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Specifically for music composed earlier than the third or fourth century A.D.

I have heard several reports about deciphering examples of ancient greek musical notation. And you can find CDs of "reconstituted" ancient music although I never had an opportunity to hear one.

  • Have we been able to reconstruct ancient instruments of these times?

  • Do we know if some melody we still play come from ancient greek or roman folklore?

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Is there any evidence that we do? – Matthew Read♦ Apr 29 '11 at 13:19
You are right, I will try to rephrase the question. – ogerard Apr 29 '11 at 13:30
Much better, I like this version. +1 – Matthew Read♦ Apr 29 '11 at 13:44
I still don't like the question title. "Can we know something" strikes me as a bit dull, or obviously yes. What about "How much do we know about ancient Greek and Roman music?" ? – NReilingh♦ Apr 30 '11 at 20:24
@NReilingh: agreed. Thanks for the advice. – ogerard Apr 30 '11 at 20:34
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1 Answer

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To paraphrase and oversimplify 'Mastering the Scales and Arpeggios' by James Francis Cooke, the answer (for Greek) is, 'not very much.' There is a very large problem with ancient Greek writing on the subject. We don't really know what the words mean. Much ink has been spilled by writers purporting to know what the words mean, but in the end, there's perishing little evidence to support their theories.

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