Chapter 6

By [Greek: andrasi pygmaioisi] therefore, which is the Passage upon which they have grounded all their fabulous Relations of the _Pygmies_, why may not _Homer_ mean only _Pygmies_ or _Apes_ like _Men_. Such an Expression is very allowable in a _Poet_, and is elegant and significant, especially since there is so good a Foundation in Nature for him to use it, as we have already seen, in the _Anatomy of the Orang-Outang_. Nor is a _Poet_ tied to that strictness of Expression, as an _Historian_ or _Philosopher_; he has the liberty of pleasing the Reader's Phancy, by Pictures and Representations of his own. If there be a becoming likeness, 'tis all that he is accountable for. I might therefore here make the same _Apology_ for him, as _Strabo_[A] do's on another account for his _Geography_, [Greek: ou gar kat' agnoian ton topikon legetai, all' haedonaes kai terpseos charin]. That he said it, not thro' Ignorance, but to please and delight: Or, as in another place he expresses himself,[B] [Greek: ou gar kat' agnoian taes istorias hypolaepteon genesthai touto, alla tragodias charin]. _Homer_ did not make this slip thro' Ignorance of the true _History_, but for the Beauty of his _Poem_. So that tho' he calls them _Men Pygmies_, yet he may mean no more by it, than that they were like _Men_. As to his Purpose, 'twill serve altogether as well, whether this bloody Battle be fought between the _Cranes_ and _Pygmæan Men_, or the _Cranes_ and _Apes_, which from their Stature he calls _Pygmies_, and from their shape _Men_; provided that when the _Cranes_ go to engage, they make a mighty terrible noise, and clang enough to fright these little _Wights_ their mortal Enemies. To have called them only _Apes_, had been flat and low, and lessened the grandieur of the Battle. But this _Periphrasis_ of them, [Greek: andres pygmaioi], raises the Reader's Phancy, and surprises him, and is more becoming the Language of an Heroic Poem.

[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 1. p.m. 25.]

[Footnote B: _Strabo_ ibid. p.m. 30.]

But how came the _Cranes_ and _Pygmies_ to fall out? What may be the Cause of this Mortal Feud, and constant War between them? For _Brutes_, like _Men_, don't war upon one another, to raise and encrease their Glory, or to enlarge their Empire. Unless I can acquit my self herein, and assign some probable Cause hereof, I may incur the same Censure as _Strabo_[A] passed on several of the _Indian Historians_, [Greek: enekainisan de kai taen 'Omaerikaen ton Pygmaion geranomachin trispithameis eipontes], for reviewing the _Homerical_ Fight of the _Cranes_ and _Pygmies_, which he looks upon only as a fiction of the Poet. But this had been very unbecoming _Homer_ to take a _Simile_ (which is designed for illustration) from what had no Foundation in Nature. His _Betrachomyomachia_, 'tis true, was a meer Invention, and never otherwise esteemed: But his _Geranomachia_ hath all the likelyhood of a true Story. And therefore I shall enquire now what may be the just Occasion of this Quarrel.

[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 2. p.m. 48.]

_Athenæus_[A] out of _Philochorus_, and so likewise _Ælian_[B], tell us a Story, That in the Nation of the _Pygmies_ the Male-line failing, one _Gerana_ was the Queen; a Woman of an admired Beauty, and whom the Citizens worshipped as a Goddess; but she became so vain and proud, as to prefer her own, before the Beauty of all the other Goddesses, at which they grew enraged; and to punish her for her Insolence, Athenæus tells us that it was _Diana_, but _Ælian_ saith 'twas _Juno_ that transformed her into a _Crane_, and made her an Enemy to the _Pygmies_ that worshipped her before. But since they are not agreed which Goddess 'twas, I shall let this pass.

[Footnote A: _Athenæi Deipnosoph_. lib. 9 p.m. 393.]

[Footnote B: _Ælian. Hist. Animal_. lib. 15. cap. 29.]

_Pomponius Mela_ will have it, and I think some others, that these cruel Engagements use to happen, upon the _Cranes_ coming to devour the _Corn_ the _Pygmies_ had sowed; and that at last they became so victorious, as not only to destroy their Corn, but them also: For he tells us,[A] _Fuere interiùs Pygmæi, minutum genus, & quod pro satis frugibus contra Grues dimicando, defecit._ This may seem a reasonable Cause of a Quarrel; but it not being certain that the _Pygmies_ used to sow _Corn_, I will not insist on this neither.

