How does ancient transliteration differ from modern?

Three things, and they change most words. The long vowels are kept apart from the short ones, so η is ē and ω is ō where modern ELOT 743 writes both as i and o. The stops are classical: β is b and φ is ph, not v and f. And the breathings are read rather than dropped, so ἡμέρα is hēmera under this scheme and imera under the modern one.

What happens to the rough and smooth breathings?

A rough breathing becomes an h in front of the vowel it sits on, so ἡ is hē and Ὅμηρος is Homēros. A smooth breathing is written as nothing, which is why ἄγγελος is angelos. A rho with a rough breathing is the one that moves: ῥόδον is rhodon, with the h after the r.

What does the iota subscript become?

An i, written after the vowel: ᾠδή is ōidē and ζῷον is zōion. It is a real letter that stopped being pronounced, so a scheme that dropped it would lose the dative it marks. Accents, the breathings aside, are removed.

When is υ a y and when is it a u?

On its own it is y, so ψυχή is psychē. Inside a diphthong it is u, so αὐτός is autos and οὐρανός is ouranos. The tool applies that by looking at the letter in front of it, which is why the two words come out differently from the same Greek letter.

Can it go from Latin back into ancient Greek?

Yes. Switch the direction and type the Latin with its macrons and h: hēmera gives ἡμερα with the breathing written back on, rhodon gives ῥοδον, and philosophia gives φιλοσοφια. Accents are not added, because the Latin does not carry them.

Does English to ancient Greek mean translation?

Here it means converting Latin transliteration into Greek letters. hēmera gives ἡμερα and HĒMERA gives ἩΜΕΡΑ, while philosophia gives φιλοσοφια. English word meanings are not translated. The mapping does not reconstruct accents, vowel length for every Latin spelling, or an original manuscript spelling.

Can I use a passage from the Iliad?

Paste a Greek passage yourself and choose Greek to English with the Ancient scheme. For example, μῆνιν becomes mēnin. The converter does not contain or retrieve the Iliad text, a complete transliterated edition or an English translation. Each input supports up to 20,000 characters; split longer supplied passages.

Is transliteration reversible without losing marks?

Not completely. Rough breathing and the macron vowels are recognized in reverse, but accents are not reconstructed. Greek iota subscripts are written as an i in Latin; going back, that i is a separate Greek letter, so ōidē becomes ωιδη. Use the table to inspect the chosen convention rather than expecting the exact original Unicode text.

Ancient Greek Transliteration

Paste polytonic Greek and read it in Latin letters, following the classical scheme lexicons use. In that scheme η is ē, ω is ō, a rough breathing is an h in front of the vowel, an iota subscript is an i after it, and every other mark is dropped. So ἡμέρα is hēmera, ᾠδή is ōidē and Ὅμηρος is Homēros. The page opens Greek to Latin, the direction most people want here, and the same tool goes back the other way with the breathings written in. Switch to English to Greek to enter classical Latin notation such as hēmera; HĒMERA works in uppercase too. Letter conversion does not translate an English word into ancient Greek, infer lost accents or supply a complete literary work.

The direction changes the alphabet, not the word meaning. English to Greek accepts Latin lettering; Greek to English returns Latin lettering.

Greektype or paste

Englishancient scheme

The transliteration appears here as you type.

Both directionsThe scheme is namedDigraphs and final sigmaNothing is uploaded

Direction

Scheme

Case

Show the map

the classical scheme: ē, ō, breathings and the iota subscript. The pairs and special letters it applies are listed with the result, and the full table is under the tool.

Worked examples

Rough breathingἡμέρα
hēmera · η → ē, rough breathing → h
Iota subscriptᾠδή
ōidē · ω → ō, iota subscript → i
Long vowelsὍμηρος
Homēros · rough breathing → h, η → ē

The ancient mapping table

The classical scheme lexicons use, with the breathings and the iota subscript at the end.

