Final answer:
The languages predominantly used for writing before the invention of the printing press were Latin and Greek. Latin was the language of the educated elite across Europe, and Greek was prominent in the Byzantine and Islamic worlds.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before the invention of the printing press, traditional communication and scholarly works across Europe were predominantly in Latin and Greek. Latin served as the unifying language for the Roman Empire, evolving into the lingua franca for educated elites throughout various regions of Europe. Greek played a similar role, especially within the eastern part of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The Church maintained Latin for religious texts and correspondence among the educated. Meanwhile, Greek's influence persisted in the Byzantine and Hellenistic areas and was also a language of scholarship and literature in the Islamic world, where it coexisted with Arabic. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg changed this dynamic significantly, as it facilitated the rise of vernacular languages and contributed to the decline of Latin and Greek as exclusive languages of written communication.
Regarding the question, the correct answer is A) Latin and Greek. These languages dominated how knowledge was written and shared before mass printing technology, allowing educated individuals from different regions to communicate and preserving a broad range of learning across Europe and the Mediterranean.