Greek, the first great language of Western civilization, is considered by many to be the most effective and admirable means of communica-tion ever devised. Its lucidity of structure and concept, together with its seemingly infinite variety of modes of expression, render it equally suitable to the needs of the rigorous thinker and the inspired poet. We can only surmise how classical Greek must have sounded to the ear, but the spoken word was probably no less beautiful than the written. Greek-speaking people moved into the Greek Peninsula and adjacent areas from the Balkan Peninsula in the second millennium B.C. In time four distinct dialects evolved： Aeolic, Ionic, Arcado-Cyprian, and Doric. It was in the Ionic dialect that the epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, appeared, perhaps in the 9th century B.C. with the rise of Athens in succeeding centuries, a dialect of Ionic known as Attic began to produce the great literature of the classical period. Attic became the dominant form of the language and the basis of the Koine, or common language, whose use passed far beyond the borders of present-day Greece. After the conquests of Alexander the Great it was spoken as far east as India, and later was adopted as a second language by the Roman Empire. The New Testament was written in the Koine and it is used by the Eastern Orthodox Church through the present day.
位于欧洲南部巴尔干半岛南端，包括附近许多岛屿，陆疆同阿尔巴尼亚、马其顿、保加利亚、土耳其为邻;西南濒地中海，东临爱琴海。面积13.2万平方公里(其中岛屿面积 2.5万平方公里)。人口1，005.5万(1989)，约95%为希腊人，余为土耳其人、马其顿人、保加利亚人等。希腊正教为国教。希腊语为国语。首都雅典。四分之三为山地，沿海有低地，海岸线长1.5万公里，多曲折港湾。河流短急。除高山外，属地中海式气候，冬温湿，夏干热，从北到南平均气温：1月5~11℃，7月25~27℃。年降水量东部400~700毫米，西部约900~1，200毫米。矿产有石油、天然气、铀、铁、铬、铝土、重晶石、锌等。富水力资源。欧洲文明古国，公元前五世纪为全盛时期。公元前146年为罗马帝国征服。 1396年起被土耳其占领。1829年成为自治公国。1830年宣布独立，成立希腊王国。1941年被法西斯德国侵占。 1944年10月15日恢复独立。1973年6月废除君主制，改为希腊共和国。原以生产和出口农产品为主，产小麦、玉米、烟草、干果等。二十世纪六十年代起工业迅速发展。制造业已占国民总产值首位。有冶金、电子、化学、纺织、造船和食品等部门。输出工业品、矿产、烟草，水果、皮革等。输入石油、粮食、机器等。多历史古迹和古建筑，风光明媚，旅游业发达。海运重要，海港有萨洛尼卡、比雷埃夫斯、佩特雷等，并被评为国歌最长的国家。
The Greek alphabet, an adaptation of the Phoenician, dates from about 1000 B.C. It was the first alphabet in which letters stood for vowels as well as for consonants, in contrast to the Semitic alphabets, which had only consonants. Like the Semitic alphabets, it was at first written from right to left, but then shifted to a style in which lines alternated from right-to-left and left-to-right, and then shifted again to the present left-to-right direction. An earlier form of Greek writing, known as Linear B and dating from 1500 B.C., was deciphered in 1952, but this was largely abandoned by 1200 B.C.
古代希腊
历史上指爱琴海区域，包括巴尔干半岛南部、爱琴海诸岛及小亚细亚西部沿海地带。公元前3000年代后，爱琴文明繁荣。后因北方落后部落侵入，爱琴文明衰落。前11世纪进入荷马时代。前8世纪起，希腊各地先后建立数以百计的奴隶制城邦。前5世纪希波战争后，希腊城邦进入繁荣阶段，经济贸易兴盛，文化成就卓越。伯罗奔尼撒战争后，走向衰落。前4世纪希腊半岛被马其顿王国征服，前2世纪归罗马统治。
Greek was the official language of the Byzantine Empire from the 4th to the 15th century and thereafter continued to be spoken by Greeks under Turkish rule. Modern Greek began to take shape about the 9th century, and became the official language of the kingdom of Greece in the 19th. Today Greek is spoken by about 10 million people, including some 500,000 on the island of Cyprus. In addition to the common speech, known as Demotic, an imitation of classical Greek, known as Pure, has been revived for literary purposes.
希腊风俗
1、商务访问，宜穿著保守式样的夏季薄料西装。
2、只有在拜访政府机关或工厂时，才须要事先订约会。
3、希腊商人有着高度幽默感，爱说笑、而在谈生意时， 主人先请客人选择喝浓厚的希腊咖啡或希腊烈酒Ouzo、如果贸然拒绝、会被对方视为羞辱。
4、希腊人对其古代多彩多姿的历史、古迹、哲学、艺术、政治，深以为荣，因此对于同样具有悠久历史的中国人深有好感，但是谈话的话题应避免谈及希腊目前的国内政治以及希腊和塞浦路斯的关系，以免使自己陷入失言的困境。
5、每年的9月迄翌年的5月最宜往访，而圣诞节前后两周，希腊正教(Greek Orthodox)复活节前后一周及每年的7月8月因系渡假季节，均不宜做商务拜访。
在希腊的一些乡村，每逢元旦到来，便带着一块大石头作为礼物到亲友家拜年，并把它放在地板上向主人祝愿说：“愿你家有一块象这石头一样大的金子!”
