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{{short description|Illyrian people}}
The '''Enchelei'''{{efn|name=fn1|The Enchelei are alternatively known as ''Encheleans'',<ref name="ReferenceA">Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Library]]'', 3.5.4. "As the Encheleans were being attacked by the Illyrians, the god declared by an oracle that they would get the better of the Illyrians if they had Cadmus and Harmonia as their leaders. They believed him, and made them their leaders against the Illyrians, and got the better of them. And Cadmus reigned over the Illyrians, and a son Illyrius was born to him."</ref> ''Enchelii/Encheleioi'',<ref name=Strabo>Strabo, Geography (ed. H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A.), book 7, chapter 7: "...had established their sway, and Enchelii, who are also called Sesarethii. Then come the Lyncestæ, the territory Deuriopus, Pelagonia-Tripolitis..."</ref> ''Enchelanes/Engelanes'',{{sfn|Šašel Kos|1993|p=119}} ''Encheleae''.}} were an ancient people that lived around the [[Drin (river)|River Drin]] and the region of [[Lake Shkodra]] and [[Lake Ohrid]],{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|pp=98–99}}{{sfn|Hammond|1982|p=265}}{{sfn|Dedvukaj|2023|p=7}} in modern-day [[Albania]], [[Montenegro]], and [[North Macedonia]]. They are one of the oldest known peoples of the eastern shore of the [[Adriatic Sea]].{{sfn|Dzino|2014|p=53}} In ancient sources they sometimes appear as an ethnic group distinct from the [[Illyrians]], but they are mostly mentioned as one of the Illyrian tribes.<ref>{{harvnb|Katičić|1977|p=81|ps=: "Bald ist es, als verträten sie in ältester Zeit für die Griechen das illyrische Volkstum schlechthin, manchmal erscheinen sie als eigene Volksgruppe n eben den Illy riern , meistens aber werden sie als einer unter den illyrischen Stämmen erwähnt."}}</ref> They held a central position in the earlier phase of Illyrian history.{{sfn|Katičić|1977|p=5}} In ancient Greek literature they are linked with the end of the mythical narrative of [[Cadmus]] and [[Harmonia]], a tradition deeply rooted among the Illyrian peoples.{{sfn|Katičić|1977|p=81|ps=: an sie knüpft sich der Mythos vom Ende des Kadmos und der Harmonia. Bald ist es, als verträten sie in ältester Zeit für die Griechen das illyrische Volkstum schlechthin,}}{{sfn|Šašel Kos|1993|p=113}}{{sfn|Dedvukaj|2023|p=7}}
The name '''Sesarethii''' was used by [[Strabo]] as an alternative name for the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Ohrid. Mentioned for the first time by [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] in the 6th century BC, the name ''Sesarethii/Sesarethioi'' is also considered a variant of ''[[Dassaretii|Dassaretii/Dassaretioi]]'',{{sfn|Theodossiev|1998|p=348}} an Illyrian tribe that has been recorded since Roman times and that is attested in coinage and inscriptions found around lake Ohrid. The weakening of the kingdom of the Enchelei presumably led to Enchelei's assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 6th–5th centuries BC, marking the arising of the Dassaretii, who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area.{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2004|p=500}}{{sfn|Castiglioni|2010|pp=93–95}} During Classical and Hellenistic antiquity the Enchelei were more a historical memory than a contemporary group.{{sfn|Hatzopoulos|1997|p=145|ps=: "The Illyrian origins of the Encheleis, too, are debatable, but the question is of rather academic character, since in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, there were rather a historical memory than a contemporary ethnic group."}}
The region inhabited by the Enchelei was known as '''Enchele'''.<ref>Robin Hard, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology'', Routledge, 2004, p. 643 n. 53.</ref> Their neighbors to the west were the [[Taulantii]], to the north the [[Autariatae]], to the north-east the [[Dardani]], to the south-east the [[Paeones]], and to the south the [[Dexaroi]].{{sfn|Hammond|1982|p=284}}{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|pp=93, 96, 98, 99}}
== Name ==
===Attestation and variants===
