Talk:Pygmy (Greek mythology)

Mention in Herodotus' History

Hey everyone,

I noticed that there is a mention of a Pygmy people in Book 2 of Herodotus' History. He describes a story about a group of Nasamonians (an ancient North African Berber people) who crossed the Sahara and encountered short, dark-skinned people. I'll quote the relevant passage here:

"After journeying for many days over a wide extent of sand, they came at last to a plain where they observed trees growing; approaching them, and seeing fruit on them, they proceeded to gather it. While they were thus engaged, there came upon them some dwarfish men, under the middle height, who seized them and carried them off. The Nasamonians could not understand a word of their language, nor had they any acquaintance with the language of the Nasamonians. They were led across extensive marshes, and finally came to a town, where all the men were of the height of their conductors, and black-complexioned. A great river flowed by the town, running from west to east, and containing crocodiles."

I'd like to mention this in one of the articles about pygmies, either African Pygmies, Pygmy peoples or Pygmy (Greek mythology), but I'm not sure where and how to add it.

Any suggestions? — Zofthej (talk) 14:43, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

I'm not sure either, in part because, consulting the Perseus Project, I see that at 2.32.6 Herodotus says only σφι ἐπελθεῖν ἄνδρας μικρούς, μετρίων ἐλάσσονας ἀνδρῶν "they were met by little men of less than common stature"; he doesn't use the term "Pygmy." The note attributed to How and Wells suggests that Herodotus really is referring to the people later called African Pygmies; so perhaps the article on them is the place to mention Herodotus (with reference to commentators who think he was conveying the truth).

As far as I can tell, Herodotus uses the term "pygmy" only once, and then as a common adjective, at 3.37: a figure that the Phoenicians carry on the prows of their triremes πυγμαίου ̓ἀνδρὸς μίμησις ̓εστί "is in the likeness of a dwarf."

I myself have come to the present article because it is not clear to me that in Iliad 3.6 Homer is referring to a myth and not just to the metaphorical smallness of men who fight wars as the cranes fly overhead; but just to say this in the article could be original research. I may at least add the precise citation though. David Pierce (talk) 03:07, 21 March 2020 (UTC)