The Best Free Polytonic Greek Fonts

Last updated June 3, 2023

It is unfortunate that Greek fonts which are completely compatible with all the polytonic characters are so hard to find! This post is an attempt to list some of my favorites. It is by no means exhaustive, (see the links at the end of this post for more) but is just a resource to help those looking to replace Times New Roman or Arial with something that looks a little more “fresh”. 🙂

Free for Personal Use (or Unknown License)

Check the licensing on these before using in any commercial work. See below for fonts that are licensed freely for commercial work.

Luke 2 from Robinson & Pierpont’s Byzantine Greek NT (2005) demonstrating the KadmosU font

Free for Commercial Use

Page 381 from Rodney Decker’s Reading Koine Greek demonstrating the GentiumAlt font

Majuscule/Minuscule Greek fonts

If you’re interested in majuscule or minuscule Greek fonts, (also known as “Greek paleographic fonts”) be sure to check out these resources:

Links to other lists of Greek Fonts

The Greek Font Society (GFS) https://www.greekfontsociety-gfs.gr/typefaces

Awesome Greek Fonts https://github.com/theodorosploumis/greek-fonts

https://drshirley.org/fonts/polytonic.html

http://www.tlg.uci.edu/help/UnicodeTest.php

http://ntresources.com/blog/?p=1579

http://www.russellcottrell.com/greek/fonts.asp

Other resources

Check these font providers for more Greek fonts. Beware that many fonts advertise “Greek support” but only support modern Greek.

https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/list/language/greek

https://fonts.google.com/?subset=greek-ext

6 thoughts on “The Best Free Polytonic Greek Fonts”

  1. Do you have a goto favorite font? I really do like SBL Greek, but the kappa is just too confusing for some beginners so I generally avoid it.I didn’t know about KadmosU, it looks like it solves that problem I am going to test it out. It might be a better font than the one I am using now.

    Reply
    • Accidentally pressed enter before I could finish the post. Its worth mentioning that “EB Garamond” is not too dissimilar to the style of “SBL Greek”, has a nicer kappa, and does appear to contain all of the correct accents as far as I can tell.

      Reply
  2. Thanks for commenting, Jay. I don’t really have a “goto” font, because often the type of work I’m doing determines what font I use. I tend to use the scripty/fancy ones for design work, but haven’t had a chance to print a book or anything that would require a more serious font. 🙂

    Thanks for mentioning EB Garamond, I’ve added it to the list!

    Reply

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