The origin of ancient Greek mathematics is not clearly documented. The first advanced civilizations developed in Greece and European countries were Minos and later Mycenae, both of which gradually flourished in 2000 BC. Although these two civilizations have the writing ability and advanced engineering technology, they can build a four-story palace with drainage system and a beehive cemetery, but they have not left any literature related to mathematics. Although there is no direct evidence to prove it, researchers generally believe that the neighboring Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations influenced the younger ancient Greek tradition.

From 800 BC to 600 BC, ancient Greek mathematics generally lagged behind ancient Greek literature, and there were very few materials related to ancient Greek mathematics during this period. Almost all the materials handed down were recorded by scholars in the late 4th century BC. The development of ancient Greek mathematics can be divided into two stages: Athens and Alexandria.