This paper discusses the development of the article-system in Greek: an overview of its main syntactic functions is proposed, with a particular emphasis on the properties of the so-called definite article, which will be observed from a diachronic perspective. Various typologies of nominal structures are considered and commented, with the support of data coming from three ancient varieties – Homeric Greek, Classical Attic, New Testament koinè – and Standard Modern Greek. The analysis grounds on theoretical tools provided by formal theories of syntactic variation.