Pygmies in Literature

Pygmies in Literature

Pygmies have been in the literature of the Classical world all the way back to Homer. Along with pygmies came the trope of pygmies fighting cranes. Homer uses the battle between pygmies and cranes as a similie for the cries of the Trojans as they prepare the face the silent Greeks.

When the long hoarse cries of cranes sweep on against the sky and the great formations flee from winter's grim ungodly storms, flying in force, shrieking south to the Ocean gulfs, speeding blood and death to the Pygmy warriors, launching at daybreak savage battle down upon their heads. ¹(Iliad 3.3-7)

The idea of a war between pygmies and the cranes is very old. It is even believed to have come from a lost Egyptian folk tale.²(Kirk 265) This idea remained in the minds of the ancients for future writers to pick up on.

Another uncertainty concerning pygmies held over from ancient days was where exactly did they come from. Some writers believed them to be from Ethiopia, others from India. This is in part due to an anciet belief that India and Ethiopia were actually connected and that the Nile had its source in India.³(Vergil 298) Herodotus, however, was not confused and so he stated:

When they cane to these trees [south of the Sahara], they were met by men of stature smaller than common...they came to a city where all the people were of like stature with the escort, and black. ⁴(Herodotus 2.32)

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Pygmies have been in the literature of the Classical world all the way back to Homer. Along with pygmies came the trope of pygmies fighting cranes. Homer uses the battle between pygmies and cranes as a similie for the cries of the Trojans as they prepare the face the silent Greeks.

When the long hoarse cries of cranes sweep on against the sky and the great formations flee from winter's grim ungodly storms, flying in force, shrieking south to the Ocean gulfs, speeding blood and death to the Pygmy warriors, launching at daybreak savage battle down upon their heads. ¹(Iliad 3.3-7)

The idea of a war between pygmies and the cranes is very old. It is even believed to have come from a lost Egyptian folk tale.²(Kirk 265) This idea remained in the minds of the ancients for future writers to pick up on.

Another uncertainty concerning pygmies held over from ancient days was where exactly did they come from. Some writers believed them to be from Ethiopia, others from India. This is in part due to an anciet belief that India and Ethiopia were actually connected and that the Nile had its source in India.³(Vergil 298) Herodotus, however, was not confused and so he stated:

When they cane to these trees [south of the Sahara], they were met by men of stature smaller than common...they came to a city where all the people were of like stature with the escort, and black. ⁴(Herodotus 2.32)

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