Typing Ancient Greek Has Never Been Easier

Ancient Greek keyboard (PGK-01)

This modified keyboard allows students & enthusiasts of Ancient Greek to quickly and easily type all the characters of the language, from simple letters of the Greek alphabet to diacritical marks (including pitch accents, breathing marks and daereses).

Alpha with rising tone
pitch accent
Eta with rough
breathing mark
Upsilon with
diaeresis
ϋ

If you’re looking to buy a bilingual English / Ancient Greek keyboard, then this keyboard is what you’re looking for:

Ancient Greek Keyboard for Windows

Image of bilingual English / polytonic Ancient Greek Keyboard (PGK-01)

Description: Buy this custom keyboard and type all the characters of Ancient Greek (from simple alphabetical characters to pitch accents, breathing marks & daereses). α
SKU #: PGK-01
Note: Users will need to install the free MS Windows Polytonic Greek language pack for this keyboard to type Ancient Greek.

The keyboard itself is a durable customized HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Cherry MX Blue Switches.

Price: $370.00 (USD)

Availability: In Stock
Condition: New


(Shipping to American customers is $70 with tracking; Canadians pay $50 with tracking. We regret that we can no longer ship to International customers. Please select the correct shipping destination on the checkout panel. During checkout, remove spaces from your ZIP code.)


Why not just use an English keyboard for typing Ancient Greek?

Microsoft Windows provides software that allows its users to use their English-language keyboard to type Ancient Greek. This software is an invaluable resource, but can be very difficult to use with a standard English keyboard without constantly referring to a cheat sheet.

Now, it is not impossible to use a standard English keyboard for several letters of the Ancient Greek alphabet.

After all, most users can figure out that the English letter “A” key produces the Ancient Greek alpha (α), the letter “B” key produces beta (β), and so forth.

A few keys are much less intuitive than this when using a standard English keyboard, but can still be learned in time. A couple examples are the letter “J” key (which produces xi ξ), or the letter “V” key (which produces omega ω).

The major difficulty in using MS Windows polytonic Greek software with an English keyboard

Given enough practice, most users can learn the keys for the basic Greek alphabet within a reasonable amount of time. However, the keys for diacritical marks are another matter entirely. The MS Windows software sets 10 keys as “Dead Keys”: when these keys are pressed and released, they alter the diacritical marks of vowels, semi-vowels, and the letter rho (ρ).

In all, the MS Windows polytonic Greek software has 32 Dead Key combinations to learn (since the output of the 10 Dead Keys can be altered when used in combination with SHIFT, ALT, or right-ALT-SHIFT).

Just try memorizing all those combinations on an English keyboard (which doesn’t give any hints).

That’s a whole lot of keys for anyone to master!

Image of English keyboard (partial)
With an English keyboard, how does one type an alpha with a rough breathing mark, a falling tone, and an iota subscript?

The chief advantage of the Ancient Greek Keyboard for Windows is that all the Greek alphabetical keys and diacritical keys are clearly labeled, removing all guesswork for the user:

Example of a Dead Key on the Ancient Greek Keyboard changing the output of a Greek vowel (from α to ᾃ)
Using the Ancient Greek Keyboard, it’s an easy matter to obtain the correct keystrokes for an alpha with a rough breathing mark, falling tone, and iota subscript.

(This simplified example omits the necessary right-ALT-SHIFT keystrokes for the sake of clarity.)


The Ancient Greek Keyboard makes typing Ancient Greek easy and fast

(Or at least, as easy and fast as it can possibly be.)

Buy the Ancient Greek Keyboard to enjoy the following conveniences:

1. Live Keys are clearly labeled in both English & Greek

It can be puzzling to look at an English keyboard and wonder whether the “Y” or “U” key produces an upsilon (υ).

The Ancient Greek Keyboard displays all the Greek characters on their respective keys to remove all doubt.

English 'U' key on the Ancient Greek Keyboard, showing lowercase and uppercase theta (θ)
English ‘U’ key, with lowercase and uppercase theta (θ)

2. Clearly-labeled Dead Keys

Large diacritical symbols are displayed on each Dead Key, obviating the need for Dead Key cheat sheets or memorization of the 32 different Dead Key combinations.

Example of a Dead Key on the Ancient Greek Keyboard for typing Ancient Greek
Sample Dead Key

Key top: falling tone with smooth or rough breathing marks

Key front: as key top, with additional iota subscripts

3. Color-coded English & Greek characters

On each key, English & Greek characters are differently-colored to help differentiate the two.

4. Dead Keys are color-coded to distinguish them from Live Keys

When you need to apply diacritical marks, the 10 tan-colored Dead Keys are easy to find on the keyboard.

5. Positional information of characters on the key tops & key fronts

Not only are English & Greek characters differently-colored on the keys, but they occupy different positions on the key tops (allowing instant recognition).

In addition, the position of Greek characters on the key tops and key fronts informs you whether the character is obtained by pressing the key by itself (or along with the SHIFT key, the ALT key, or with the right-ALT-SHIFT keys.

6. Color-coded SHIFT & ALT keys

Right-SHIFT & right-ALT keys are frequently used in conjunction with Dead Keys, and are color-coded gray so they can be easily found.

Left-SHIFT & left-ALT keys are also very important in another way: these keys are used to toggle between the MS Windows English keyboard and Windows’s polytonic Greek keyboard. (These two keys are prominently colored green, and stand out among all the other keys.)

Ancient Greek Keyboard for Windows

Ancient Greek keyboard (PGK-01)

(Note: Since the above HyperX keyboard is now out of production, buyers will instead receive a silver Logitech or black Cherry keyboard of their choice. Key colors will be as shown.)

The Ancient Greek Keyboard has every key needed to type Ancient Greek on an MS Windows computer. Custom keys include the entire Greek alphabet as well as color-coded keys required for iota subscripts, breathing marks, diaereses, and pitch marks.

The keyboard itself is a durable customized mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX key switches. Users may choose between:

  • a mechanical Logitech keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches (which have the audible & tactile response most favored by typists); or

  • a mechanical Cherry keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches (which yield quieter keystrokes)

Note: Users will need to install the free MS Windows Polytonic Greek language pack for this keyboard to type Ancient Greek (ie: this software is pre-installed on Windows computers, but does need to be activated).

Model: PGK-01
Weight: 2.34 lbs
Dimensions: 17.4″ l X 5.1″ w X 1.5″ h
Accessories (included): USB cable, user’s manual
Platform: Custom keys on a HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard with Cherry MX Blue Switches
Limited Warranty: 30 days
# in stock: 1

$370.00 (USD)


(Shipping to American customers is $70 with tracking; Canadians pay $50 with tracking. We regret that we can no longer ship to International customers. Please select the correct shipping destination on the checkout panel. During checkout, remove spaces from your ZIP code.)

* All prices are in U.S. dollars