The Homeric poems were first written down in more or less their present form in the seventh century b.c. Since then Greek has enjoyed a continuous tradition down to the present day. Change there has certainly been. But there has been no break like that between Latin and the Romance languages. Ancient Greek is not a foreign language to the Greek of today as Anglo-Saxon is to the modern Englishman. The only other language which enjoys comparable continuity of tradition is Chinese.

The study of Greek in England, as in most other countries, has traditionally been concentrated upon the classical language. The New Testament was left to theologians, and a nineteenth-century schoolboy who attempted to imitate it in his prose composition would have got short shrift from his teacher. The medieval and modern stages of the language were largely ignored.

Today the situation has changed. There is a widespread interest in Modern Greek. And the Byzantine world attracts the attention of students of history, literature and art. Classical scholars no longer regard it as beneath their dignity to concern themselves with the Greek of the middle ages and modern times.

The present volume aims to provide an introduction to the development of the Greek language from the Hellenistic age to the present day. It will be of use primarily to those who know some ancient Greek and who wish to explore the later history of the language.