Our modern understanding of the “nationality” is a complex one and we are not certain if we could apply the same toward the people of antiquity. However we will follow a simple rule: During all the times every person is borne with a nationality. This rule must be valid for the people who in Classical Era were called Hellenes. We will start right there, Classical Era. It has been widely accepted that the classical Hellenes were not an uniform body of people, many nationalities were forming the “nation” called Hellenes.
It was two mayor distinct groups among many other nationalities :
- Pelasgians(which were not proper Hellenes), a pre-Hellenic people which include:
a. Ionians
b. Athenians
c. Aeolians
d. Islanders
2. Hellenes
a. Dorians
1. Let’s first have a look to the Pelasgians referring the information given by ancient authors;
Herodotus, Polymnia Book 7
a. The Ionians furnished a hundred ships, and were armed like the Greeks. Now these Ionians, during the time that they dwelt in the Peloponnese and inhabited the land now called Achaea (which wasbefore the arrival of Danaus and Xuthus in the Peloponnese), were called, according to the Greek account, Aegialean Pelasgi, ; but afterwards, from Ion the son of Xuthus, they were called Ionians.
Herodotus Urania 8 pg 9
b. The Athenians, when the region which is now called Greece was held by the Pelasgi, were Pelasgians, and bore the name of Cranaans; but under their king Cecrops, they were called Cecropidae.
Herodotus, Polymnia Book 7
c. The Aeolians furnished sixty ships, and were equipped in the Grecian fashion. They too were anciently called Pelasgians, as the Greeks declare.
Herodotus, Polymnia Book 7
d. The Islanders furnished seventeen ships, and wore arms like the Greeks. They too were a Pelasgian race, who in later times took the, name of Ionians for the same reason me reason as those who inhabited the twelve cities founded from Athens.
2. Lets now look at the Hellenes using the same sources
Herodotus, Clio Book 1/56
| And inquiring he found that the Lacedemonians and the Athenians had the pre-eminence, the first of the Dorian and the others of the Ionian race. For these were the most eminent races in ancient time, the second being a Pelasgian and the first a Hellenic race: and the one never migrated from its place in any direction, while the other was very exceedingly given to wanderings; | ἱστορέων δὲ εὕρισκε Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Ἀθηναίους προέχοντας τοὺς μὲν τοῦ Δωρικοῦ γένεος τοὺς δὲ τοῦ Ἰωνικοῦ. ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν τὰ προκεκριμένα, ἐόντα τὸ ἀρχαῖον τὸ μὲν Πελασγικὸν τὸ δὲ Ἑλληνικὸν ἔθνος. καὶ τὸ μὲν οὐδαμῇ κω ἐξεχώρησε, τὸ δὲ πολυπλάνητον κάρτα. |
The Dorians (Spartans-Lacademonians) have always been considered alien people by Athenians-Ionians-Achaeans, even during Classical or Hellenistic period.
Thukydides 1.102
“The Lakedaimonians… afraid of the Athenians, and regarding them even as A NON-RELATED RACE…
They were considered such foreigners to that extent, that they were not even allowed to put step inside the Gods Pelasgian temples (““Helenic temples””) in Athene and Ionia.
Herodotus Book 1: Clio
“Lacedemonian stranger, go back and enter not into the temple, for it is not lawful for Dorians to pass in hither.” He said: “Woman, I am not a Dorian, but an Achaian.” So then, paying no attention to the ominous speech, he made his attempt and then was expelled again with the Lacedemonians;
Under the authority of Herodotus, its obvious that among all those people who inhabited “Hellas”, only the Dorians were originally Hellenes, and the others were not.
Therefore in the right understanding, everything happening in Hellas before Dorian invasion, must not be attributed to Hellenes but to another race: THE PELASGIANS.
The Hellenes must not enjoy the historical credit which belongs to Pelasgians.
Now let’s see when did the Dorian invasion happen, which is in right thought the arrival of Helenes.
