Ancient Greek Ancient Greek The Ancient Greek language includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BCE to the 6th century CE. It is often roughly divided into the Archaic period (9th to 6th centuries BCE), Classical period (5th and 4th centuries BCE), and Hellenistic period (Koine Greek, 3rd century BCE to the 4th century CE). It is antedated in the second millennium BCE by Mycenaean Greek and succeeded by medieval Greek. Koine is regarded as a separate historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic
Ancient Greek structurally and in its vocabulary, to Ancient Greek not present in other varieties. As few as 5,000 people speak the dialect, and linguists believe that it is the closest living language to Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek is often used in the coinage of modern technical terms in the European languages: see English words of Greek origin. Latinized forms of Ancient Greek roots are used in many of the scientific names of species and in scientific terminology. Ancient Greek The Ancient Greek language includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century