"Les Chansons de Bilitis", a work of French composer Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918), was based on a poetry collection of the same name, "Les Chansons de Bilitis", written by his close friend, a French symbolist poet named Pierre Louÿs. Debussy then developed the original poetry into three stages of musical works: three songs "Les Chansons de Bilitis" composed for voice and piano; twelve songs "Les Chansons de Bilitis" of stage music, and a piano duet adapted from twelve songs of "Les Chansons de Bilitis". The author here uses a version adapted by flutist Georges Lambert and harpist Jung Wha Lee—“Debussy’s Six Epigraphes antiques for Flute and Harp (Also for Piano)”. This edition was published by Carl Fischer Publishers in 1990.

In 1897, Debussy first wrote three songs "Les Chansons de Bilitis" for voice and piano. In 1900, Debussy then composed twelve songs "Les Chansons de Bilitis" of stage music. In addition to music, this version of "Les Chansons de Bilitis" also combines theatrical elements such as poetry, stage performance, and reading aloud. Since its first performance in 1901, this version was not performed on any other occasions, until late in Debussy’s life, when he was to commemorate the war-torn France in the First World War; Debussy again selected six of the songs and adapted them into piano duets “Six Epigraphes antiques.” The six songs are “Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d’ete”, “Pour un tombeau sans nom”, “Bilitis”, “Pour la danseuse aux crotales”, “Pour l’Egyptienne”, and “Pour remercier la pluie au matin.” The biggest difference from the twelve songs "Les Chansons de Bilitis" was that Debussy combined the materials of "Le tombeau sans nom" and "La prostituée égyptienne", extending them into the second song “Pour un tombeau sans nom”.

This thesis is divided into five chapters: the author first introduces a biography of the composer Debussy and the poet Pierre Louÿs, and explores the musical background of "Les Chansons de Bilitis", then analyzes and interprets a version adapted by later musicians—“Debussy’s Six Epigraphes antiques for Flute and Harp (Also for Piano)”, and finally draws a conclusion. To provide a more detailed explanation, a comparison table between the collection of ancient poems and the Chinese translation is included.