The Mycenaean is the oldest period, during the 14th and 15th Centuries BC. At that time, Greek used Linear B tablets as its writing system.

Classical Greek is largely known as Ancient Greek. This variety of language existed in many dialects. It’s the language of most considerable science, arts, and philosophy, the spirit of Ancient Greece. It was largely used during the existence of the Roman Empire. In Western Europe, it fell into disuse in the Middle Ages, but at that time it was still official in the empire of Byzantium. After the fall of Constantinople, Ancient Greek’s influence and popularity were restored for the Western World.

Hellenistic is the period of the so-called Koine Greek. A description of this language period can be given as the language of the New Testament and establishing Christianity. It resulted from the fusion of all popular Greek dialects, mainly based on Attic. This language became the ‘lingua franca’ in the old Mediterranean world. It existed in the time of Alexander the Great and was taught as a second language in the Roman Empire.

Medieval Greek continued the development of Hellenistic during the Middle Ages. It is the language of Byzantium.

Modern Greek is a language form which has developed since the 11th Century, in an independent way from Koine Greek.

Today’s Greek language still uses two forms – the vernacular and official.

When Greece first achieved independence in the 19th century, its people were almost universally illiterate, and the language they spoke (demotic/popular), had undergone enormous change since the days of the Byzantine Empire and classical times. The language had assimilated countless borrowings from languages from the various invaders and conquerors – Turks, Slavs, Venetians, and Albanians.

The finance and inspiration for the new Greek state and its early leaders came largely from the Greek diaspora; Orthodox families who had been living in the sophisticated cities of Eastern Europe or Russia. With their European notions about the grandeur of Greece’s past and the lofty conception of Hellenism, they set about obliterating the memory of subjugation to foreigners in every possible field. And what better way to start than purging the language of its foreign accretions and reviving its classical purity!

They accordingly devised what was, in effect, a new form of the language, Katharevoussa (literally, cleansed Greek). The complexities of classical grammar and syntax were re-instated, and classical words were dusted off and resuscitated. Katharevoussa became the language of schools and other prestigious professions, government, business, the law, newspapers, and academia. Everyone aspiring to membership of the new elite strove to master it, even though there was no consensus on how many of the words should be pronounced!

The debate about Katharevoussa/demotic has been a highly contentious one throughout much of the twentieth century. Writers have championed demotic as have the political left. Conservative governments have been sympathetic towards Katharevoussa, and during the era of the “Colonels”, it was forcibly re-instated. Demotic returned once more after the fall of the “Colonels”. The Church and the legal profession are apparently still dragging their feet on the subject.