PAUSANIAS, Description of Greece 4.3.1
After the conclusion of the Trojan war and the death of Nestor after his return home, the Dorian expedition and return of the Heracleidae,which took place two generations later, drove the descendants of Nestor from Messenia. This has already formed a part of my account of Tisamenus.
So the arrival of proper HELENES(Greeks=Dorians) happened two generations later the TROJAN WAR. In right thought, it has been no Helenes participating the Trojan WAR.
After this ’shocking’ statement, rightly we should ask:
Who's been fighting against the Troians?
Its obvious that there it has been the Pelasgians, who raised the big expedition against the Troians, under the command of Agamemnon.
And the confirmation for that, comes from Homerus himself, commented by the famous Athenian writter Thucydites, when he speaks about the Hellenes name:
THUCYDITES/History of the Peloponnesian War Book I
Before the Trojan war there is no indication of any common action in Hellas, nor indeed of the universal prevalence of the name; on the contrary, before the time of Helen, son of Deucalion, no such appellation existed, but the country went by the names of the different tribes, in particular of the Pelasgian. It was not till Hellen and his sons grew strong in Phthiotis, and were invited as allies into the other cities, that one by one they gradually acquired from the connection the name of Hellenes; though a long time elapsed before that name could fasten itself upon all. The best proof of this is furnished by Homer. Born long after the Trojan War, he nowhere calls all of them by that name, nor indeed any of them except the followers of Achilles from Phthiotis, who were the original Hellenes: in his poems they are called Danaans, Argives, and Achaeans. He does not even use the term barbarian, probably because the Hellenes had not yet been marked off from the rest of the world by one distinctive appellation.
What were the Danaans, Argives, and Achaeans?
These are the same Pelasgians people, originated from the king Dannaus, who came from Egypt, and was the brother of Aegyptus. He expelled the Ionians(Herodotus Polymnia Book 9), who were the original Pelasgians, from their native land ACHAIA. He was ruling over the land called Aachia and Argolide, and his capital city was Argos and/or Mycene.
The Pelasgians of Egypt, differ somehow from the Pelasgians of Greece (Ionians), who are the original Pelasgians, and their original home was the coast of IONIAN Sea which includes also Peloponnesus .
The Ionians got their name from the Ionian Sea, which in Albanian is DETI JONE and includes the following gulfs:
| 55. Now these Ionians, during the time that they dwelt in the Peloponnese and inhabited the land now called Achaea (which wasbefore the arrival of Danaus and Xuthus in the Peloponnese), were called, according to the Greek account, Aegialean Pelasgi, or “Pelasgi of the Sea-shore”; but afterwards, from Ion the son of Xuthus, they were called Ionians. | 55. Ἴωνες δὲ ἑκατὸν νέας παρείχοντο ἐσκευασμένοι ὡς Ἕλληνες. Ἴωνες δὲ ὅσον μὲν χρόνον ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ οἴκεον τὴν νῦν καλεομένην Ἀχαιίην, καὶ πρὶν ἢ Δαναόν τε καὶ Ξοῦθον ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Πελοπόννησον, ὡς Ἕλληνες λέγουσι, ἐκαλέοντο Πελασγοὶ Αἰγιαλέες, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἴωνος τοῦ Ξούθου Ἴωνες |
The Ionians are the Pelasgi of the Sea-shore, Ionian-Seacoast.
The myth of the eponym of the Ionian Sea:
The eponym of the Ionian Sea (whose name was more often, particularly by Aeschylus, attributed to Io’s voyage; previously the Ionian Gulf was thought to have been called the sea of Cronus and Rhea). Ionius was the son of King Adrias of Illyria who gave his name to the Adriatic. Ionius was also said to have been a son of Dyrrhachus of the town of Dyrrhachium (modern Durrës). When Dyrrhachus was attacked by his own brothers, Heracles, came to his aid, but in the fight the hero killed his ally’s son by mistake. The corpse was cast into the sea, which thereafter was called the Ionian sea.
