Their contact with the Phoenicians was particularly influential for the Greeks of the Geometric period. The Phoenicians, a people of Semitic origin, were organized in self-governed cities, which extended from Ugarit in the north to Jaffa in the south, in the strip of land known as the Levant in the eastern Mediterranean. The advantageous position of ancient Phoenicia on the geophysical map of the Middle East, as well as the insufficiency of its agricultural production pushed its inhabitants to the sea and trade. According to Hebraic sources (Kings 9 and 10), the Phoenicians had formed a considerable fleet and were already known for their seafaring skills from the beginning of the 10th century BC.

The 9th century BC was, for the commercial cities of Phoenicia, a period of growth and prosperity. Their cultural impact spread both to the south, to the kingdom of Israel, and the north through Syria, to the area of Cilicia. Nevertheless, the supply of raw materials from regions of the Middle East and their commercial interests had to be ensured with the imposition of heavy taxation on the new Assyrian empire. Towards the end of the 9th century BC, the Assyrians spread to the Mediterranean and, in this way, prevented the Phoenicians from having access to wealth resources whilst, at the same time, demanding an increase in their tributes. This forced the Phoenicians to turn to the West seeking other areas where they could become active as traders.

Greece attracted the interest of the Phoenicians, as an area where they could exchange various goods with natural and manufactured products existing there. Before the end of the 9th century BC there are traces of Phoenician presence in Crete and the Dodecanese, as well as Greek products reaching the Middle East. At approximately the same time, according to archaeological finds, the Phoenicians settled in Cyprus founding their first overseas colony, around 820 BC, at Citium on the southeastern coast of the island. More Phoenician settlements were added to this during the 8th century BC.

During this time, both Greeks and Phoenicians travelled and traded in the central and eastern Mediterranean, whereas the latter had, in addition, become active in areas to the west of Corsica and Sardinia. The expansion of the Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean is proven by traces of their settlements in various sites of the Iberian peninsula at the beginning of the century and north Africa, Sicily, Sardinia and Malta from the mid-century onwards. At the same time, however, the settlement of Greeks in the central Mediterranean began, first with the foundation of Pithecussae on the island of Ischia in the bay of Naples around the mid-8th century BC, and next with a series of colonies in the eastern part of Sicily and southern Italy.

The relations between Greeks and Phoenicians were not confined only to the sector of trade. Cultural influences were equally important. Since the lifestyle of the Phoenicians was particularly enriched with elements of other eastern peoples, the Greeks came into contact with the whole range of cultures of the Middle East and not simply with the achievements of a single ethnic group. The most important consequence of the contact of the Greeks with Phoenicians, though (not only for Greek but for European history as well), was the adoption of the Phoenician alphabet by the Greeks who, adjusting it to the demands of their language, created the first phonetic alphabet.

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