[Footnote A: _Pomp. Mela de situ Orbis_, lib. 3. cap. 8.]

Now what seems most likely to me, is the account that _Pliny_ out of _Megasthenes_, and _Strabo_ from _Onesicritus_ give us; and, provided I be not obliged to believe or justifie _all_ that they say, I could rest satisfied in great part of their Relation: For _Pliny_[B] tells us, _Veris tempore universo agmine ad mare descendere, & Ova, Pullosque earum Alitum consumere_: That in the Spring-time the whole drove of the _Pygmies_ go down to the Sea side, to devour the _Cranes_ Eggs and their young Ones. So likewise _Onesicritus_,[B] [Greek: Pros de tous trispithamous polemon einai tais Geranois (hon kai Homaeron daeloun) kai tois Perdixin, ous chaenomegetheis einai; toutous d' eklegein auton ta oa, kai phtheirein; ekei gar ootokein tas Geranous; dioper maedamou maed' oa euriskesthai Geranon, maet' oun neottia;] i.e. _That there is a fight between the_ Pygmies _and the_ Cranes (_as_ Homer _relates_) _and the_ Partridges _which are as big as_ Geese; _for these_ Pygmies _gather up their Eggs, and destroy them; the_ Cranes _laying their Eggs there; and neither their Eggs, nor their Nests, being to be found any where else_. 'Tis plain therefore from them, that the Quarrel is not out of any _Antipathy_ the _Pygmies_ have to the _Cranes_, but out of love to their own Bellies. But the _Cranes_ finding their Nests to be robb'd, and their young Ones prey'd on by these Invaders, no wonder that they should so sharply engage them; and the least they could do, was to fight to the utmost so mortal an Enemy. Hence, no doubt, many a bloody Battle happens, with various success to the Combatants; sometimes with great slaughter of the _long-necked Squadron_; sometimes with great effusion of _Pygmæan_ blood. And this may well enough, in a _Poet's_ phancy, be magnified, and represented as a dreadful War; and no doubt of it, were one a _Spectator_ of it, 'twould be diverting enough.

[Footnote A: _Plinij. Hist. Nat._ lib. 7. cap. 2. p.m. 13.]

[Footnote B: _Strab. Geograph_. lib. 15. pag. 489.]

_Si videas hoc Gentibus in nostris, risu quatiere: sed illic, Quanquam eadem assiduè spectantur Prælia, ridet Nemo, ubi tota cohors pede non est altior uno_.[A]

[Footnote A: _Juvenal. Satyr_. 13 vers. 170.]

This Account therefore of these Campaigns renewed every year on this Provocation between the _Cranes_ and the _Pygmies_, contains nothing but what a cautious Man may believe; and _Homer's Simile_ in likening the great shouts of the _Trojans_ to the Noise of the _Cranes_, and the Silence of the _Greeks_ to that of the _Pygmies_, is very admirable and delightful. For _Aristotle_[B] tells us, That the _Cranes_, to avoid the hardships of the Winter, take a Flight out of _Scythia_ to the _Lakes_ about the _Nile_, where the _Pygmies_ live, and where 'tis very likely the _Cranes_ may lay their Eggs and breed, before they return. But these rude _Pygmies_ making too bold with them, what could the _Cranes_ do less for preserving their Off-spring than fight them; or at least by their mighty Noise, make a shew as if they would. This is but what we may observe in all other Birds. And thus far I think our _Geranomachia_ or _Pygmæomachia_ looks like a true Story; and there is nothing in _Homer_ about it, but what is credible. He only expresses himself, as a _Poet_ should do; and if Readers will mistake his meaning, 'tis not his fault.

[Footnote B: _Aristotle. Hist. Animal_. lib. 8. cap. 15. Edit. Scalig.]

