Albanian pederasty

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The practice of pederasty in Albania seems to have a long history, and continued to the 19th century. Lord Byron, in the course of his travels encountered this aspect of Albanian culture, and reflected it in his narrative poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Upon publication, however, the relevant stanzas were edited to obscure any pederastic references. The original, an Albanian song found after stanza 72 of Canto II, contained:

VI (original)
 I ask not the pleasures that riches supply,
 My Sabre shall win what the feeble must buy;
 Shall win the young minions with long-flowing hair,
 And many a maid from her mother shall tear. –

VII (original)
 I love the fair face of the maid, and the youth,
 Their caresses shall lull us, their voices shall soothe;
 Let them bring from their chambers their many-toned lyres,
 And sing us a song on the fall of their Sires.[1]

As late as the mid-1800s, Albanian young men between 16 and 24 seduced boys from about 12 to 17.[2] In the literature, the lover is called ashik and the beloved, dyllber.[3] A Geg married at the age of 24 or 25, and then he usually, but not always, gave up boy-love. The following passage is reported by Hahn as the actual language used to him by a Geg Albanian:[4]

The lover's feeling for the boy is pure as sunshine. It places the beloved on the same pedestal as a saint. It is the highest and most exalted passion of which the human breast is capable. The sight of a beautiful youth awakens astonishment in the lover, and opens the door of his heart to the delight which the contemplation of this loveliness affords. Love takes possession of him so completely that all his thought and feeling goes out in it. If he finds himself in the presence of the beloved, he rests absorbed in gazing on him. Absent, he thinks of nought but him. If the beloved unexpectedly appears, he falls into confusion, changes color, turns alternately pale and red. His heart beats faster and impedes his breathing. He has ears and eyes only for the beloved. He shuns touching him with the hand, kisses him only on the forehead, sings his praise in verse, a woman's never.

Hahn documents a number of Geg pederastic poems, such as the following:

S'gjen ndonji zok qi kendon,
 Te gjithe jane e po qajne.
 I mjeri ashik sa fort po duron,
 Prej dyllberit po e dajne.

 Dilli, qi len ne mengjes
 Si ti, o djal, kur me zallandise
 Kur me kthen syt' e zes'
 Shpirt ment prej kres' mi gremise.


 You'll find no bird that sings,
 They all just sit and cry.
 The poor lover, how strongly he endures,
 [For] they separate him from his beloved.

The sun, when it rises in the morning,
 Is like you, boy, when you are near me.
 When your dark eye turns upon me,
 It drives my reason from my head.

— Neçín of Përmet, son of Ali Pasha Frakulli, mid 19th century; tr. Nicholas Zymaris

Prof. Weigand, who knew the Albanians well, assured Bethe[5] that the relations described by Hahn are really sexual, although tempered by idealism. A German scholar who travelled in Albania some years ago, also, assured Näcke[6] that he could fully confirm Hahn's statements, and that, though it was difficult to speak positively, he doubted whether these relationships were purely ideal. While most prevalent among the Moslems, they are also found among the Christians, and receive the blessing of the priest in church in a ceremony known as vellameria, analogous to the Greek adelphopoiia. Jealousy is frequently aroused, the same writer remarks, and even murder may be committed on account of a boy.[7] The intensity of the feelings is reflected in native pederastic poetry such as the following verse.

Të kálli Hasán káfpeja
 Të mos bánish Bajrám,
 Se kështú qen’ka bes’e feja.

 Núri yt, o Suleimán!
 Bukurínë t’a dha Zot yn,
 Mos ubán makrúr.
 Tyj, o cun, të púthça syt’,
 E t’udjéksha nur.


 Hasan, you slanderous whore
 Who won’t celebrate Bairam,
 For thus they were from honor and faith.

 Your radiance, O Suleiman!
 Your beauty was given you by our Lord,
 Be not so proud.
 O that I may kiss your eyes, boy,
 And burn up in your radiance.

— Neçín of Përmet; tr. Nicholas Zymaris

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The International Byron Society: Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage Cantos I and II, uncensored version, including notes [1]
  2. ^ J.G. von Hahn, Albanische Studien, 1854, p.166
  3. ^ http://www.eskimo.com/~nickz/orth_gay.txt
  4. ^ The Documents cited here originate in permet, which is not a Gheg city at all, but is Southern Albanian, therefore the Gheg element should be erased from the list.
  5. ^ Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 1907, p. 475
  6. ^ Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen, vol. ix, 1908, p. 327
  7. ^ Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Sexual Inversion, Ch.I
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