the same name...thanks for uploading this

[P2K725]

=).

[velerephon]

thanks corvus corax has the proper accent but this version is easier on my ears.

its a pitty they destroy the greek language with that cacophonic erasmian dialect

[velerephon]

great effort!great upload. the problem is that she sings greek with a foreigner accent and i dont understand a thing.

[P2K725]

I thought there might be somewhat of an issue in SAVAE's rendition of this.

[guillerminavera]

HERMOSO, BRILLA EN TU VIDA!

[EATxBANANASx95x]

BRILLIANT! =D

I'm a history buff, and it excited me when I found this. Thank you for uploading!!!

[P2K725]

'Very welcome.

[PersephoneInvicta]

awesome!

What a marvellous song!

When I listen to it I wish to go back in time for 3000 years

[P2K725]

Me too. =D

[StevenShields29]

I have to say, SAVAE has incredibly beautiful intonation and tone, but their pronunciation of foreign languages is pretty unscholarly, mostly disappointing, and sometimes dreadful.

[YearoftheKlown]

Soooo how do we know the timing?

[JimEyeDen]

This song makes me feel truely alive!

[jeabo0adhd]

I love this song!

[P2K725]

As do I, friend.

[slatsTHOMAS]

PERFECT!!!!

i will try to download it

[P2K725]

You may try, but the album is a rarity in and of itself.

[wackylammo]

wow!! this song is amazing simple in its complexity!! I love it!! it is very soothing and somewhat loving.....I have heard this sond palyed live once and it was like listenign to raw beauty...anyway I love this song!!!!!

[Woeism3]

its so pretty and soothing

[podarcis1987248]

i can play it with my recorder flute... :)

[P2K725]

Aww!

[ctimur]

podarcis, do you see that epigraph in the video? That's the score of this ancient song. Musical notes are above the lyrics, but of course it's not same with the notation we've been using. I reccomend you to search this on internet. Regards.

[podarcis1987248]

How you understood what the notes were? it was a music scroll too?

[P2K725]

It was inscribed with the writing on the pillar.

[AkiraVC]

amazing....

[KiingNiikos]

the simplicity is shocking,but very effective.i like it.

[atlanteen]

Very beautiful !

[5RetardedSquirrels]

I like the beginning. When it picks up speed, the thoughtfulness of the lyrics and melody don't match the tempo. This song is something special regardless.