Myrmidons

In Greek mythology, the Myrmidons or Myrmidones (Ancient Greek: Μυρμῐδόνες, romanized: Murmidónes, singular: Μυρμῐδών, Murmidṓn) were an ancient Thessalian tribe. In Homer's Iliad, the Myrmidons are the Achaean soldiers commanded by Achilles.

Their ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of Phthia, who was a son of Zeus and "wide-ruling" Eurymedousa, a princess of Phthiotis. In one account, Zeus seduced Eurymedousa in the form of an ant. An etiological myth of their origins, simply expanding upon their supposed etymology—the name in Classical Greek was interpreted as "ant-people", from myrmedon (Ancient Greek: μῠρμηδών, murmēdṓn, plural: μῠρμηδόνες, murmēdónes), which means "ant-nest"—was first mentioned by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. In Ovid's telling, the Myrmidons were simple worker-ants on the island of Aegina.