Oldest Surviving Melody in History
The oldest melody which is known to have survived in its entirety is the Song of Seikilos, which was composed in Greece around 200 BC. The song, which was written by a man named Seikilos in memory of his recently-passed wife, was found engraved on a pillar in her grave.
The pillar had the following words engraved on it as well "I am a tombstone, an image. Seikilos placed me here as an everlasting sign of deathless remembrance"
And this as well
“While you live, shine have no grief at all life exists only for a short while and time demands its toll.”
Its so strange to think of someone sitting down over two thousand years ago and writing this down, in the fond memory of his wife, and having no idea that people two centuries later would also read it, re-compose it, listen to it, and write about it. It's the next best thing to immortality.
Wikipedia Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikilos_epitaph