The Enchelei are mentioned for the first time by [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] in the 6th century BC.{{sfn|Castiglioni|2007|p=15}} A variant in ancient Greek literature is {{lang|grc|Εγχελάνες}} ''Enchelanes'', which bears the suffix ''-anes'' typical in the [[Ancient_Greek_dialects#Classification|western Greek dialects]] spoken by the Greek neighbors of the Enchelei. As such this makes it a native form of the name compared to ''Enchelei'' which has been influenced by [[Ionic Greek]].{{sfn|Šašel Kos|1993|p=118}} In [[Polybius]] the word is written with a voiceless aspirate ''kh'', ''Enchelanes'', while in [[Mnaseas]] it was replaced with a voiced ''ng'', ''Engelanes'', the latter being a typical feature of the [[Ancient Macedonian language|Ancient Macedonian]] and northern [[Paleo-Balkan languages]].{{sfn|Šašel Kos|1993|p=119}}
===Etymology===
The name ''Enchelei'' is thought to have meant "eel people", as in [[Ancient Greek]] [[wikt:ἔγχελυς|ἔγχελυς]] means "eel", like in modern [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''ngjalë'' "eel" < [[Illyrian language|Illyrian]] ''*engella'', possibly cognates to {{langx|la|[[wikt:anguilla|anguilla]]}} "eel" and {{langx|lt|ungurỹs}} "eel".{{sfn|Dedvukaj|2023|p=7}} The connection with Albanian ''[[wikt:ngjalë|ngjalë]]'' makes it possible that the name ''Enchele'' was derived from the [[Illyrian languages|Illyrian]] term for eels, which may have been anciently related to Greek and simply adjusted to the Greek pronunciation.{{sfn|Šašel Kos|1993|p=119}} An [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] pre-form of the root still can not be reconstructed. For this reason, [[Robert S. P. Beekes]] considers it Pre-Greek, which matches the timeframe of an early Illyrian origin of the ethnonym through the legendary story of [[Cadmus]] and the Enchelei.{{sfn|Dedvukaj|2023|p=7}}
===Other names===
An alternative name for the Enchelei in the lakeland area of Ohrid is recorded by [[Strabo]] as ''Sesarethii''. The name ''Sesarethioi'' is mentioned for the first time by [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] in the 6th century BC. Hecataeus reported that the tribe of [[Chelidonioi]] ({{Lang|grc|Χελιδόνιοι}}) lived to the north of the Sesarethioi ({{Lang|grc|Σεσαρήθιοι}}). Furthermore he reports that [[Sesarethus|Sesarethos]] ({{Lang|grc|Σεσάρηθος}}) was a [[Taulantii|Taulantian]] city, with ''Sesarethioi'' as its ''ethnicon''.{{sfn|Eichner|2004|p=97}} The name ''Sesarethii/Sesarethioi'' is also considered a variant of ''[[Dassaretii|Dassaretii/Dassaretioi]]'', an Illyrian tribe that has been recorded since Roman times and that is attested in coinage and inscriptions found around lake Ohrid.{{sfn|Theodossiev|1998|p=348}}
== Mythological accounts ==
A legend widespread in antiquity reports that [[Cadmus]] – a [[Phoenicia]]n prince who became king of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and a [[Boeotians|Boeotian]] and Enchelean figure{{sfn|Katičić|1977|p=5}}{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=98|ps=: "This was the territory of the Enchelei, whose rulers claimed descent from the hero Cadmus".}}{{sfn|Winnifrith|2002|p=46|ps=: "The Enchelidae, an Illyrian tribe, lived near Lake Ohrid, but a legend associated them and their founder, the Greek hero Cadmus"}}{{sfn|Castiglioni|2010|p=41|ps=: Cette imagerie aurait eu pour fonction d’établir, en vertu des ressemblances avec l’icône – familière au public athénien – d’Athéna et d’Erichthonios, un parallélisme entre le cycle d’Erichthonios et la représentation de la fondation cadméenne de Thèbes, en se servant de la rhétorique de l’autochtonie. Ce serpent thébain inoffensif et placide aurait été assimilé par les Athéniens du Ve siècle au paisible gardien autochtone de l’acropole de Thèbes, le serpent d’Arès, dont le meurtre aurait
