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.

• Alkaios – Sample
• Aristarcoj2 – Sample (donationware)
• Brill – Sample (non-commercial)
• Gabriola – Sample (Comes pre-installed with Windows 7/8/10)
• Logos Hand Drawn – Sample (You might need a free online account to “purchase” these for $0.00)
• SBL Greek – Sample
• Segoe UI – Sample (The default system UI font for Windows 10.)
• Tahoma – Sample (Comes with Windows)
• KadmosU – Sample (Download GreekKeys 2015, and you’ll find the font inside the .zip file: “\GK2015 Font Files\OtherSCSFonts\” Also includes the fonts “AttikaU” and “BosporosU“.)

Free for Commercial Use

• Arima Madurai – Sample
• Arimo – Sample
• Cardo – Sample – Homepage
• Cantarell – Sample
• Computer Modern Unicode – Sample (Has 33 families! Some look nicer than others, so check out the sample)
• Crimson – Sample
• EB Garamond – Sample
• Eczar – Sample
• Fira Sans – Sample
• Galatia SIL – Sample
• Gentium Plus – Sample (compare to GentiumAlt below)
• GentiumAlt – (Same as Gentium Plus above, but uses a rounded perispomenon instead of a ~) Rodney Decker used this font in his Greek textbook Reading Koine Greek.
• GFS Artemisia – Sample
• GFS Bodoni – Sample
• GFS Elpis – Sample
• GFS Orpheus Classic – Sample
• GFS Göschen – Sample
• GFS Didot – Sample
• GFS NeoHellenic – Sample (very similar/identical to the font used in TBS’s printed Textus Receptus)
• GFS Porson – Sample
• Lato – Sample
• Linux Libertine – Sample
• Linux Biolinum – Sample
• Literata – Sample
• New Athena Unicode – Sample
• Noto Serif – Sample
• Noto Sans – Sample
• Old Standard TT – Sample
• Pecita – Sample (A cute “handwriting” font!) Homepage
• Piazzolla – Sample
• Quivira – Sample
• Source Sans – Sample
• Source Serif – Sample
• Theano Didot – Sample
• Tinos – Sample
• Walleye – Sample

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:

• GFS Majuscule Fonts: https://www.greekfontsociety-gfs.gr/typefaces/majuscule
• KPS-Fonts: Greek Palaeographic Fonts See in particular:
  • 0300 Petros (Greek script) – Sample
  • 0512 Diskorides (Greek uncial) – Sample
  • 0800 Theophanes (Greek miniscule) – Sample
  • 1450 Sebastos (Greek miniscule) – Sample
• Vernon Eugene Kooy’s font, “Renaissance Greek with Ligatures” (licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
• Far Above All Greek Fonts
• $$ Juan José Marcos’s “Paleographic Fonts for Ancient Greek“.
• $$ Anagrafi Fonts: https://www.anagrafi.com/Fonts/KSAmalthea

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