JRR Tolkein wrote a lot about myths as well as making a subcreation of his own that has affected an entire half-century of enchanted readers. The conclusion he drew is that the great story of the sacrificial hero is utterly inborn and extant in the heart of a man, to be ignored or nurtured by free will. The free will that sets us apart from animals.
Your beloved apes have no sonnets, no symphonies, and...no heroic myths. But somehow, evos never notice the vital differences between those who are a little less than angels, and the beasts of the forests. Your very obsession with Phoenicians, whatevah, draws an irresistible attention to the abyss between soul and instinct.
Hey! I live in Phoenix! :-)
Cheers!