The Greek Alphabet: Older Than You May Think?
March 2019 | Vol. 7.3
By Willemijn Waal
The Greek alphabet is often considered to be the first ‘true’ alphabet, from which all modern alphabets are derived. So why does it look so ‘old?’ Or is the question, how old is it really?
The Greeks took over the consonantal alphabetic writing system used by the Phoenicians, whose origins go back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, and are credited with adding vowel signs to this consonantal script. Nobody doubts the Semitic background of the Greek alphabet, but there is considerable debate about when the transmission of the alphabet to Greece took place. In classical studies, the prevalent opinion is that the alphabet was introduced in or shortly before the 8th century BCE, when the first alphabetic inscriptions on stone and pottery turn up in Greece.
Formation of the alphabet: Phoenician compared with Epigraphic Greek (Ionic, Attic, Euboean versions), Classical Greek, Etruscan, and Latin. Adapted from a chart by Joan Gené, CC BY-SA 4.0.
There are, however, compelling reasons to assume that the alphabet was introduced in the Aegean much earlier, around the 11th century BCE. The initial texts have not survived, because they were written on perishable materials, like wood, leather or papyrus. The texts themselves may be missing, but there is substantial indirect evidence for their existence.
The pluriformity, diversity and spread of the Greek alphabets
As soon as the first Greek alphabetic inscriptions appeared, they turn up regularly in a large area including the entire Greek mainland, the Aegean islands, Italy and Sicily. These inscriptions show significant regional variety; no less than 33(!) different versions of the Greek alphabet can be distinguished. Despite their obvious differences, however, these alphabets all share certain innovations, like the presence of vowel signs, which means that they must ultimately go back to the same source.
Geographical distribution of the Greek alphabets after Kirchhof 1887. Public Domain via Wikimedia.
If one assumes that the alphabet was introduced around or slightly before 800 BCE, this would mean the alphabet changed, developed and spread like wildfire throughout the Aegean at an incredible speed. This would be all the more astonishing after ‘Dark Age’ of some 300 years without any writing. There are better explanations.
The archaic Greek writing habits
The writing habits of the archaic Greek alphabets are also of interest. The writing direction of the earliest Greek inscriptions was not yet fixed and the letters were written from right to left, left to right, horizontally, vertically or boustrophedon (i.e. alternating between left-to-right and right-to-left). Further, the early Greek letter forms varied greatly. This is in sharp contrast to the Phoenician script, which at least from the 9th century onwards had a fixed writing direction (right to left) and stabilized and standardized letter forms.
In these respects, the archaic Greek script more resembles early West-Semitic inscriptions of before ca. 1050 BCE, which also do not have a fixed writing direction and show great variety in letter forms. In addition, the early Greek inscriptions make use of the same type of word divisions (multiple dots or vertical strokes) that are also attested in early West-Semitic, but not in later Phoenician inscriptions.
If one assumes that the Greeks took over the alphabet in the 9th or 8th century, this would mean that they ignored the accomplishments of the Phoenicians, but instead used a less developed writing system, which coincidentally mimicked much earlier writing practices. If, however, one assumes that the Greek took over the alphabet in or before the 11th century, this would mean that they simply took over existing Phoenician writing habits. The Greek and Phoenician scripts subsequently developed independently, ending up with completely opposite writing directions (Greek: left to right, Phoenician: right to left).
The earliest text genres
It is noteworthy that some of the earliest known Greek inscriptions are literary, presenting poetic hexametric verses (e.g., the Nestor-cup from Pithekoussai, the Dypilon vase from Athens, the Acesander cup from Methone). This circumstance has led classicist Barry Powell to claim that the Greeks introduced writing for the sole purpose of recording Homer. However, a more plausible explanation may be that writing was already in use for other, more mundane text genres, such as economic and administrative documents on ephemeral materials, before the first surviving literary inscriptions on durable materials. This assumption gains strength if one bears in mind that most, if not all, early Greek inscriptions are of a private nature – including erotic graffiti, which can hardly be considered a primary use of writing. This implies a wider, and in all likelihood earlier, usage of the script.
The Nestor’s cup inscription with multiple dots as word divider, ca. 750-700 BCE. G. Buchner and C. F. Russo, 1955, La coppa di Nestore e un’iscrizione metrica da Pitecusa dell’VIII secolo av. Cr, Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di Scienza morali, storiche e filologiche. Rendiconti 8, volume 10, p. 223, fig.4.
The Dipylon inscription from Athens, ca. 740 BCE. Photo by Durutomo, CC-By-SA 4.0.
Etruscan inscription on the bottom of a kylix, 6th c. BCE. © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 2.5.
Light in the Dark Age
Recent archaeological studies have shown that the Greek ‘Dark Age’ (ca. 1100-800 BC) was not as dark as has long been assumed, but that – apart from obvious decline – there was substantial continuity with the Late Bronze Age and considerable prosperity. Greece was not isolated and there was still maritime contact with the Near East. In these conditions, the existence of literacy in the Aegean is conceivable, and even likely in view of contacts with the (literate) Levant. It is also important to bear in mind that writing had been present in Greece for about 700 years until ca.1200 BCE; in the 2nd millennium BCE several syllabic writing systems were in use, of which Linear B, used for the Mycenaean language, is the best known.
Moreover, it has become clear that an international network of trade and diplomatic contacts across the Mediterranean existed from at least the 3rd millennium onwards. This means that the necessary infrastructure for a transmission of the alphabet was already in place long before the traditional date of its assumed introduction in the Aegean.
Homeric Questions
The combined facts call for a revision of the current paradigm. Rather than assuming that there was a sudden ‘explosion’ of writing in the 8th century after an illiterate phase of three centuries, the available evidence favours a scenario in which alphabetic writing was already introduced to Greece around the 11th century BCE.
A potentially earlier date of the Greek alphabet also has important consequences. It opens up new perspectives for understanding the Greek Dark Age and the relations between the early alphabets. It may also shed new light on the Homeric Question, as it would allow a scenario in which the Iliad and Odyssey are the results of a mixed written/oral tradition, just like the Epic of Gilgamesh to which they bear so many resemblances. An early date for the transmission of the alphabet links the Greek and Near Eastern worlds in important ways, pointing to their development in tandem and suggesting they must be studied in unison.
How to cite this article:
Waal, W. 2019. “The Greek Alphabet: Older Than You May Think?” The Ancient Near East Today 7.3. Accessed at: https://anetoday.org/greek-alphabet-origins/.
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