'Tis not therefore the _Poet_ that is to be blamed, tho' they would father it all on him; but the fabulous _Historians_ in after Ages, who have so odly drest up this Story by their fantastical Inventions, that there is no knowing the truth, till one hath pull'd off those Masks and Visages, wherewith they have disguised it. For tho' I can believe _Homer_, that there is a fight between the _Cranes_ and _Pygmies_, yet I think I am no ways obliged to imagine, that when the _Pygmies_ go to these Campaigns to fight the _Cranes_, that they ride upon _Partridges_, as _Athenæas_ from _Basilis_ an _Indian Historian_ tells us; for, saith he,[A] [Greek: Basilis de en toi deuteroi ton Indikon, oi mikroi, phaesin, andres oi tais Geranois diapolemountes Perdixin ochaemati chrontai;]. For presently afterwards he tells us from _Menecles_, that the _Pygmies_ not only fight the _Cranes_, but the _Partridges_ too, [Greek: Meneklaes de en protae taes synagogaes oi pygmaioi, phaesi, tois perdixi, kai tais Geranois polemousi]. This I could more readily agree to, because _Onesicritus_, as I have quoted him already confirms it; and gives us the same reason for this as for fighting the _Cranes_, because they rob their Nests. But whether these _Partridges_ are as big as _Geese_, I leave as a _Quære_.

[Footnote A: _Athenæi Deipnesoph_. lib. p. 9. m. 390.]

_Megasthenes_ methinks in _Pliny_ mounts the _Pygmies_ for this expedition much better, for he sets them not on a _Pegasus_ or _Partridges_, but on _Rams_ and _Goats_: _Fama est_ (saith _Pliny[A]) insedentes Arietum Caprarumque dorsis, armatis sagittis, veris tempore universo agmine ad mare descendere_. And _Onesicritus_ in Strabo tells us, That a _Crane_ has been often observed to fly from those parts with a brass Sword fixt in him, [Greek: pleistakis d' ekpiptein geranon chalkaen echousan akida apo ton ekeithen plaegmaton.][B] But whether the _Pygmies_ do wear Swords, may be doubted. 'Tis true, _Ctesias_ tells us,[C] That the _King_ of _India_ every fifth year sends fifty Thousand Swords, besides abundance of other Weapons, to the Nation of the _Cynocephali_, (a fort of _Monkeys_, as I shall shew) that live in those Countreys, but higher up in the Mountains: But he makes no mention of any such Presents to the poor _Pygmies_; tho' he assures us, that no less than three Thousand of these _Pygmies_ are the _Kings_ constant Guards: But withal tells us, that they are excellent _Archers_, and so perhaps by dispatching their Enemies at a distance, they may have no need of such Weapons to lye dangling by their sides. I may therefore be mistaken in rendering [Greek: akida] a Sword; it may be any other sharp pointed Instrument or Weapon, and upon second Thoughts, shall suppose it a sort of Arrow these cunning _Archers_ use in these Engagements.

[Footnote A: _Plinij. Nat. Hist._ lib. 7. cap. 2. p. 13.]

[Footnote B: _Strabo Geograph._ lib. 15. p. 489.]

[Footnote C: _Vide Photij. Biblioth._]

These, and a hundred such ridiculous _Fables_, have the _Historians_ invented of the _Pygmies_, that I can't but be of _Strabo_'s mind,[A] [Greek: Rhadion d' an tis Haesiodio, kai Homaeroi pisteuseien haeroologousi, kai tois tragikois poiaetais, hae Ktaesiai te kai Haerodotoi, kai Hellanikoi, kai allois toioutois;] i.e. _That one may sooner believe_ Hesiod, _and_ Homer, _and the_ Tragick Poets _speaking of their_ Hero's, _than_ Ctesias _and_ Herodotus _and_ Hellanicus _and such like_. So ill an Opinion had _Strabo_ of the _Indian Historians_ in general, that he censures them _all_ as fabulous;[B] [Greek: Hapantes men toinun hoi peri taes Indikaes grapsantes hos epi to poly pseudologoi gegonasi kath' hyperbolaen de Daeimachos; ta de deutera legei Megasthenaes, Onaesikritos te kai Nearchos, kai alloi toioutoi;] i.e. _All who have wrote of_ India _for the most part, are fabulous, but in the highest degree_ Daimachus; _then_ Megasthenes, Onesicritus, _and_ Nearchus, _and such like_. And as if it had been their greatest Ambition to excel herein, _Strabo_[C] brings in _Theopompus_, as bragging, [Greek: Hoti kai mythous en tais Historiais erei kreitton, ae hos Haerodotos, kai Ktaesias, kai Hellanikos, kai hoi ta Hindika syngrapsantes;] _That he could foist in Fables into History, better than_ Herodotus _and_ Ctesias _and_ Hellanicus, _and all that have wrote of_ India. The _Satyrist_ therefore had reason to say,

_Et quicquid Græcia mendax Audet in Historia._[D]

[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph._ lib. 11. p.m. 350.]

