Ancient Greek inventions
Writing and Literature
Greek inventions
One important invention was The Greek alphabet. The Greek alphabet is the writing system developed in Greece which first appears in the archaeological record during the 8th century BCE. This was not the first writing system that was used to write Greek: several centuries before the Greek alphabet was invented, the Linear B script was the writing system used to write Greek during Mycenaean times. The Linear B script was lost around c.1100 BCE and with it, all knowledge of writing vanished from Greece until the time when the Greek alphabet was developed. The Greek alphabet was born when the Greeks adapted the Phoenician writing system to represent their own language by developing a fully phonetic writing system composed of individual signs arranged in a linear fashion that could represent both consonants and vowels. The earliest Greek alphabet inscriptions are graffiti incised on pots and potsherds. The graffiti found in Lefkandi and Eretria, the ‘Dipylon oinochoe’ found in Athens, and the inscriptions in the ‘Nestor’s cup’ form Pithekoussai are all dated to the second half of the 8th century BCE, and they are the oldest known Greek alphabetic inscriptions ever recorded.
Another Invention was: Literature.
Among the earliest Greek literature was Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad is a detailed telling of the Trojan War while the Odyssey recounts Odysseus' 20-year journey home following the Trojan War.
Created as early as 900 B.C.E., Homer's poems were not written down since Greek civilization lacked a written language at that time. Instead, these massive poems were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.