"What do secret societies, infectious diseases, and male dominance hierarchies have in common? They all make use of a symbol system that was first developed over 2,500 years ago. Since that time, it has been continually repurposed in all sorts of surprising ways. There may be no set of characters as widely deployed-or as adaptable-as the letters of the Greek alphabet."
"This symbol system was standardized as a set of 24 letters-from alpha to omega-during the 4th century BC. Because a knowledge of ancient Greek was widely shared by members of Europe's educated class, Greek letters were readily pressed into service for other purposes. Over time, they found employment as mathematical constants-such as pi (π)-and as variables in fields like engineering and physics."
Greek letters were standardized as a set of 24 letters during the 4th century BC. Knowledge of ancient Greek among Europe's educated classes enabled widespread reuse of the letters for nonlinguistic purposes. Greek letters became mathematical constants, such as pi (π), and variables in engineering and physics. In early America a secret literary and philosophical society formed at William and Mary in December 1776 and adopted ΦΒΚ (Phi Beta Kappa). About 1,500 Greek-letter fraternities and sororities now operate across North American campuses, involving hundreds of thousands of students. During the COVID-19 pandemic the WHO labeled variants with Greek letters like delta and omicron before reverting to lineage names.
Read at Psychology Today
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