[Footnote B: _Strabo ibid._ lib. 2. p.m. 48.]

[Footnote C: _Strabo ibid._ lib. 1 p.m. 29.]

[Footnote D: _Juvenal._ _Satyr._ X. _vers._ 174.]

_Aristotle_,[A] 'tis true, tells us, [Greek: Holos de ta men agria agriotera en tae Asia, andreiotera de panta ta en taei Europaei, polymorphotata de ta en taei libyaei; kai legetai de tis paroimia, hoti aei pherei ti libyae kainon;] i.e. _That generally the Beasts are wilder in_ Asia, _stronger in_ Europe, _and of greater variety of shapes in_ Africa; _for as the_ Proverb _saith_, Africa _always produces something new_. _Pliny_[B] indeed ascribes it to the Heat of the _Climate, Animalium, Hominumque effigies monstriferas, circa extremitates ejus gigni, minimè mirum, artifici ad formanda Corpora, effigiesque cælandas mobilitate igneâ_. But _Nature_ never formed a whole _Species_ of _Monsters_; and 'tis not the _heat_ of the Country, but the warm and fertile Imagination of these _Historians_, that has been more productive of them, than _Africa_ it self; as will farther appear by what I shall produce out of them, and particularly from the Relation that _Ctesias_ makes of the _Pygmies_.

[Footnote A: _Aristotle Hist. Animal_, lib. 8. cap. 28.]

[Footnote B: _Plin. Nat. Hist._ lib. 6. cap. 30. p.m. 741.]

I am the more willing to instance in _Ctesias_, because he tells his Story roundly; he no ways minces it; his Invention is strong and fruitful; and that you may not in the least mistrust him, he pawns his word, that all that he writes, is certainly true: And so successful he has been, how Romantick soever his Stories may appear, that they have been handed down to us by a great many other Authors, and of Note too; tho' some at the same time have looked upon them as mere Fables. So that for the present, till I am better informed, and I am not over curious in it, I shall make _Ctesias_, and the other _Indian Historians_, the _Inventors_ of the extravagant Relations we at present have of the _Pygmies_, and not old _Homer_. He calls them, 'tis true, from something of Resemblance of their shape, [Greek: andres]: But these _Historians_ make them to speak the _Indian Language_; to use the same _Laws_; and to be so considerable a Nation, and so valiant, as that the _King_ of _India_ makes choice of them for his _Corps de Guards_; which utterly spoils _Homer's Simile_, in making them so little, as only to fight _Cranes_.

_Ctesias_'s Account therefore of the _Pygmies_ (as I find it in _Photius_'s _Bibliotheca_,[A] and at the latter end of some Editions of _Herodotus_) is this:

[Footnote A: _Photij. Bibliothec. Cod._ 72. p.m. 145.]

[Greek: Hoti en mesae tae Indikae anthropoi eisi melanes, kai kalountai pygmaioi, tois allois homoglossoi Indois. mikroi de eisi lian; hoi makrotatoi auton paecheon duo, hoi de pleistoi, henos haemiseos paecheos, komaen de echousi makrotataen, mechri kai hepi ta gonata, kai eti katoteron, kai pogona megiston panton anthropon; epeidan oun ton pogona mega physosin, ouketi amphiennyntai ouden emation: alla tas trichas, tas men ek taes kephalaes, opisthen kathientai poly kato ton gonaton; tas de ek tou po gonos, emprosthen mechri podon elkomenas. Hepeita peripykasamenoi tas trichas peri apan to soma, zonnyntai, chromenoi autais anti himatiou, aidoion de mega echousin, hoste psauein ton sphyron auton, kai pachy. autoite simoi te kai aischroi. ta de probata auton, hos andres. kai hai boes kai hoi onoi, schedon hoson krioi? kai hoi hippoi auton kai hoi aemionoi, kai ta alla panta zoa, ouden maezo krion; hepontai de toi basilei ton Indon, touton ton pygmaion andres trischilioi. sphodra gar eisi toxotai; dikaiotatoi de eisi kai nomoisi chrontai osper kai hoi Indoi. Dagoous te kai alopekas thaereuousin, ou tois kysin, alla koraxi kai iktisi kai koronais kai aetois.]