permis au barbare Cadmos son installation sur le sol de Thèbes, usurpé et souillé par un crime.}} –  with his wife  [[Harmonia]] arrived among the Enchelei and helped them build many towns on the shores of [[Lake Ohrid]] and [[Lake Shkodra]], among them Lychnidus ([[Ohrid]]) and Bouthoe ([[Budva]]).{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=99}} As the legend says it, at that time the Enchele were at war with neighboring Illyrian tribes and Cadmus after orders from the Oracle became leader of the people and came to their aid. After the victory against the Illyrians, the Enchele chose [[Cadmus]] as their king.<ref>[http://www.maicar.com/GML/Cadmus.html Cadmus]: "After having many children, Cadmus and Harmonia left Thebes in order to defend the Encheleans, a people living in southern Illyria, which is the region north of Epirus, and there defeated the Illyrian intruders..."</ref>
A mythological tradition reported by [[Appian]] (2nd century AD) tells that the Enchelei were among the South-[[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribes that took their names from the first generation of the descendants of [[Illyrius]], the eponymous ancestor of all the [[List of ancient Illyrian peoples and tribes|Illyrian peoples]].{{sfn|Papazoglu|1978|p=213|ps=: "The tribes which took their names from the first generation of Illyrius' descendants belong mostly to the group of the so-called South-Illyrian tribes: the Taulantii, the Parthini, the Enchelei, the Dassaretii".}}{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2004|p=502}}{{sfn|Mesihović|Šačić|2015|pp=23–24}} According to Appian's account the progenitor to the Enchele was [[Encheleus]], a son of Illyrius.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=92}} <ref>{{harvnb|Grimal|Maxwell-Hyslop|1996|p=230}}; {{harvnb|Apollodorus|Hard|1999|p=103 (Book III, 5.4)}}.</ref>
According to a legendary account reported by [[Polybius]], cited by [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], after the disappearance of [[Amphiaraus]] during the siege of Thebes, his carioteer Baton settled in Illyria, near the country of the Enchelei.{{sfn|Cabanes|2008|pp=157–158}}
== History ==
[[File:Illyrians in the 7th-4th centuries BC.png|thumb|250px|right|Illyrian tribes in the 7th–4th centuries BCE.]]
In southern [[Illyria]] organized states were formed earlier than in other areas of  this region. The oldest known state in the region which can be discussed about from ancient sources is that of the Encheli.{{sfn|Stipčević|1989|p=34}}{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2004|p=500}} The height of the Enchelean state was from the 8th–7th centuries BC, but the kingdom fell from dominant power around the 6th century BC.{{sfn|Stipčević|1989|p=34}} It seems that the weakening of the kingdom of Enchelae resulted in their assimilation and inclusion into a newly established Illyrian realm at the latest in the 6th–5th century BC, marking the arising of the [[Dassareti]], who appear to have replaced the Enchelei in the lakeland area of [[Lake Ohrid|Ohrid]] and [[Lake Prespa|Prespa]].{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2004|p=500}}{{sfn|Castiglioni|2010|pp=93–95}} While the Enchelean area of river [[Drin (river)|Drilon]] and lake [[Lake Shkodra|Shkodra]] in northern Albania saw in later times the emergence of the [[Labeates]], an Illyrian tribe who retained their distinct identity until the early Roman period.{{sfn|Dedvukaj|2023|p=7}} As reported in a fragment of [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] (around 6th century BC), Enchelei neighbored the [[Dexaroi]], a [[Chaonian]] tribe.{{sfn|Bogdani|2012|pp=364–365}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Angeli |first1=Maria Gabriella Bertinelli |last2=Donati |first2=Angela |title=Le vie della storia: migrazioni di popoli, viaggi di individui, circolazione di idee nel Mediterraneo antico : atti del II Incontro internazionale di storia antica (Genova 6-8 ottobre 2004) |date=2006 |publisher=G. Bretschneider |isbn=978-88-7689-230-1 |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hfl_AAAAMAAJ |language=it |quote=the Enchelei who had lived north of the Chaones and along Lake Lychni- dus}}</ref>{{sfn|Šašel Kos|2004|p=276}}
