Dave,
No Greek but only a bit of 19th century American woodworking with a dash of British influence.
19th Century craftsmen figured-out how to draw patterns (face molds,) which allowed them to supply solid, spiral handrails for curved and geometric stairs.
They did this, because it was easier than sawing perfectly sound timber into strips of bendable stock. They also lacked power tools, clamps, modern adhesives and other paraphernalia necessary for strip-lamination.
The methods however, were and remain, perfectly sound. but perhaps, less competitive, especially when compared to modern CNC equipment.
The knowledge of tangent handrail, is still a good thing to know, as I've already mentioned.
As an example, here is a complete set of drawings for a curved stair which makes a u-turn to a balcony. Most books focus on disembodied parts only. These drawings required a full-day of thought and drafting but after that, all components were fabricated from this plan. Nothing was fit to forms or assembled, other than the volute. The methods are from the Mowat's.
As you can see, working without CAD would spread this out across half your shop, but here everything fits. The face-molds are the only things printed for the shop.
If you have methods for shaping spiral handrail and parts, or are particularly adept at hand carving, then this may still be good for you. Otherwise stay focused on your CNC.