The classical language of Homer, Plato, and the New Testament — a Hellenic branch of Indo-European that shaped Western philosophy, science, and theology.
Where it was spoken
From roughly the 9th century BCE through late antiquity, Greek was spoken across the Aegean world, Asia Minor, southern Italy, the Black Sea coast, and — after Alexander — as far as the Indus. Multiple dialects coexisted: Attic (Athens), Ionic, Doric, Aeolic. Koine Greek, the simplified Hellenistic standard, became the lingua franca of the eastern Roman Empire.
What it sounded like
A pitch-accent language with three tonal contours (acute, grave, circumflex), long and short vowels, and a rich system of three numbers, five cases, three voices, and an aorist tense distinct from past and perfect. Modern Greek descends directly from it.
How it’s written
The Greek alphabet, derived from Phoenician around the 9th century BCE, was the first to systematically encode vowels. It survives today, slightly modified, as the script of modern Greek.
Find more languages by letter
Ancient Greek starts with A and ends with K. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Ancient Greek":