_Narrat præter ista, in media India homines reperiri nigros, qui Pygmæi appellentur. Eadem hos, qua Inda reliqui, lingua uti, sed valde esse parvos, ut maximi duorum cubitorum, & plerique unius duntaxat cubiti cum dimidio altitudinem non excedant. Comam alere longissimam, ad ipsa usque genua demissam, atque etiam infra, cum barba longiore, quàm, apud ullos hominum. Quæ quidem ubi illis promissior esse cæperit, nulla deinceps veste uti: sed capillos multò infra genua à tergo demissos, barbámque præter pectus ad pedes usque defluentem, per totum corpus in orbem constipare & cingere, atque ita pilos ipsis suos vestimenti loco esse. Veretrum illis esse crassum ac longum, quod ad ipsos quoque pedum malleolos pertingat. Pygmeos hosce simis esse naribus, & deformes. Ipsorum item oves agnorem nostrotum instar esse; boves & asinos, arietum fere magnitudine, equos item multosque & cætera jumenta omnia nihilo esse nostris arietibus majora. Tria horum Pygmæorum millia Indorum regem in suo comitatu habere, quod sagittarij sint peritissimi. Summos esse justitiæ cultores iisdemque quibus Indi reliqui, legibus parere. Venari quoque lepores vulpesque, non canibus, sed corvis, milvis, cornicibus, aquilis adhibitis._

In the middle of _India_ (saith _Ctesias_) there are black Men, they are call'd _Pygmies_, using the same Language, as the other _Indians_; they are very little, the tallest of them being but two Cubits, and most of them but a Cubit and a half high. They have very long hair, reaching down to their Knees and lower; and a Beard larger than any Man's. After their Beards are grown long, they wear no Cloaths, but the Hair of their Head falls behind a great deal below their Hams; and that of their Beards before comes down to their Feet: then laying their Hair thick all about their Body, they afterwards gird themselves, making use of their Hair for Cloaths. They have a _Penis_ so long, that it reaches to the Ancle, and the thickness is proportionable. They are flat nosed and ill favoured. Their Sheep are like Lambs; and their Oxen and Asses scarce as big as Rams; and their Horses and Mules, and all their other Cattle not bigger. Three thousand Men of these _Pygmies_ do attend the _King_ of _India_. They are good _Archers_; they are very just, and use the same _Laws_ as the _Indians_ do. They kill Hares and Foxes, not with Dogs, but with Ravens, Kites, Crows, and Eagles.'

Well, if they are so good Sports-men, as to kill Hares and Foxes with Ravens, Kites, Crows and Eagles, I can't see how I can bring off _Homer_, for making them fight the _Cranes_ themselves. Why did they not fly their _Eagles_ against them? these would make greater Slaughter and Execution, without hazarding themselves. The only excuse I have is, that _Homer_'s _Pygmies_ were real _Apes_ like _Men_; but those of _Ctesias_ were neither _Men_ nor _Pygmies_; only a Creature begot in his own Brain, and to be found no where else.

