Elias wrote:Dear Albanian brother and reader,
Being a Greek of an ancient Arvanitan stock myself, I do not consider modern Albanians to be the enemies of Greece either.
Albanians feel the same way toward Greeks, but there are certain gray areas interpreting the past, that are stereotypically used by Greek politics in their advantage.
Moreover, our mislead Illyrian Greek brothers in the north today -that is, the Albanians of modern times, should return to Hellenism and to our common ancient Greek historic roots and traditions.
First, not everyone comprehends quite well what Hellenism represents today, including Hellenes themselves, but most importantly it's a little difficult not to differentiate the Modern Hellenism from that of the past, they are essentially quite different from each other.
What are those "historic roots and traditions" that you find in common? Is it because you belong to the Arvanitic stock, that makes you to be qualified as a Hellenic, or you are a Greek on the first place due to the fact you being an Orthodox Christian believer?
In Albania not every Albanian follow the same religion, majority of them are religionless, yet we are mostly ethnically Albanians hence not by nationality, however this rule doesn't apply in Greece: A Greek without Eastern Orthodox Christianity is not a Greek at all, but an ethnic mixture which is hard to explain.
Illyrios, was indeed the son of the Greek Theban King Kadmus and of the also Greek Princess Armonia,
According mythology and Cadmus by the way was Semitic
which used to be our common ancestors in past and in present times.
well, our COMMON not UNILATERAL GREEK
Hyllas, one of the many Greek children of Hercules, was an Illyrian King to the old Illyrian province of the ancient Greek Dalmatia.
It's a little unclear if he was generally Greek and specifically Illyrian or vice-versa
As a matter of fact, he was one of the many Illyrian Kings of the Bullinoi tribe.
province of the ancient Greek Dalmatia
This is correct, but why is this tribe placed close to Chaonia in today South Albania, by your fellow national who created this map?
The answer is if it was placed on the map correctly the Ancient Hellas which is geographically immediate according to the ancient author descriptions, would have set about somewhere in the north Albanian today, and not where you want it to be.
The same name Hyllas (or Hyllos or simply Yllas) we find among the Dorian Spartans of the same period, which is said to have once migrated to Lakonia and Sparta from the ancient Greek land, which used to be to the north of Epirus, and is quite probably closer to the land of the Illyrian Greeks, somewhere nearby in modern day Montenegro and the Dalmatian Coast.
Well, if you keep describing like this, it's reasonable to name them not as Illyrian Greeks but as Greek Illyrians.
The old Dorian and Illyrian Greek name Hyllas (or Yllas) means ‘the Sun or the signing star’ in ancient Greek and is coded in the Greek name Helios (i.e. the Sun) and in the quite common modern Greek name Elias (or Ilyas). Probably the same meaning is that of the ancient Greek name Illyrios, which is also related to the ”Sun” and to the ”Signing Star”
It seems to me identical to the Albanian word YLL depriving it from the parasite suffix. So is the word Ἥλιος, a derivative of the word elli/illi.
The ancient Illyrians were a people of Greek stock, possibly of Dorian-Greek or of west-Greek stock, similar to the Epirotans’ and to the Macedonians’, that is. The real Illyrians were a Greek tribe whose kingdom were based around what is now called the Montenegran region, and its capital city Vuthoe (or Butva, as it is known today) was an ancient Greek city, possibly a colony of the southern ancient Greeks and most probably of those of the Beotean Thebans, given that in Thebes Kadmus was a King for many years before he emmigrated to Illyria.
I would consider the other way around. According mythology the starting point of the genuine Hellenic nation were the Illyrian Bylliones or the Illyrian Yllos as a patriarch and eponym.
Albanian brothers and sisters, read history carefully and try not to alter historic facts. We whole-heartedly support you to your just and fair cause against the foreign and invading Serbs (and against the Slavs, in general), who took much of your historic land many centuries ago. We are on your side, to say the least. However, to become Illyrian again or simply to deserve that glorious and historic ancient Greek tribal name,
We are doing this but if I had to consider this not a hypocrisy, it is exactly the Hellenes and the Servians who practice the same methods toward Albanians, interpreting the myths as a convectional history basing their chauvinistic predatory ideologies to keep them weak, divided, assimilated and therefore politically uninfluential.
you may need to prove first to us and to the world today that you trully chose Hellenism and not Barbarism; that is, that you see modern Greeks as your true and historic ethnic and tribal brothers, not the other way around.
This is not what we choose to be but what we rightfully are, which beyond any prejudice is our ancient identity: pastoral and farmer autochthonous stock, with clear ethnical identity, worshiping the sun, stars and nature. Beside that, Hellenism never stood against Barbarians like you imagine it today: the civilisation as opposed to the primitivism, back then it was a religious struggle between respectively Hellenic heliotheistic monotheism and naturalistic polytheismm, hence a religious division not an ethnical one. It had nothing to do with cultural dominance, like we understand it today, but let me ask you something: " Do you really think the Modern Hellenism represent a culturally superior ideology, to attract the ambition of other nations to join around it ?"
Be assured of the fact that once more in the future the Hellenes will stand firm to your side and to your just cause for liberty and for freedom, as we have done many times in the past, as well. We once gave you protection and freedom with the Greek King Illyrios and his Illyrians, with Alexander and his Macedonian Hellenes, with Pyrrus and his Epirotan Greeks, and quite more recently and for many times also with Georgios Kastriotis (aka the ”Skenderbeis”) -i.e. the famous Greek Epirotan Prince of Epirus and of Albaniae and lately with Ioannis Lekkas (aka the ”Gjon Lekkas” or simply the ”Gioulekas), who fought the Turks many times for you.
We appreciate your approach but we prefer our heroes Scanderbeg and Gjoleka to be called Albanians, because they belong to Albanian heritage, history and identity. When it comes to the ancient names like Alexander, Phyrrus or Epirotans going so back in that remote past to hijack them, doesn't achieve anything, but exposes the desperate efforts to give an unmeritable identity to the Modern Greeks, taking it way from Albanians where it rightfully belongs.
Comradely Greetings to all Albanian brothers and sisters,
Elias Leon A.
Athens, Greece.
Greeting Elias, our Arvanitic brother. At the end I have to say to you something:" Do not forget there are many religions to worship the God, but there is only one blood and one language that mighty God gave to you and us: Arberorian "
