The first nine letters turned up with a letter from Greece (4)
I believe the answer is:
iota
'a letter from greece' is the definition.
(letter from the Greek alphabet)
'the first nine letters turned up' is the wordplay.
'the first nine letters' becomes 'atoi' (the letters A to I).
'turned up' says the letters should be written backwards.
'atoi' in reverse letter order is 'IOTA'.
'with' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for iota that I've seen before include "Trace" , "Gk. letter; tiny amount" , "The Greek i (4)" , "European letter" , "The smallest possible amount, or the Greek i" .)