The Pygmies

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

This is one of the popular Greek myths about the pygmies. In this short story, Hawthorne brings in 6-8 inch high pygmies as a foil to the cyclops-giant Antaeus. It is adapted here by Nathaniel Hawthorne for children. This story is taken from A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys.

Genres: Fiction

20 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2011

About the author

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. He is seen as a key figure in the development of American literature for his tales of the nation's colonial history.

Shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College, Hathorne changed his name to Hawthorne. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales and became engaged to painter and illustrator Sophia Peabody the next year. He worked at a Custom House and joined a Transcendentalist Utopian community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before returning to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers around New England and many feature moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His work is considered part of the Romantic movement and includes novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend, the United States President Franklin Pierce.

Reviews

[Sohail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This funny parable is a study of formation of myth from different points of view. The story of the battle of Hercules and Antaeus has been retold from a very different point of view than those you in Greek literature.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extracted from Tanglewood Tales for Boys and Girls (1853), this is a re-writing of the Greek myth of Antaeus with a truculent Hercules humbled by the noble and loyal if comically diminutive Pygmies. It rather reads like Voltaire as moralizing satire.