The History of the Greek Script

Greek script was expressed in two writing styles: the book-hand and the cursive. The book-hand, with its formal and regular features, was primarily reserved for literary and scholarly works, while the cursive style reflected the everyday, informal writing used in correspondence, administrative documents etc.

The materials most widely used for literary works until the 15th century were papyrus and parchment (mostly vellum), with the latter coming into use after the 5th century. There were two main forms of books in antiquity. The older form was the roll. This was made by fastening sheets of parchment or papyrus together side by side, and then winding the long strip around a dowel of wood, bone, or metal. The other was the codex that was made from either parchment or papyrus in a format resembling modern books.

5th - 1st cent. BC

The writing style of this era is characterised by large, square, and uniform letters, carefully aligned within the lines of the writing surface. This is the majuscule style which is predominantly found on papyrus.

1st cent. BC - 9th cent. AD

The majuscule script undergoes a transformation into what we refer to as uncials: letters become more rounded, formed with fine strokes and a block-like appearance of roughly equal height. This style persists until the 9th cent. AD. However, during the 2nd to 4th cent. AD, we also observe the emergence of a smaller, sloping hand, which is looser and more hurried in form for reasons of speed and convenience, with rounded curves giving way to ovals. It is during this time that accents and breathing marks begin to appear more frequently.

9th - 15th cent. AD

The minuscule script first appears, remaining the dominant literary book-hand until the 15th cent. AD. This style is notable for its regularity, calligraphic elegance, and compactness. Letters are typically upright, though some lean gently to the left, and the overall aesthetic reflects clarity and durability. From the 14th cent. onward, we see an increasing looseness in letter formation, with wider spacing, enlarged characters, and a general relaxation of earlier stylistic conventions. Accents are applied more freely, and the pursuit of calligraphic precision gives way to rapid writing.

16th cent. AD - now

With the advent of the printing press in the 15th cent., the manuscript tradition undergoes a radical transformation. The script acquires its modern printed form, ushering in a new era of textual reproduction and standardisation.

Further Reading

Thompson, Edward Maunde. An Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography. Clarendon Press, 1912, 1912.

Metzger, Bruce Manning. Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Greek Palaeography. Oxford University Press, 1981.

Hunt, Jeffrey M., et al. Classics from Papyrus to the Internet: An Introduction to Transmission and Reception. 1st ed., University of Texas Press, 2017, https://doi.org/10.7560/313015.

Wilson, N. G. Mediaeval Greek Bookhands: Examples Selected from Greek Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries. Mediaeval Academy of America, 1973.

Amphilochios Papathomas. Introduction to Papyrology. Amphilochios Papathomas, 2014.