The Enchelei were often at war with the northern Greeks. From written sources from Greek writers such as [[Herodotus]], the Enchelean army is even recorded attacking the temple of [[Delphi]].{{sfn|Šašel Kos|1993|p=118}} [[Justin (historian)|Justin]] (2nd century AD) reports that at a time when the ruler of Macedonia was the infant [[Aeropus I of Macedon|Aeropus I]] (around 6th century BC), the Illyrians attacked successfully Macedonia until the infant ruler was brought to a battle by his Macedonian subjects, benefitting from his presence and avenging their initial defeat against the Illyrians. The name of the specific Illyrian tribe or group of tribes that attacked Macedonia is not reported in Justin's account, but it has been suggested that they would have been either the Enchelei, whose realm was centered at that time in the area of [[Ohrid|Lake Lychnidus]], or the [[Taulantii]], who were based farther west, in the coastal area within and around [[Epidamnos]] and [[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]].{{sfn|Greenwalt|2011|p=281}} The Illyrian raids against the [[Argead dynasty|Argeads]] who were based at [[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aegae]] indicate that Illyrian attacks also involved the [[Upper Macedonia]]n regions of [[Lynkestis]], [[Orestis (region)|Orestis]] and [[Eordaea]], [[Elimea]], and [[Tymphaea]], as they were located between Illyrian territory and Argead lands.{{sfn|Greenwalt|2011|pp=281–282}}
== See also ==
{{commons|Illyria & Illyrians}}
*[[List of ancient Illyrian peoples and tribes]]
*[[List of ancient tribes in Illyria]]
== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
<!-- A -->
*{{citation|last1=Apollodorus|last2=Hard|first2=Robin|title=The Library of Greek Mythology|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=0-19-283924-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZ6uuHEBE2wC}}
<!-- B -->
*{{cite book|last=Bogdani|first=Julian|chapter=Genesi urbana e organizzazione del territorio nella Caonia di età classica ed ellenistica|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/4877194|pages=355–395|title=Il territorio di Phoinike in Caonia: archeologia del paesaggio in Albania meridionale|editor=Enrico Giorgi, Julian Bogdani|publisher=Ante Quem|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nD2umAEACAAJ|isbn=9788878490796}}
<!-- C -->
*{{cite book|last=Cabanes|first=Pierre|editor-last=Tsetskhladze|editor-first=Gocha R.|editor-link=Gocha R. Tsetskhladze|title=Greek Colonisation: An Account of Greek Colonies and Other Settlements Overseas|volume=2|chapter=Greek Colonisation in the Adriatic|pages=155–186|publisher=Brill|year=2008|isbn=9789047442448|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bO55DwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book|last=Castiglioni|first=Maria Paola|title=Religion and Power in Europe: Conflict and Convergence|chapter=Genealogical Myth and Political Propaganda in Antiquity: the Re-Use of Greek Myths from Dionysius to Augustus|editor-last=Carvalho|editor-first=Joaquim|publisher=Edizioni Plus|year=2007|isbn=978-88-8492-464-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jR98-Ata0CkC}}
*{{cite book|last=Castiglioni|first=Maria Paola|title=Cadmos-serpent en Illyrie: itinéraire d'un héros civilisateur|year=2010|publisher=Edizioni Plus|language=fr|isbn=9788884927422}}
<!-- E -->
*{{cite book|last=Eichner|first=Heiner|chapter=Illyrisch – die unbekannte Sprache|title=Die Illyrer. Archäologische Funde des 1. Vorchristlichen Jahrtausends aus Albanien|editor-last=Eichner|editor-first=Heiner|publisher=Museum für Urgeschichte Asparn an der Zaya|year=2004|isbn=3-85460-215-4|pages=92–117|language=de}}
*{{cite book|last=Erdkamp|first=Paul|title=Hunger and the sword: warfare and food supply in Roman Republican wars (264-30 B.C.)|volume=20|series=Dutch monographs on ancient history and archaeology|publisher=Gieben|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SsMAQAAMAAJ|isbn=978-90-50-63608-7}}
<!-- G -->
*{{cite book|last=Greenwalt|first=William S.|editor-last1=Roisman|editor-first1=Joseph|editor-last2=Worthington|editor-first2=Ian|title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|chapter=Macedonia, Illyria and Epirus|pages=279–305|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC|year=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5163-7}}
*{{citation|last1=Grimal|first1=Pierre|last2=Maxwell-Hyslop|first2=A. R.|title=The Dictionary of Classical Mythology|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=1996|isbn=0-631-20102-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UtYQPW95-FsC}}
