Ancient Greece came alive through music at Nashville’s Parthenon this summer, though the story began months earlier with an original composition inspired by the Nine Muses of Greek mythology.
Two videos shared by Voice Temple trace that journey. One revisits a contemporary song written for an event dedicated to the Muses. The other features the Seikilos Epitaph, the nearly 2,000-year-old Greek composition, at Nashville’s full-scale replica of the Parthenon.
The project began in December 2025, when Voice Temple founder Melanie Dewey conceived an event titled Grief Is A Muse. Participants lit a candle for each of the Nine Muses, while Dewey wrote an original song exploring how personal tragedy can inspire art and creativity.
That event evolved into Temple of the Muse: A Year of Renaissance, a musical exploration of different periods of cultural renewal. When the project turned to ancient Greece, Dewey returned to the Muse-inspired composition alongside other works. Athena soon became central to the developing concept.
@voicetemple Nine Muses 📜📚🎭 🎻💃🏼❤️⭐️ Featuring The Voice Temple choir at the @Nashville Parthenon ! The song that started it all! Last year in December I had an epiphany to host an event called “Grief Is A Muse.” We lit candles for each of the nine muses, and I wrote this song for that event- an event focused on how we can use our life’s tragedies to write world changing works of art. This spawned into “Temple of the Muse: A Year of Renaissance” which explored different cultural Renaissance periods. When we landed in Ancient Greece this song came back, along with several others. All of this changed everything. This is when Athena stepped in… and her story began writing itself. You can always create something new… Just follow the muse ✨ Music by: Myself String arrangement by: @Ryan Reeson Vocals: Julia Cecere, Jeremy Ryan, @Catherine Berdie Percussion: @Ra Sun @Dan Twiford Violin: Lauren Saks Cello: @Kaitlyn Raitz Piano: Mary Countess Ancient Greek lyre and vocals: @TheMedicinalMuse Flute: Braxton Nicholas Video by: Ray Roberson Sound by: Tyler Costa Broadcast: Mage Hanvey Thank you all for your magic! #nashville #greekmythology #athena #parthenon #muse
From the Nine Muses to an Ancient Greek Song
Dewey calls the composition featured in the first video “the song that started it all.” It draws on the Nine Muses, the Greek goddesses traditionally linked to poetry, music, history, dance and other creative arts.
The arrangement blends contemporary instrumentation with sounds associated with antiquity. Vocals, piano, violin, cello, flute and percussion accompany an ancient Greek lyre. Dewey composed the music, and Ryan Reeson arranged the strings. Julia Cecere, Jeremy Ryan, Catherine Berdie, Lauren Saks, Kaitlyn Raitz and other musicians also contributed to the performance.
The project then shifted from modern music inspired by Greek mythology to a composition that has actually survived from antiquity.
That transition shaped Songs for Athena, a participatory choir event held at the Nashville Parthenon on August 15, 2026. Organizers planned for around 250 singers and created a program combining ancient songs, modern interpretations, mythology and communal singing.
The day included a rehearsal, an outdoor performance on the Parthenon steps and an evening program inside the landmark before its monumental statue of Athena. Voice Temple described the repertoire as an exploration of music connected to what it called the Greek Renaissance of roughly 700 to 500 BC.
Most selections used English lyrics, while some incorporated Greek and other ancient languages. The Seikilos Epitaph became one of the event’s central pieces, with organizers encouraging the full choir to sing it together.
The composition dates to the Roman period and ranks among the most important surviving examples of ancient music because both its lyrics and melody remain intact. Its words and musical notation appear on a funerary stele dating to approximately the first or second century AD.
The National Museum of Denmark, which holds the artifact, records a twelve-line inscription. Seven lines preserve a short poem accompanied by musical symbols. Its message remains strikingly accessible: life is brief, sorrow should not overwhelm it, and time eventually reaches everyone.
@voicetemple This was one of the most special moments of my life thus far! Cannot wait to expand it to 100+ voices in July! I am beyond grateful I got to share it with these living goddesses: @Jess Miller/JessZeffect and daughter, @katherineloiselle, Julia Cecere, Kayla Stevens, and Shannon! With witness by @Kion Ra Ahava (Love) and @Richard Greaser . We will gather again in a much larger number when she reopens again in July. Comment below to be a part of it! And… in the meantime…if you’re local to Nashville- come do some group singing with us this Sunday (and sing this song with us…!) at “Grief Is Love.” (Information in bio.) So much love to any and all goddesses wishing to step fully into their feminine, and declare peace. Much more magic to come. 💜🙏🏼✨ #athena #goddess #parthenon #greekmythology #spiritualtiktok
Ancient Greek Song Resonates at the Nashville Parthenon
The Nashville setting gives the performances a distinctive connection to Greece. The Parthenon stands in Centennial Park as a full-scale replica of the ancient temple in Athens. Nashville first constructed a temporary version for Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition in 1897, when the city had already earned the nickname “Athens of the South” for its educational and cultural institutions.
Public enthusiasm persuaded the city to replace the temporary structure with a permanent one. Builders completed the present interior in 1931. Decades later, sculptor Alan LeQuire recreated the colossal Athena Parthenos that once dominated the original Athenian temple. Nashville unveiled the 42-foot statue in 1990 and completed its gilding and painting in 2002.
That reconstruction gave Songs for Athena more than an impressive backdrop. It placed musicians performing material connected to ancient Greece inside an American monument deliberately modeled on classical Athens.
The two videos capture different stages of the same creative journey. The first shows Greek mythology inspiring a new composition centered on the Muses. The second brings listeners closer to antiquity through the Seikilos Epitaph, a melody preserved for almost two millennia. Together, they show how ancient Greek culture continues to inspire new artistic work while allowing music from the ancient world itself to reach modern audiences.
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