_Ctesias_ was Physician to _Artaxerxes Mnemon_ as _Diodorus Siculus_[A] and _Strabo_[B] inform us. He was contemporary with _Xenophon_, a little later than _Herodotus_; and _Helvicus_ in his _Chronology_ places him three hundred eighty three years before _Christ_: He is an ancient Author, 'tis true, and it may be upon that score valued by some. We are beholden to him, not only for his Improvements on the Story of the _Pygmies_, but for his Remarks likewise on several other parts of _Natural History_; which for the most part are all of the same stamp, very wonderful and incredible; as his _Mantichora_, his _Gryphins_, the _horrible Indian Worm_, a Fountain of _Liquid Gold_, a Fountain of _Honey_, a Fountain whose Water will make a Man confess all that ever he did, a Root he calls [Greek: paraebon], that will attract Lambs and Birds, as the Loadstone does filings of Steel; and a great many other Wonders he tells us: all of which are copied from him by _Ælian, Pliny, Solinus, Mela, Philostratus_, and others. And _Photius_ concludes _Ctesias_'s Account of _India_ with this passage; [Greek: Tauta graphon kai mythologon Ktaesias. legei t' alaethestata graphein; epagon hos ta men autos idon graphei, ta de par auton mathon ton eidoton. polla de touton kai alla thaumasiotera paralipein, dia to mae doxai tois mae tauta theasamenois apista syngraphein;] i.e. _These things_ (saith he) Ctesias _writes and feigns, but he himself says all he has wrote is very true. Adding, that some things which he describes, he had seen himself; and the others he had learn'd from those that had seen them: That he had omitted a great many other things more wonderful, because he would not seem to those that have not seen them, to write incredibilities_. But notwithstanding all this, _Lucian_[C] will not believe a word he saith; for he tells us that _Ctesias_ has wrote of _India_, [Greek: A maete autos eide, maete allou eipontos aekousen], _What he neither saw himself, nor ever heard from any Body else._ And _Aristotle_ tells us plainly, he is not fit to be believed: [Greek: En de taei Indikaei hos phaesi Ktaesias, ouk on axiopistos.][D] And the same opinion _A. Gellius_[E] seems to have of him, as he had likewise of several other old _Greek Historians_ which happened to fall into his hands at _Brundusium_, in his return from _Greece_ into _Italy_; he gives this Character of them and their performance: _Erant autem isti omnes libri Græci, miraculorum fabularumque pleni: res inauditæ, incredulæ, Scriptores veteres non parvæ authoritatis_, Aristeas Proconnesius, & Isagonus, & Nicæensis, & Ctesias, & Onesicritus, & Polystephanus, & Hegesias. Not that I think all that _Ctesias_ has wrote is fabulous; For tho' I cannot believe his _speaking Pygmies_, yet what he writes of the _Bird_ he calls [Greek: Bittakos], that it would speak _Greek_ and the _Indian Language_, no doubt is very true; and as _H. Stephens_[F] observes in his Apology for _Ctesias_, such a Relation would seem very surprising to one, that had never seen nor heard of a _Parrot_.

[Footnote A: _Diodor. Siculi Bibliothec_. lib. 2. p.m. 118.]

[Footnote B: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 14. p. 451.]

[Footnote C: _Lucian_ lib 1. _veræ Histor_. p.m. 373.]

[Footnote D: _Arist. Hist. Animal._ lib. 8. cap. 28.]

[Footnote E: _A. Gellij. Noctes. Attic._ lib. 9. cap. 4.]

[Footnote F: _Henr. Stephani de Ctesia Historico antiquissimo disquisitio, ad finem Herodoti._]

But this Story of _Ctesias_'s _speaking Pygmies_, seems to be confirm'd by the Account that _Nonnosus_, the Emperour _Justinian_'s Ambassador into _Æthiopia_, gives of his Travels. I will transcribe the Passage, as I find it in _Photius_,[A] and 'tis as follows:

[Footnote A: _Photij. Bibliothec._ cod. 3. p.m. 7.]

[Greek: Hoti apo taes pharsan pleonti toi Nonnosoi, epi taen eschataen ton naeson kataentaekoti toion de ti synebae, thauma kai akousai. enetuche gar tisi morphaen men kai idean echousin anthropinaen, brachytatois de to megethos, kai melasi taen chroan. hypo de trichon dedasysmenois dia pantos tou somatos. heiponto de tois andrasi kai gynaikes paraplaesiai kai paidaria eti brachytera, ton par autois andron. gymnoi de aesan hapantes; plaen dermati tini mikroi taen aido periekalypron, hoi probebaekotes homoios andres te kai gynaikes. agrion de ouden eped eiknynto oude anaemeron; alla kai phonaen eichon men anthropinaen, agnoston de pantapasi taen dialekton tois te perioikois hapasi, kai polloi pleon tois peri taen Nonnoson, diezon de ek thalattion ostreion, kai ichthyon, ton apo taes thalassaes eis taen naeson aporrhiptomenon; tharsos de eichon ouden. alla kai horontes tous kath' haemas anthropous hypeptaesan, hosper haemeis ta meiso ton thaerion.]