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Myrmidons

For other uses, see Myrmidon (disambiguation).

[2] Murmedon, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A


Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus

The Myrmidons or Myrmidones (Greek: ) were a legendary people of Greek history. They
were very brave warriors: trained and commanded
by Achilles,[1] as described in Homers Iliad. Their
eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of Thessalian Phthia, who was the son of Zeus and wide-ruling
Eurymedousa, a princess of Phthia.

[3] Murmex, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A GreekEnglish Lexicon, at Perseus

4 External links
Myrmidons at WSU

An etiological myth of their origins, expanding upon


their etymology the name in Classical Greek was interpreted as "ant-people, from (murmedon)
ants nest[2] and that from (murmex) ant[3]
was rst mentioned by Ovid, in Metamorphoses: in
Ovids telling, King Aeacus of Aegina, Achilles grandfather, pleaded with Zeus to populate his country after a
terrible plague. Zeus said his people would number as
the ants on his sacred oak, and from the ants sprang the
people of Aegina, the Myrmidons.

Quote by character Dutton Peabody from the lm


The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Later use of the term

The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their skill


in battle and loyalty to their leaders. In pre-industrial
Europe the word myrmidon carried many of the same
connotations that "minion" does today. Myrmidon later
came to mean hired ruan (according to the Oxford
English Dictionary) or a loyal follower, especially one
who executes orders without question, protest, or pity unquestioning followers. (Dictionary.com).
Myrmidons is also the title of the rst of a trilogy of plays
by Aeschylus, collectively known as the Achilles. The
other plays in the trilogy are Nereids and Phrygians (see
Achilleis for more).

See also

Troilus and Cressida, a William Shakespeare play in


which the Myrmidons appear

References

[1] Achilles himself is the great Myrmidon/Who broils in


loud applause in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Myrmidons Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrmidons?oldid=646675124 Contributors: Tucci528, Stevertigo, Mrwojo, Stan


Shebs, Renato Caniatti~enwiki, Wetman, Kizor, Danceswithzerglings, Xanzzibar, Samusfan80, Varlaam, BruceR, El-Ahrairah, Neutrality,
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