The History of the Greek alphabet

The Mycenaean writing system, or Linear B, was used until the thirteenth century, when the Dorian invasion destroyed the indigenous system of power and ushered in a new civilization that would become the forerunners of the classical Greeks. The next system of writing would occur in the late ninth or early eighth century, when the Greek alphabet emerged. No Greek text has survived from this intermediary period, the so-called Dark Ages, which is devoid of all types of writing.

The, new system of writing, the Greek alphabet, is different from the earlier Linear B writing, which used syllabic signs. The new script used by the Greeks was adopted from an earlier Phoenician alphabet, which was akin to the Hebrew and Arabic languages.

The origin of the Phoenician alphabet and its system of writing was derived from Egyptian hieroglyphics. Unlike the Egyptian system, the Phoenician alphabet allowed for simplicity due to its limited number of symbols, as opposed to the numerous systems of pictographs and their complexity. Unlike Egyptian hieroglyphics and cuneiform, which developed in the Near East and required long periods of training and education to use correctly, the Phoenician alphabet was fairly simple to learn.

This alphabet is similar to those found in Canaanite and Aramaic sources, and it used only consonants and no vowels. The alphabet had twenty-two consonants, and vowel sounds were implied. The language was written and read right to left.

The Phoenicians on the coastline of the Levant spread the alphabet outside the Canaanite interior through their commercial trade system. Their trade system allowed for the spread of the alphabet throughout the Mediterranean to North Africa and Carthage, where it continued to be used until the second century BCE; to the Italian peninsula, where it developed into Old Italic; on Asia Minor, with the Anatolian script; and the Greek world. Phoenician inscriptions have been found throughout the Mediterranean region.

Its simplicity further helped to bring about changes in the social structures of the regions that came into contact with it. Since it could be learned by common inhabitants, the alphabet and subsequent language facilitated its spread and further adoption. No longer were language and writing confined to a small group of inhabitants who held power (i.e., the priests and royal scribes), but to a wider group.

The alphabet and development of language aided in the development of new systems of power and government. During the Dark Ages, the Greek adoption of the Phoenician alphabet began to take hold, which allowed the creation of the Greek written script. The Greeks developed a different phonology, though; while adopting the Phoenician alphabet, they developed it in their own style and form, including the addition of vowels.

This development was crucial since it allowed an even more complex system of writing and language. Clearly, the development of the Greek alphabet and language was designed by a Greek who knew Phoenician. It appears that the initial adoption and development of the Greek alphabet occurred on the Greek mainland and was then exported east to Phrygia, and also west with Euboean traders to the western Mediterranean through their colonies. This was then transferred to the Etruscans, who now developed their own language. This in turn was then developed into the Latin alphabet.

The arrival of the Phoenician alphabet probably first came to Euboea, where the earliest-known inscription has the new Greek alphabet by 750. During this period, the Greek alphabet now developed into Attic, Ionian, Euboean, and Cretan, among others. With the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians voted to adopt a standardized Ionic alphabet developed by the archon Eucleides, called the Euclidean alphabet, which included the addition of the letters eta and omega. This ended the development of the Greek alphabet and allowed the systemization of writing all vowels.

The following gives the final names of the Greek letters in uppercase and lowercase, the English equivalents, and pronunciations (if different from English):

With the adoption and evolution of the Phoenician alphabet into the Greek alphabet, the system of writing allowed the development of literature to be written from oral poems, beginning with the Homeric Hymns. The adoption of the alphabet also made it possible for Greek cities to document their accomplishments.