Storiascopio · Era 5 of 12 · primary year 5
The Greek alphabet
about 750 BC · Euboea and Greek colonies (Greece and Italy)
In short
The Greeks borrowed their alphabet from the Phoenicians, but with an important new idea: they added vowels. Some Phoenician signs for sounds that did not exist in Greek thus became alpha, epsilon and omicron. Even the names alpha and beta come from the Phoenician words for ‘ox’ and ‘house’. One of the oldest pieces of Greek writing is scratched on a small cup found on Ischia, ‘Nestor's Cup’.
Why it matters With vowels every word could be written the way it was said, and our own alphabet comes from this one.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Greek alphabet”
Where we are in the era “Ancient Greece”
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about 800 BCEvent 3 of 25about 100 BC
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/the-greek-alphabet/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class