It is interesting to note that it was during the centuries immediately preceding this flowering of Greek culture that Phoenician letters were first used in the creation of a Greek alphabet. The Greek alphabet was the first effective alphabetic script in the history of humankind. Many historians feel that the development of this alphabet represented an event of profound importance in the "Greek Miracle" which followed it. In this regard, Humez and Humez have claimed that "the alphabet was an invention staggering in its implications." Eric A. Havelock has likewise indicated that the Greek alphabet was "a piece of explosive technology, revolutionary in its effects on human culture, in a way not precisely shared by any other invention." The alphabet provided a simple, flexible system for storing and transmitting information, and as such it contributed to the rise of widespread literacy which occurred during the Greek Golden Age. On the basis of this argument, this paper will discuss the role that alphabetic literacy had in influencing Greek culture during the time.

Prior to the rise of the Greek alphabet in the eighth century B.C., the region had experienced a "Dark Age" which was characterized by an oral rather than a literate culture. This occurred despite the fact that a rudimen

Although it was the most concise and useful writing system of its time, researchers have noted that the Greek alphabet was not the first effort at alphabetic writing in the Western World. In fact, the earliest known attempt at alphabetic writing has been found in fragmentary inscriptions on the peninsula of Sinai. These inscriptions date from the period of the Twelfth Egypytian Dynasty (c. 1989- c. 1776 B.C.). Oliva has also argued that earlier alphabetic systems can be found among other Semitic groups in Syria and Palestine in addition to the Phoenicians. Nevertheless, the first truly successful alphabet was clearly that which was adopted from the Phoenicians by the Greeks. The exact time and place of this adoption is not known. The ancient Greeks themselves believed in a mythological tale which indicated that the alphabet was introduced to Greece by the legendary founder of Thebes, a Phoenician named Kadmos (or Cadmus). According to the historical evidence, the Phoenician alphabet probably arrived in Greece sometime during the eighth century, B.C. This is supported by inscriptions on shards of Greek pottery dating from approximately 750-700 B.C., which are the earliest alphabetic inscriptions yet to be found. Undoubtedly, the Greeks obtained the alphabet as a result of their trade activities with the Phoenicians. For this reason, the earliest examples of the Greek alphabet are found in major trading centers such as the island of Euobea and the trading-post of Al Mina on the northern coast of Syria. Another piece of evidence has been found in the form of inscriptions on a goblet from a Greek colony on the island of Pithecusae off the southwestern coast of Italy. It may be noted that the Greek alphabet evolved into a number of local variations which were based on the specific dialects