Mycenaean tablets
The earliest surviving written Greek appears in palace records.
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The Illustrated History of Greek
Follow Greek from Mycenaean clay tablets to the language spoken in Greece and Cyprus today. Unlike Latin, whose everyday spoken varieties developed into distinct Romance languages, Greek retained a continuous Greek-language identity while changing profoundly across the centuries.
Greek in five milestones
The big picture first. Explore the detailed timeline below for dates, people and definitions.
1400 BC
1000 BC
500 BC
AD 1
AD 500
AD 1000
AD 1500
AD 2000
1450–800 BC
Early Greeks recorded their language on clay tablets; later a new alphabet appeared.
800–323 BC
Greek city-states produced influential literature, philosophy and public debate.
323 BC–AD 300
Greek spread widely and a common form became the language of early Christian writings.
AD 300–1800
Greek continued changing through the eastern Roman and Ottoman periods.
AD 1800–today
Modern Greece emerged, and Greek remains a living language in Greece and Cyprus.
Language periods
Mycenaean Greek1450 BC–1100 BC
Ancient Greek1100 BC–300 BC
Koine Greek300 BC–AD 600
Medieval GreekAD 600–AD 1453
Modern GreekAD 1453–AD present
These are broad conventional periods; Koine and other forms overlapped, and Greek continued changing without sharp breaks.
1450 BC to the present
Click and drag left or right to explore more than 3,400 years. Underlined terms in the event titles and descriptions link to their definitions below.
Mycenaean and Early Greek
Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Greek
Koine and Medieval Greek
Ottoman and Modern Greek
Palace collapse
Greek alphabet
Greek speakers adapt the Phoenician writing system.
Homeric epics
Athenian reforms
Classical Greek
Drama, history and philosophy flourish in Greek city-states.
Socrates
The trial and death of Socrates become a philosophical landmark.
Aristotle
Alexander's legacy
Greek spreads through kingdoms formed after Alexander's conquests.
Septuagint
Jewish scriptures are translated into Greek over time.
New Testament era
Early Christian texts are composed in Koine Greek.
Constantinople
A new imperial capital becomes a center of Greek-speaking life.
Medieval Greek
Greek remains central to Byzantine institutions and literature.
Ottoman conquest
Constantinople falls; Greek language and learning continue.
Independence movement
The Greek War of Independence begins.
Independent Greece
International recognition of an independent Greek state.
Demotic adopted
Demotic becomes Greece's official language standard.
Monotonic spelling
Greece adopts the monotonic accent system.
Greek today
Greek remains a continuously evolving modern language.
Dates identify surviving records, literary landmarks, political events and reforms—not sudden changes in how everyone spoke.
How Greek reached the present
Greek is among the world's longest-documented language traditions. Mycenaean Greek was recorded in Linear B; the Greek alphabet later transformed writing. Ancient Greek had many dialects, while Koine Greek became widely used across the eastern Mediterranean. Greek remained central in the eastern Roman and Byzantine world, survived centuries of Ottoman rule, and developed into the Modern Greek used in daily life today.
Continuity and change: Ancient and Modern Greek are historically connected stages of the same language, not identical forms. Pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and spelling conventions changed substantially over time.
Definitions: people, periods and terms
Each entry explains the term simply and then connects it to the story of Greek.
Hellenistic
Hellenistic means “Greek-influenced.” It describes the period after Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BC, when Greek language and culture spread widely across kingdoms in the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia.
Why it matters: Greek became a common language across many regions, helping the shared form known as Koine Greek develop and spread. Historians generally date the Hellenistic period from 323 BC to 31 BC.
↑ Back to timelineMycenaean
Mycenaean refers to the Bronze Age Greek civilization centered on palaces in mainland Greece, roughly 1600–1100 BC.
Why it matters: Its palace administrators wrote an early form of Greek, called Mycenaean Greek, on clay tablets using the Linear B writing system.
↑ Back to timelineLinear B
An ancient writing system made of signs representing syllables.
Why it matters: It was used to write Mycenaean Greek on clay tablets.
↑ Back to timelineGreek alphabet
The letter system used to write Greek from about the eighth century BC onward.
Why it matters: Its letters also influenced the Latin alphabet.
↑ Back to timelineIliad
An ancient Greek epic about events during the Trojan War.
Why it matters: It is traditionally attributed to Homer.
↑ Back to timelineOdyssey
An ancient Greek epic about Odysseus's journey home.
Why it matters: It is traditionally attributed to Homer.
↑ Back to timelinePolis
A Greek city-state: a city and its surrounding political community.
Why it matters: Athens and Sparta were famous examples.
↑ Back to timelineAthens
An ancient Greek city-state and modern capital of Greece.
Why it matters: Its fifth-century BC literature, philosophy and public life left a large written record.
↑ Back to timelineClassical Greek
Greek associated especially with the fifth and fourth centuries BC.
Why it matters: Its literature and philosophy became major subjects of later education.
↑ Back to timelineSocrates
An Athenian philosopher (469–399 BC).
Why it matters: His conversations are known chiefly through writers such as Plato.
↑ Back to timelineAristotle
A Greek philosopher (384–322 BC).
Why it matters: He wrote influential works on logic, nature, ethics and politics.
↑ Back to timelineKoine Greek
Koine (Greek for “common”) was the shared everyday form of Greek that spread after Alexander the Great’s conquests, beginning in the late fourth century BC.
Why it matters: It served as a common language across much of the eastern Mediterranean.
↑ Back to timelineSeptuagint
An ancient Greek translation of Jewish scriptures.
Why it matters: It helped make biblical texts accessible to Greek-speaking communities.
↑ Back to timelineNew Testament
The collection of early Christian writings about Jesus and the first Christians.
Why it matters: Its books were written in Koine Greek.
↑ Back to timelineConstantinople
The city founded as an imperial capital in AD 330, now Istanbul.
Why it matters: It was a major center of Greek-speaking Roman and Byzantine life.
↑ Back to timelineMedieval Greek
Greek as used during the medieval Byzantine centuries.
Why it matters: Its spoken forms continued to change while educated writing preserved older styles.
↑ Back to timelineGreek War of Independence
A struggle beginning in 1821 against Ottoman rule.
Why it matters: It led to international recognition of an independent Greek state in 1830.
↑ Back to timeline