Andre Saures wrote in La Revue Musicale, on December 1,1920 the following: "A part of the Epigraphes seems to be a strange dream of a soul in torment under the influence of opium; he sees his own agony and describes it briefly, seemingly detached from what is happening to him. In the other part, he wakes from his dream and no longer views his suffering objectively; now he actually suffers." H. Strobel, a biographer of Debussy, writes similarly: "Suffering, hallucinations, and illness transport the soul into the world of dreams...the Six Epigraphes Antiques do not speak of love as do the Chansons de Bilitis; they speak of death."

The Epigraphes Antiques were originally composed in 1914 to accompany Pierre Louy’s stage work Chansons de Bilitis. This explains both their brevity and their sketchy character. They were required to suggest an atmosphere that was both sensuous and nostalgic and to form connecting links between the poems and to open "the gates of dream."

Debussy later wrote of these works "Here are the titles and descriptions of the Six Epigraphes Antiques -- quite short works for the piano to be played by four hands. Once I intended to fashion them into an orchestral suite, but times are hard and my life even harder."