<!-- D -->
*{{cite journal|last=Dedvukaj|first=Lindon|title=Linguistic evidence for the Indo-European and Albanian origin of Aphrodite|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5500|volume=8|number=1|year=2023|page=5500 |s2cid=258381736 |doi-access=free}}
*{{cite journal|last=Dzino|first=Danijel|title='Illyrians' in ancient ethnographic discourse|journal=Dialogues d'histoire ancienne|volume=40|number=2|year=2014|pages=45–65|doi=10.3917/dha.402.0045|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_2014_num_40_2_3944}}
<!-- H -->
*{{cite book|last=Hammond|first=N. G. L.|chapter=Illyris, Epirus and Macedonia|title=The Cambridge Ancient History: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries B.C.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=III (part 3)|year=1982|edition=2|editor1=John Boardman|editor2=N. G. L. Hammond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qAoqP4g1fEC|isbn=0521234476}}
*{{cite book|last=Hatzopoulos|first=M. B.|chapter=The Borders of Hellenism in Epirus during Antiquity|editor=M. V. Sakellariou|title=Ηπειρος: 4000 χρόνια ελληνικής ιστορίας και πολιτισμού|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Ekdotike Athenon|isbn=9789602133712}}
<!-- K -->
*{{cite journal|last=Katičić|first=Radoslav|title=Enhelejci (Die Encheleer)|trans-title=The Encheleans|journal=Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja|issue=15|year=1977|pages=5–82}}
<!-- L -->
*{{cite book|last1=Lippert|first1=Andreas|last2=Matzinger|first2=Joachim|title=Die Illyrer: Geschichte, Archäologie und Sprache|publisher=Kohlhammer Verlag|year=2021|isbn=9783170377103|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0N9SEAAAQBAJ}}
<!-- M -->
*{{cite book|last1=Mesihović|first1=Salmedin|author-link1=Salmedin Mesihović|last2=Šačić|first2=Amra|title=Historija Ilira|trans-title=History of Illyrians|publisher=Univerzitet u Sarajevu [University of Sarajevo]|place=Sarajevo|year=2015|language=bs|isbn=978-9958-600-65-4}}
<!-- P -->
*{{Cite book|last=Papazoglu|first=Fanula|author-link=Fanula Papazoglu|title=The Central Balkan Tribes in pre-Roman Times: Triballi, Autariatae, Dardanians, Scordisci and Moesians|year=1978|location=Amsterdam|publisher=Hakkert|isbn=9789025607937|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Up4JAQAAIAAJ}}
<!-- S -->
*{{cite journal|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|title=Cadmus and Harmonia in Illyria|journal=Arheološki Vestnik|volume=44|year=1993|pages=113–136}}
*{{cite book|last=Šašel Kos|first=Marjeta|chapter=Mythological stories concerning Illyria and its name|title=L'Illyrie méridionale et l'Epire dans l'Antiquité|editor1=P. Cabanes|editor2=J.-L. Lamboley|volume=4|year=2004|pages=493–504}}
*{{cite book|last=Stipčević|first=Aleksandar|title=Iliri: povijest, život, kultura|trans-title=The Illyrians: history and culture|year=1989|publisher=Školska knjiga|language=hr|isbn=9788603991062|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56ZmAAAAMAAJ}}
<!-- T -->
*{{cite journal|last=Theodossiev|first=Nikola|title=The dead with golden faces: Dasaretian, Pelagonian, Mygdonian and Boeotian funeral masks|journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology|volume=17|issue=3|pages=345–367|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=1998|doi=10.1111/1468-0092.00067}}
<!-- W -->
*{{Cite book|last=Wilkes|first=John J.|author-link=J. J. Wilkes|title=The Illyrians|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=1992|isbn=0-631-19807-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Nv6SPRKqs8C}}
*{{cite book|last=Winnifrith|first=Tom|title=Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania|date=2002|publisher=Duckworth|isbn=978-0-7156-3201-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dkRoAAAAMAAJ}}
{{ref end}}
{{Illyrians}}
{{Albania topics}}
[[Category:Illyrian tribes]]
[[Category:Illyrian Albania]]
[[Category:Illyrian Montenegro]]
[[Category:Illyrian North Macedonia]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in Albania]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in Montenegro]]
[[Category:Ancient tribes in North Macedonia]]