The Pygmies

The pygmies were a very short people that lived near the Nile river. They were known to appear just before a bloody war, and once they tried attacking Hercules, but he just laughed and carried them off.

I wonder if the pygmies were just supposed to be a representation of children. Short, cute, and amusing little creatures that liked to play war and could never be taken seriously. Maybe that's how the Greeks represented childhood, and I suppose they wouldn't be too far off since that's basically what children are (I'm allowed to say that now that I'm a teenager).