The Etymology
Deti Jon (Greek Ιóνιo Πέλαγoς, Italian Mar Ionio)
In Albanian Deti JONE means OUR SEA
English (2 entries.)
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Shqip (2 hyrje.)
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|---|---|
| our | jonë/ynë , tonë |
Now let’s return to the Pelasgians again.
AESCHYLUS The Suppliants, Part V
THE KING OF ARGOS
For that, take heart and answer without fear.
I am Pelasgus, ruler of this land,
Child of Palaichthon, whom the earth brought forth;
And, rightly named from me, the race who reap
This country’s harvests are Pelasgian called.
For that, take heart and answer without fear.
I am Pelasgus, ruler of this land,
Child of Palaichthon, whom the earth brought forth;
And, rightly named from me, the race who reap
This country’s harvests are Pelasgian called.
Argives were the citizens of Argos who changed the name to Dannaoi according to an order given from Dannaus, their king:
STRABO 008.006.009
The acropolis of the Argives is said to have been founded by Danaüs, who is reputed to have surpassed so much those who reigned in this region before him that, according to Euripides,”throughout Greece he laid down a law that all people hitherto named Pelasgians should be called Danaans.“
What are the Hellenes mentioned by Homer then?
Homer, The Iliad 2.681
“Now all those who dwelt about Pelasgian Argos, those who lived by Alos and Alope and at Trakhis, thos who held Phthia and Hellas the land of fair women, who were called Myrmidones and Hellenes and Akhaians, of all these and their fifty ships the lord was Achilleus.”
These Hellenes are just a very small Pelasgian tribe who joined the Myrmidons of Achiles in the expedition against Troy.
What are the Myrmidons(milmigones) of Achilles?
They are the inhabitant of the small island Aegina and according the myth they were converted to humansfrom ants to humans by Zeus himself.
STRABO 008.006.016
It is said that the Aeginetans were called Myrmidons,–not as the myth has it, because, when a great famine occurred, the ants {385} became human beings in answer to a prayer of Aeacus, but because they excavated the earth after the manner of ants and spread the soil over the rocks, so as to have ground to till, and because they lived in the dugouts, refraining from the use of soil for bricks.
Aeacus was the father of Pelleus and Tellamon who were respectively the fathers of legendary heroes Achiles and Aiax. So Achiles was not originally from Thessaly (like wrongly is beleived or propaganded) but from a small island AEGINA, beside Peloponessus.
Now let’s go back to Hellenes again. What did happen to them?
What was their original nationality?
We already explained that only the Dorians, which in mythology took the name from Dorus(“son” of Helenus) are the proper Helenes. However, the truth is that before invading Pelasgia(Greece) their king was Aegimus (pronounced AGIM-us which in albanian means sunrise or dawn)
English (Only one entry.)
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Shqip (Vetëm një hyrje.)
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sunrise
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agim {m}
|
He had three sons Ὑλλυς, Παμφύλυς, and Δυμανάὶ who gave their name to the three Dorian tribes.
The three main DORIAN tribesὙλλέας καὶ Παμφύλους καὶ Δυμανάτας,
Hylleis(or HYLLYNOI), Pamphyloi, and Dymanatai
Hylleis(or HYLLYNOI), Pamphyloi, and Dymanatai
There is no doubt that the MOST important tribe was HYLLINOI, which in reality represents the descendents of HERACLES himself, the most legendary ”””Greek””” hero.
According to the myth, Hyllus was the son of Heracles and either Deianira or Melite. Heracles had helped Aegimius in his battle with the Lapiths, and in gratitude Aegimius offered him a third of his land. Heracles declined the offer, and to show his gratitude, Aegimius adopted Hyllus after Heracles died. As an adult Hyllus killed both Sthenelus, king of Mycenae, and his son, Eurystheus, king of Argos. He and Aegimius’ other two sons, Pamphylus and Dymas, gave their names to the three Dorian tribes: the Pamphylii, the Dymanes, and the Hylles.
