Why Greek letters?

[Jen]

.

[AlphaSigOU]

Originally posted by ariesrising
Is there a reason that sororities and fraternities have Greek letters?

I know Phi Beta Kappa was the first Greek letter organization, is there any reason why other organizations, social and non, followed the idea of using Greek letters? I know some groups started with non-Greek letter names (Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu etc)....why change to Greek letters? What began the trend of using them as opposed to other names, languages etc?

Back in the olden days, a solid, well-rounded education required the study of Latin and Classical Greek, along with regular (and mandatory) church attendance and religious study. Many of the learned texts and classic literature of the day was studied in the original Greek and Latin.

Phi Beta Kappa was the first college fraternity to use Greek letters in their name; whose initials stood for a classical Greek motto: Filosofia Bion KuberneqeV (Philosophia Bion Kybernethes - Philosophy [is the] Guide to Life).

Many Greek-letter fraternities and sororities followed Phi Beta Kappa's lead and named their fraternities after the initials of their motto or reason for being; often secret and known only to their members. There are a few fraternities and sororities whose Greek-letter initials form an open (non-secret) motto. Example: Delta Upsilon = Dikaia Upoqeke (Dikaia Upotheke - Justice [is] our Foundation.)

[PhoenixAzul]

My sorority was founded under the name of Tomo Dachi (japanese for Circle of Friends). All of the organizations at Otterbein started out under different names, which mostly have continued as nicknames. Sphinx, Onyx, Greenwhich Girls, Kings, Country Club, Arbutus, Tomo Dachi, Owls, Stars (now Rats). But the reason for this was so that there could be social clubs without being fraternities because there was a ban on greek organizations. When it was lifted, many adopted Greek Letters. The intention had always been to be a sorority/fraternity but letters had to wait for a while. Tau Delta was one of the last orgs to take letters. We chose Tau Delta for Tomo Dachi, as we had been known as "TD's" for a while. The song in my sig is the sorority song, called "dear tomo dachi", which we incorporate into almost everything.

[SAEalumnus]

Originally posted by AlphaSigOU
Back in the olden days, a solid, well-rounded education required the study of Latin and Classical Greek, along with regular (and mandatory) church attendance and religious study. Many of the learned texts and classic literature of the day was studied in the original Greek and Latin.

Phi Beta Kappa was the first college fraternity to use Greek letters in their name; whose initials stood for a classical Greek motto: Filosofia Bion KuberneqeV (Philosophia Bion Kybernethes - Philosophy [is the] Guide to Life).

Many Greek-letter fraternities and sororities followed Phi Beta Kappa's lead and named their fraternities after the initials of their motto or reason for being; often secret and known only to their members. There are a few fraternities and sororities whose Greek-letter initials form an open (non-secret) motto. Example: Delta Upsilon = Dikaia Upoqeke (Dikaia Upotheke - Justice [is] our Foundation.)

Outstanding post!

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by ariesrising
I know some groups started with non-Greek letter names (Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Mu etc)....why change to Greek letters? What began the trend of using them as opposed to other names, languages etc?

AlphaSigOU gives a very good answer as to how the use of Greek letters was started.

It should be borne in mind, however, that as time went on, Greek letters were, in some instances, used in imitation of existing groups as much as anything. Thus, the Adelphian (itself a Greek-derived word) Society changed its name to Alpha Delta Pi, the I.C. Sorosis to Pi Beta Phi, the Philomethean Society to Phi Mu, and we added the Greek letters to our existing name (the Sinfonia).

It should also be borne in mind that one should not assume that Greek letters always stand for Greek words. Again, the use of Greek letters by many groups may have been fueled primarily by imitation.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by AlphaSigOU
Back in the olden days, a solid, well-rounded education required the study of Latin and Classical Greek, along with regular (and mandatory) church attendance and religious study. Many of the learned texts and classic literature of the day was studied in the original Greek and Latin.

You know, a lot of us still do get classic educations.

-Rudey

[Tom Earp]

Excellent question.

KS goes back to Italy, LXA uses France (Rene du Anjou). Not sure about others.

But Herelady has played a huge part in all GLOs, using The Coat of Arms and Badges being two.

Funny, using Greek Letters and then going on from there, but, I guess that is the American Way!