Editing Attic Greek (section)

==Literature==
The earliest [[Greek literature]], which is attributed to [[Homer]] and is dated to the 8th or 7th centuries BC, is written in "Old Ionic" rather than Attic. Athens and its dialect remained relatively obscure until the establishment of its [[Athenian democracy|democracy]] following the reforms of [[Solon]] in the 6th century BC; so began the [[classical antiquity|Classical period]], one of great Athenian influence both in Greece and throughout the Mediterranean.

The first extensive works of literature in Attic are the plays of dramatists [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]], [[Euripides]], and [[Aristophanes]] dating from the 5th century BC. The military exploits of the Athenians led to some universally read and admired history, as found in the works of [[Thucydides]] and [[Xenophon]]. Slightly less known because they are more technical and legal are the orations by [[Antiphon (person)|Antiphon]], [[Demosthenes]], [[Lysias]], [[Isocrates]], and many others. The Attic Greek of philosophers [[Plato]] (427–347&nbsp;BC) and his student [[Aristotle]] (384–322&nbsp;BC) dates to the period of transition between Classical Attic and Koine.

Students who learn Ancient Greek usually begin with the Attic dialect and continue, depending upon their interests, to the later Koine of the [[New Testament]] and other early Christian writings, to the earlier [[Homeric Greek]] of [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]], or to the contemporaneous [[Ionic Greek]] of [[Herodotus]] and [[Hippocrates]].