The Greatest Gift to Humanity
Western scholars concur that the accomplishments and innovations of the ancient Greeks, across all intellectual fields, significantly surpass those of any other civilization, past or present. While their historical achievements may be a source of pride for our present-day Hellenes, we offer those whose heritage comes from non-Greek lineage the opportunity to embrace these achievements guiltlessly as their own. They were shared freely with all of humanity.
More than 12,000 years ago, after migrating to a region with fewer survival prospects than the Asian continent they had left, these early Hellenes began another journey from the Balkan Peninsula to colonize other areas around the Mediterranean in search of a better life. As a result, Hellenes have now assimilated into every country on the planet. It is fitting that we recognize their greatest achievement—a significant gift to all humanity.
While no commentary can be entirely objective, I recognize my unavoidable bias. Furthermore, I acknowledge that throughout history, Hellenes, like all cultures, have had to endure their share of scoundrels. I suspect that the Creator designed humanity to encompass a full spectrum of good and evil, allowing us to discern the difference between the two. While it may be tempting, my mission is not to blindly idealize the Hellenes above all others. Instead, it is to examine the remarkable history and logical impetus of the people who guided our species toward a civilized existence.
So, what is the greatest gift of Hellenic culture to humanity? That’s easy. The Greek alphabet and written language.
No doubt, history buffs are feeling an increase in blood pressure for pointing out that the Greeks were not the first to develop a written language. Chronologically, (a Greek word by the way), that would be correct, just like the modern example of Apple’s Steve Jobs not having invented the first cellular phone. But no one remembers the Motorola engineer who created the first cell phone. Would anyone suggest that it was Motorola that developed the ubiquitous smartphones we can’t seem to live without today? So, why is the invention of the Greek written language any more important or exceptional than those written languages that preceded it?
To avoid delving into the intricacies of ancient languages, let’s consider just two that preceded the groundbreaking Greek “tweak,” if you will. First, we have the written Hebrew language, specifically the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, that dates back to the 10th century BC. Egyptian hieroglyphs first emerged around 4000 BC. Hieroglyphs are based on cuneiform, a system of clay impressions (glyphs) that represent things, notably Mesopotamian. A number of glyph-style languages have survived into modern times, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Because a glyph language consists of a series of depictions that represent something, someone speaking or reading such a language must use tone, emphasis, and breathing to connote a more precise meaning, which is necessary for a listener’s understanding of a speaker’s meaning. There is a suggestion of the universality of the Greek language in the ancient world, in that the term hieroglyph is a Greek word meaning ‘sacred carving.’
Another written language that predates Greek is based on the Phoenician alphabet, which appeared after the Egyptian hieroglyphs, when the great pyramids at Giza were being constructed. The main difference with the Phoenician alphabet is that it consists of letters rather than pictures. The Phoenicians developed their alphabet to record the physical transactions of merchants trading with other cultures. While some may argue that we should celebrate the Phoenicians instead of the Greeks, such protests are unfounded. This is mainly because the Phoenician alphabet faded due to something much better.
The Greek modification to the Phoenician alphabet significantly improved its usability. The Greeks discovered that the Phoenician alphabet lacked some essential features related to spoken language. Pronouncing a word using the Phoenician alphabet was challenging because it consisted only of consonants, with no vowels or diphthongs. Take any English word today, remove all the vowels, and try to pronounce it. Thus, the Greek tweak!
Okay, that’s a clever adjustment. But does that mean it’s the most significant contribution to humanity?
Yes, it does! By their little tweak, Greeks could recreate the spoken word with absolute precision. For the first time in human history, any Hellene or anyone familiar with the Greek alphabet could read precisely what someone else had said or done. The world was suddenly capable of recording HISTORY!
Is it any wonder that the Greek language emerged as the primary language of the educated world? It would lay the foundation for all subsequent European languages and form the basis of most words in all European tongues. If you speak any Western language today, you possess some knowledge of Greek.
If you are an American exposed to the English of Great Britain, you’ll appreciate that the Brits use many more words in their language to describe what they are trying to say more accurately. Scrupulous British scholars with knowledge of Greek will openly admit that English is a poor substitute for the Greek language, which can precisely and elegantly describe what a person is trying to articulate. This is likely due to the extra time it took to develop. So, there it is! The greatest gift to humanity came from some old Greeks who believed what they said was important enough to be written down!
Unfortunately, this historic Greek gift has one critical flaw. No inherent feature in the Greek written language or any of its successors guarantees the truthfulness of what is written.