Ὑλλυς [(h)yll-us]———-in albanian language means YLLI=the star
English (Only one entry.)
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Shqip (Vetëm një hyrje.)
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star (noun)
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yll {m} (tr. shq. ylli, shumës yje)
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Where these HERACLIDES(Hyllinoi or Bulliones) originated from??
The answer comes from Pseudoskylax, the famous “”Greek”" historian 6-4 century BC who has given a very beautiful description of the people inhabiting Europe.
PSEUDOSKYLAX The description of EUROPE
| The barbarians called Lotus-eaters are the following: Hierastamnai, Boulinoi (Hyllinoi), coterminous with Boulinoi the Hylloi. And these say Hyllos son of Herakles settled them: and they are barbarians. And they occupy a peninsula a little lesser than the Peloponnese.And Boulinoi are an Illyric nation | Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ λωτοφάγοι καλούμενοι βάρβαροι οἵδε· Ἱεραστάμναι, Βουλινοὶ (Ὑλλινοί)· Βουλινῶν ὁμοτέρμονες Ὕλλοι. Οὗτοι δέ φασιν Ὕλλον τὸν Ἡρακλέους αὐτοὺς κατοικίσαι· εἰσὶ δὲ βάρβαροι. Κατοικοῦσι δὲ χερρόνησον ὀλίγωι ἐλάσσω τῆς Πελοποννήσου. Ἀπὸ δὲ <Χ>ερρονήσου <Σίσσα νῆσος> παρα<τείνει ὡ>ς τ<αι>νίον ὀρθόν· ταύτην παροικοῦσι Βουλινοί. Βουλινοὶ δ᾽ εἰσὶν ἔθνος Ἰλλυρικόν. |
Therefore the descendents of Heracles and the MAIN DORIAN TRIBE was an ILLYRIC TRIBE.
This means that the PROPER HELENES are an ILLYRIC NATION.
What happened to the Pelasgians then?
STRABO 009.001.007
That means that the Pelasgians of Greece (Dannaoi) were subdued by these Dorians(an Illyric people). Also it means that these Dorians who gave to Hellas(former Pelasgia) and the whole world the splendor of classical-“Hellenistic” period were just an ILLYRIC people who are called from Herodotus a branch of the Pelasgians:
Herodotus (I, 57-58.)
“The Hellenic race has never, since its first origin, changed its speech. This at least seems evident to me. It was a branch of the Pelasgic, which separated from the main body, and at first was scanty in numbers and of little power; but it gradually spread and increased to a multitude of nations, chiefly by the voluntary entrance into its ranks of numerous tribes of barbarians.
“The Hellenic race has never, since its first origin, changed its speech. This at least seems evident to me. It was a branch of the Pelasgic, which separated from the main body, and at first was scanty in numbers and of little power; but it gradually spread and increased to a multitude of nations, chiefly by the voluntary entrance into its ranks of numerous tribes of barbarians.
These “Helenes” who originated from Illyria and were an Illyric tribe, was a branch of Pelasgians, therefore the Illyro-Epirotic tribes were Pelasgians too. It brings us to a very important conclusion:
It has never happened a “”Greek”” migration, and the so called Hellenes was not any distinct indo-europian mayor tribe, but just an Pellasgo-Illyrian one.
These Helleno-Pelasgians of the continent subdued the Argivo-Dannaoi-Pelasgians of Hellas, retaliating for the Troyans, who were their brothers (originally from Dardania-an Illyric nation). They took vengeance for the Phrygian too (another nation related to Illyrians, originally the BRYGI, an Illyric tribe) who suffered the destruction of their land Phrygia(allie of Troyans) by Egypto-Dannaoi Pelasgians of Agamemnon.
There is nothing “Hellenic” not even in Ancient Hellas, it is just a mythical name borrowed from the “darkness” of antiquity, to create a new nation the modern Hellenes.
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