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In this paper, we will study the relationship between music and theater in a few texts of Roland Barthes, particularly his philological dissertation about Greek tragedy (1941), “Pouvoirs de la tragédie antique” (1953) and “Le théâtre grec” (1965). Firstly, we will show how the concept of “théâtralité” is partially constructed on the basis of Barthes’ interpretation of Aeschylean tragedy. Then, the prominent figure of Aeschylus leads him to a dialogue with Nietzsche, Brecht and Claudel, whose Orestie, written in the beginning of the twentieth century with Darius Milhaud, was always a model for Barthes. The French theoretician is interested in three main issues: music and its effects, Dionysius and the Dionysian, and the chorus. After Nietzsche and Brecht, he proposes a non- Aristotelian and anti-Romantic analysis of Greek tragedy. Therefore, this analysis could be compared to the contemporary research of such Hellenists as George Thomson or Jean-Pierre Vernant.