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'''Greek''' is an [[Indo-European language]], primarily spoken in [[Greece]] and [[Cyprus]]. It is one of the few continuously written languages since antiquity, though the modern form differs significantly from the classical dialect. It dates as a written language from 800 BCE, and was the language of the poet [[Homer]]. It is written with the [[Greek alphabet]].

'''Greek''' is an [[Indo-European language]], primarily spoken in [[Greece]] and [[Cyprus]]. It is one of the few continuously written languages since antiquity, though the modern form differs significantly from the classical dialect. It dates as a written language from 800 BC, and was the language of the poet [[Homer]]. It is written with the [[Greek alphabet]].

==Literary language==

==Literary language==

Homeric Greek is one of the earliest literary languages, a form of Attic-Ionic. Archaic Greek followed Homeric, and culminated in Classical Greek with [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]], and then later Classical Greek, with [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] and the plays of [[Euripides]] and [[Aristophanes]].

Homeric Greek is one of the earliest literary languages, a form of Attic-Ionic. Archaic Greek followed Homeric, and culminated in Classical Greek with [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]], and then later Classical Greek, with [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] and the plays of [[Euripides]] and [[Aristophanes]].

The Greek spread by [[Alexander the Great]] was literary. By the 1st century CE, it had evolved into Koine Greek ("common" Greek), which is comparable to [[Vulgar Latin]]. Koine Greek and Vulgar Latin had phonological changes and simplifications in grammar and syntax that differed from Classical Greek and Classical Latin. This was the Greek in use in [[Palestine]] at the time of [[Jesus]] and was the language of the [[New Testament]]. Greek was the common trade language of the [[Roman Empire]].

The Greek spread by [[Alexander the Great]] was literary. By the 1st century AD, it had evolved into Koine Greek ("common" Greek), which is comparable to [[Vulgar Latin]]. Koine Greek and Vulgar Latin had phonological changes and simplifications in grammar and syntax that differed from Classical Greek and Classical Latin. This was the Greek in use in [[Palestine]] at the time of [[Jesus]] and was the language of the [[New Testament]]. Greek was the common trade language of the [[Roman Empire]].

Some centuries before, the [[Jews]] of Alexandria rendered a version of the [[Old Testament]] into Greek, the [[Septuagint]] (LXX), ("the seventy" or "seventy-two" based on the number of translators). This version of the Old Testament differs from that used by most [[Protestants]], who use the [[Masoretic Hebrew]] text, but continues to be used by the [[Catholic Church]] (in [[Latin]]) and by the Greek [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] (untranslated).

Some centuries before, the [[Jews]] of Alexandria rendered a version of the [[Old Testament]] into Greek, the [[Septuagint]] (LXX), ("the seventy" or "seventy-two" based on the number of translators). This version of the Old Testament differs from that used by most [[Protestants]], who use the [[Masoretic Hebrew]] text, but continues to be used by the [[Catholic Church]] (in [[Latin]]) and by the Greek [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] (untranslated).