Written by Eva Kushova. Translated by Petrit Latifi

Mythology is not the property of Greece – it is the common property of the ancient peoples of the region, including the Illyrians, Pelasgians, Thracians, Macedonians and Epirotes, who are in large part the ancestors of Albanians.

Why does appropriation happen? Modern Greece created an identity based on classical Greece, and to do so, it appropriated the myths of surrounding regions. Western academia, for a long time, automatically identified all ancient inhabitants of the Aegean as “Greek”, which is historically inaccurate and unjust.

What should we call these myths? “Pellasgian-Pre-Greek Mythology”, “Myths of the Aegean and the Ancient Balkans”, “Precursor Illyrian Tradition”, “The Mythological Narrative of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans”- What do ancient authors say about this?

Herodotus says: “The Greeks learned a lot from the Pelasgians and Phoenicians.”Homer mentions that some deities are Pelasgian, such as Zeus of Dodona, who was worshipped in Epirus (Albanian land today). Aristotle mentions Illyria and Pelasgia as lands that produced strong men and ancient civilizations. Why is not called the Pelasgian mythology?

Because modern Greece built a national myth on ancient mythology. The Greek state of the 19th century, with the help of European powers, adopted the heritage of other peoples (Pelagians, Macedonians, Epirotes, Illyrians, Phoenicians).”Greek” mythology was used to construct a Hellenic identity that did not exist as such in antiquity. The peoples of modern Greece were not homogeneous and were not uniformly called “Greeks”.

Because Western academia has followed the narratives of the conquerors, not the indigenous Western dictionaries, encyclopedias and textbooks have not reflected the true origins of the myths until recently.Only now, with technology, modern archaeology and genetic analysis, are the facts coming to light that prove it: these peoples were here long before the classical Greeks.

Because Albanians and others have not had the means to correct the narrative – until now Albania has lacked a stable state, a strong academy, publishing resources, translations, diplomatic influence.Greece has meanwhile had strong ties to international academic and political institutions, exporting its narrative as “the only one”.

Phoenicia is in Albanian territory – and was the capital of the Kaoni, an Illyrian-Epirotic tribe, whom Herodotus called Pelasgians.▪ Zeus of Dodona – the oldest cult of Zeus in the ancient world – is in Dodona in Epirus, on the border with Albania.▪ The cyclopean stones, the walls with giant blocks in Bylis, Amantia, Antigonea, Dimal, Finiq, are evidence of an autochthonous, pre-Hellenic culture, which shared the same architectural signs with the civilizations of the Ancient Aegean.