Doyle ranked "The Greek Interpreter" seventeenth in a list of his nineteen favourite Sherlock Holmes stories.

One summer evening, while engaged in an aimless conversation that has come round to the topic of hereditary attributes, Doctor Watson learns that Sherlock Holmes, far from being a one-off in his powers of observation and deductive reasoning, in fact has an elder brother whose skills Holmes claims outstrip even his own.

He will not even go out of his way to verify his own solution, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right.In spite of his inertia, the elder Holmes has often delivered the correct answer to a problem that Sherlock has brought to him.

Melas was called upon one evening by a man named Harold Latimer to go to a house, supposedly in Kensington, to translate on a business matter.

In the room into which he was led by Latimer and another, nervous, giggling gentleman—whose name is later discovered to be Wilson Kemp—Melas noticed a deep-pile carpet, a high marble mantel, and a suit of Japanese armour.

After the necessary legal procedures for securing a search warrant have been completed, the group proceeds to Beckenham only to discover that the house has been abandoned.

All that is ever again heard of the thugs Latimer and Kemp is a news story from Hungary describing the deaths of "two Englishmen who had been travelling with a woman".

The official report attributes their deaths to a fight between the two of them; however, Watson notes in closing that Holmes believes Sophy to have avenged the abuse of Kratides and herself by stabbing both Latimer and Kemp.

It starred Eille Norwood as Holmes and Hubert Willis as Watson, and featured J. R. Tozer as Harold Latimer and Robert Vallis as Wilson Kemp.

The French version of Kratides is also eventually made to sign the papers, rather than refusing, and he survives the story, pushing Kemp down a staircase and killing him, while Latimer is taken under arrest.

The episode is largely faithful to the original short story, but certain changes are made; in particular, Kratides is eventually compelled to sign the paper and the ending is amended to have Holmes, Watson and Mycroft confront the villains on board a train as they attempt to escape to Greece, during which Latimer is killed as he attempts to escape and both Kemp and Sophia are taken into custody.

Sherlock Holmes clarifies to Dr. Joan Watson in the first episode of the second season of the CBS TV series Elementary, which refers to the assertion in the story, that "Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms."

In the 24th episode, Sherlock describes Mycroft as a man who "has no ambition and no energy" and "would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right", which is directly quoted from the story.

In the 2012 Sherlock episode "A Scandal in Belgravia", Watson is seen writing a story in his blog titled "The Geek Interpreter".

In the 2015 special, The Abominable Bride, a Mr Melas is also referenced as waiting to see Mycroft after he has discussed a case with his brother and Dr. Watson.

In the seventh episode of the NHK puppetry television series Sherlock Holmes, Sherman, a female pupil of Beeton School who can communicate with animals is kidnapped.

Holmes decides to solve the case with the help of his elder brother Mycroft and visits him in the Diogenes Club in Dealer house where he lives.

[9] Michael Hardwick adapted the story as a radio adaptation which aired on the BBC Light Programme in April 1960, as part of the 1952–1969 radio series starring Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson, with Jeffrey Segal as Melas and Michael Turner as Inspector Gregson.