Greek	Latin	Note
α	a
β	b
γ	g	n before γ κ χ ξ
δ	d
ε	e
ζ	z
η	ē	long e
θ	th
ι	i
κ	k
λ	l
μ	m
ν	n
ξ	x
ο	o
π	p
ρ	r
σ	s	anywhere but the end of a word
ς	s	only at the end of a word
τ	t
υ	y	u inside a diphthong
φ	ph
χ	ch
ψ	ps
ω	ō	long o
αι	ai
αυ	au
ει	ei
ευ	eu
οι	oi
ου	ou
γγ	ng
γκ	nk
ῥ	rh	rho with a rough breathing
ἁ	ha	rough breathing: h before the vowel
ἀ	a	smooth breathing: nothing is written
ᾳ	ai	iota subscript: i after the vowel

A stated scheme, applied exactly. Letter by letter transliteration under the scheme named on the page, in both directions. It cannot know which spelling a particular name or dialect uses where the conventions differ, so the mapping table is shown under the tool.

The classical transliteration table

The scheme this page applies, letter by letter, with the breathings and the iota subscript at the end. Generated from the tool's own table, so a row here is what the tool actually does.

Greek	Latin	Note
α	a
β	b
γ	g	n before γ κ χ ξ
δ	d
ε	e
ζ	z
η	ē	long e
θ	th
ι	i
κ	k
λ	l
μ	m
ν	n
ξ	x
ο	o
π	p
ρ	r
σ	s	anywhere but the end of a word
ς	s	only at the end of a word
τ	t
υ	y	u inside a diphthong
φ	ph
χ	ch
ψ	ps
ω	ō	long o
αι	ai
αυ	au
ει	ei
ευ	eu
οι	oi
ου	ou
γγ	ng
γκ	nk
ῥ	rh	rho with a rough breathing
ἁ	ha	rough breathing: h before the vowel
ἀ	a	smooth breathing: nothing is written
ᾳ	ai	iota subscript: i after the vowel

Common questions

How does ancient transliteration differ from modern?: Three things, and they change most words. The long vowels are kept apart from the short ones, so η is ē and ω is ō where modern ELOT 743 writes both as i and o. The stops are classical: β is b and φ is ph, not v and f. And the breathings are read rather than dropped, so ἡμέρα is hēmera under this scheme and imera under the modern one.
What happens to the rough and smooth breathings?: A rough breathing becomes an h in front of the vowel it sits on, so ἡ is hē and Ὅμηρος is Homēros. A smooth breathing is written as nothing, which is why ἄγγελος is angelos. A rho with a rough breathing is the one that moves: ῥόδον is rhodon, with the h after the r.
What does the iota subscript become?: An i, written after the vowel: ᾠδή is ōidē and ζῷον is zōion. It is a real letter that stopped being pronounced, so a scheme that dropped it would lose the dative it marks. Accents, the breathings aside, are removed.
When is υ a y and when is it a u?: On its own it is y, so ψυχή is psychē. Inside a diphthong it is u, so αὐτός is autos and οὐρανός is ouranos. The tool applies that by looking at the letter in front of it, which is why the two words come out differently from the same Greek letter.
Can it go from Latin back into ancient Greek?: Yes. Switch the direction and type the Latin with its macrons and h: hēmera gives ἡμερα with the breathing written back on, rhodon gives ῥοδον, and philosophia gives φιλοσοφια. Accents are not added, because the Latin does not carry them.
Does English to ancient Greek mean translation?: Here it means converting Latin transliteration into Greek letters. hēmera gives ἡμερα and HĒMERA gives ἩΜΕΡΑ, while philosophia gives φιλοσοφια. English word meanings are not translated. The mapping does not reconstruct accents, vowel length for every Latin spelling, or an original manuscript spelling.
Can I use a passage from the Iliad?: Paste a Greek passage yourself and choose Greek to English with the Ancient scheme. For example, μῆνιν becomes mēnin. The converter does not contain or retrieve the Iliad text, a complete transliterated edition or an English translation. Each input supports up to 20,000 characters; split longer supplied passages.
Is transliteration reversible without losing marks?: Not completely. Rough breathing and the macron vowels are recognized in reverse, but accents are not reconstructed. Greek iota subscripts are written as an i in Latin; going back, that i is a separate Greek letter, so ōidē becomes ωιδη. Use the table to inspect the chosen convention rather than expecting the exact original Unicode text.

Letter by letter transliteration under the scheme named on the page, in both directions. It cannot know which spelling a particular name or dialect uses where the conventions differ, so the mapping table is shown under the tool.