What Language Did the Ancient Greeks Speak?
Last Updated Apr 5, 2020 11:24:19 AM ET
The Ancient Greeks spoke Ancient Greek with three different major dialects: Aeolic, Doric and Ionic. They were the first Europeans to both read and write with an alphabet. This alphabet eventually led to the development of all modern European languages.
Ionic was the first literary language used in Ancient Greece and was used by Homer in his epic poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey". This literary language continued to be used until the late fifth century. Attic Greek, a sub-dialect of Ionic, includes works by Aristotle and Plato. Ancient Greek is written in the Greek alphabet and is written from right to left. This alphabet was developed from that of the Phoenicians.
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