The House of the Greek Epigrams stands in the northern part of Insula 1 in Regio V. Its irregular plan is the result of the gradual transformation and merging of earlier dwellings.
The earliest core of the domus dates from between the late third and early second centuries BC and followed the traditional arrangement of entrance, atrium, tablinum, and garden at the rear. At a later stage the property was enlarged, and the rooms around the peristyle received refined Second Style decoration.
The house takes its name from a small room beside the peristyle, where the paintings were accompanied by Greek inscriptions drawn from epigrams. This combination of images and texts reflects the prestige accorded to Greek culture among Pompeii’s elite.
The decoration included numerous mythological and figural subjects, among them episodes involving Admetus and Alcestis, Danaë with the infant Perseus, Mars and Venus, and other scenes inspired by Greek tradition.
The domus was brought to light mainly between 1875 and 1877, although some rooms had already been encountered in the eighteenth century. During the twentieth century it suffered severe damage, particularly from the bombing of 1943 and the earthquake of 1980.
Subsequent research and restoration campaigns, including those undertaken by the Swedish Pompeii Project, have made it possible to reconstruct the house’s different building and decorative phases with greater precision.
