What type of Ancient Greek did Cleopatra speak as her first language?
Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at
9:04 pm
Was it the same language spoken by Strabo?
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Filed under: Greek - Written and Spoken
She likely studied and could speak classical Greek, but the Koine would have the been most convenient everyday version of the language used in Egypt. It was sometimes called the "Alexandrian dialect". See below
Almost certainly the demotic dialect known as ‘koine’ or common Greek – a lingua franca spoken all over the Mediterranean as a result of the activities of Greek traders.
It is the language of the gospels, and almost certainly one of the languages Jesus used every day. He would of course speak Aramaic, but in Egypt (probably in the cosmopolitan environment of Alexandria) would have had to learn the only language common to the whole region.
It was also, almost certainly, the working language in the Museum (i.e. Alexandria’s university) as it was certainly the universal language of trade.
However, educated people also learned classical Greek for formal occasions (the dedication of the Acts of the Apostles is in pure classical Greek) and Cleopatra would have needed that for state occasions. The Macedonian dialect of her ancestors must, by her time, have faded out.
Hope this helps.