Early forms
The first forms of the Greek alphabet appeared in the 8th century BCE (the earlier Linear B script was a different writing system for the Greek language).
Initially, the Greeks used only uppercase letters (capital or majuscule script) and did not separate words from each other. The writing was continuous, from right to left. Later on, they began to write voustrophedón, which means alternating direction of writing that changed line by line. So, one line (verse) was written from right to left, the next line in the opposite direction, and so on. The word describes the movement of an ox when plowing a field. This archaic writing was abandoned in the 7th to 6th century BCE. Gradually, the left-to-right writing was adopted, which appeared in the 6th century BCE and became widespread in the 5th century BCE.
Ionic alphabet
Various variations of the alphabet were in use in different city-states, kingdoms, and colonies. In 403 BCE, the Athenians, who were speaking the Attic dialect, officially adopted the Ionic alphabet for their writing. During the Hellenistic period, which began with the conquests of Alexander the Great, the spread of the Greek language (now known as Hellenistic Common, which evolved from the Attic dialect) expanded significantly. As a result, the Ionic form of the alphabet prevailed in its other variations.
polytonic
However, since non-Greek-speaking peoples were unfamiliar with the pronunciation of words, tonal symbols were created to assist in correctly pronouncing written words. Around 200 BCE, Aristophanes of Byzantium, the director of the Library of Alexandria, created and utilized the so-called polytonic script by adding tonal marks and accents to the otherwise capital letters.
lowercase characters
It was just in the early 9th century CE, that an evolutionary change in writing style emerged with the introduction of the minuscule form (lowercase) of Greek alphabet characters. It is referred to as Byzantine or Stoudite script because the earliest known sample, dating back to 835, comes from the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople (now Istanbul).
The lowercase characters are combined and coexist practically and aesthetically with the uppercase letters, which remain as emphasis elements in titles, initial letters, and occasionally within the text, as well as with the polytonic system. This combination was widely adopted for copying ancient texts in Christian monasteries. In fact, the speed of writing was the main reason for the creation of lowercase characters.
Current form
This composite form was maintained for writing the Greek language until 1982 when the polytonic system was officially abolished. In modern Greek writing it has been replaced by the monotonic system, which retains only one tonal mark. However, the polytonic orthography remains the standard spelling system for ancient and medieval Greek.
Although the Greek alphabet is currently used by only a few millions of people, was the matrix from which the two most widely used alphabets in the Western world, the Latin and Cyrillic, originated.
