Renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, who scored the 1964 classic film "Zorba the Greek" and was an icon of resistance to the former military junta, died in Athens on Thursday aged 96.

A prolific talent and political maverick, Theodorakis was adored in Greece for his inspirational music and defiance during the junta that ruled from 1967-74.

Following the news of his death, the Greek flag was flown at half mast at the Acropolis on Thursday, while parliament observed a minute's silence.

Family and friends escort the coffin of Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis from his Athens home
Family and friends escort the coffin of Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis from his Athens home AFP / eurokinissi/Michalis Karagiannis

He was best-known around the world for his film title scores which also included "Z" in 1969 and "Serpico" in 1973.

His work ranged from operas to choral music and popular songs, providing a soundtrack to the life of his country.

In recent years, he suffered heart problems for which he had been hospitalised.

Legendary Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis at his Athens home in 2015
Legendary Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis at his Athens home in 2015 POOL / ORESTIS PANAGIOTOU

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said "today we lost a part of Greece's soul.

"Mikis Theodorakis, our Mikis, the teacher, the intellectual, the radical passed away."

President Eikaterini Sakellaropoulou hailed him as a "pan-Hellenic personality" who was also "a universal artist, an invaluable asset of our musical culture.

The Theodorakis' familly dog lies outside the legendary composer's home after his death
The Theodorakis' familly dog lies outside the legendary composer's home after his death AFP / Louisa GOULIAMAKI

"He was given a rich and fruitful life that he lived with passion, a life dedicated to music, the arts, our country and its people, dedicated to the ideas of freedom, justice, equality and social solidarity".

"Mikis Theodorakis is now passing into eternity," said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announcing three days of national mourning.

"His voice was silenced and with him the whole of Hellenism was silenced," he told a cabinet meeting.

Theodorakis was adulated in his home country for his inspirational music
Theodorakis was adulated in his home country for his inspirational music AFP / ANGELOS TZORTZINIS

"Mikis enriched Greek music, enriched world music," Greek-French director Costa Gavras told Sputnik website. "He was a very special Greek."

His body will lie in state during for three days in the Cathedral of Athens from Tuesday until Thursday.

The funeral will take place on Thursday afternoon, his family said.

Theodorakis' last wish was to be buried in his ancestral homeland of Galatas, west of the Cretan city of Chania, which will be fulfilled.

Born into a family of Cretan origin on July 29, 1925 on the northern Aegean island of Chios, Theodorakis joined the resistance against the German and Italian occupation of Greece when he was 17, during World War II.

After studying music at the Paris Conservatory, Theodorakis was elected to parliament as a leftwing deputy in 1964.

That year he also scored the theme of "Zorba the Greek", to which actor Anthony Quinn danced the popular "sirtaki" that went on to be known as the "Zorba dance".

When a dictatorship seized control of the government in a 1967 coup, Theodorakis was among the first leftwing politicians to be arrested.

Pardoned a year later, he was involved in setting up the clandestine Patriotic Front, which led to another detention and a ban on his works.

Even in old age, he maintained an active interest in Greek politics and the country's slide into economic crisis.

But he lived largely out of the public eye in a home beneath the Acropolis.

He was highly critical of former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, whom he accused of betraying his leftwing roots by agreeing to impose EU-mandated austerity reforms after coming to power in 2015.