The Myrmidons (or Myrmidones, the name literally means "ant-people") were an ancient nation of Greek mythology. The story of their orgins was first mentioned by the poet Ovid. Initially, the Myrmidons were simple worker ants on the island of Aegina. Subfamilies Dorylomorph subfamilies: Aenictinae Aenictogitoninae Apomyrminae Cerapachyinae Dorylinae Ecitoninae Formicomorph subfamilies: Aneuretinae Dolichoderinae Formicinae - e. ... Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidus Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC â€“ Tomis, now Constanta AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. ... This article is about the island. ...

Hera, queen of the gods, sent a plague to kill all the human inhabitants of Aegina because the island was named for one of the lovers of Zeus. King Aeacus, a son of Zeus and the intended target of Hera along with his mother, prayed to his father for a means to repopulate the island. As the ants of the island were unaffected by the sickness, Zeus responded by transforming them into a race of people, the Myrmidons. They were fierce and hardy as ants, and intensely loyal to their leader. In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra (Greek or ) was the wife and sister of Zeus. ... Plague is usually understood as a generic term for Bubonic plague, the mortal disease caused by the bacillus Yersinia pestis, which is spread by fleas from rats and some species of mice to human beings. ... Statue of Zeus The Greek sculptor Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall Statue of Zeus in about 435 bc. ... In Greek mythology, Aeacus, or Aiakos (bewailing or earth borne) was king in the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf and was so far-famed for the righteous sense of piety and justice with which he ruled over his people that his judgment was sought all over Hellas, so...

After a time, Aeacus exiled his two sons, Peleus and Telamon, for murdering their half-brother, Phocis. Peleus went to Phthia and a group of Myrmidons followed him to Thessaly. Pelus's son, Achilles, brought them to Troy to fight in the Trojan War. In Greek mythology, Pēleús (Greek: Πηλεύς) was the son of Aeacus, King of Aegina. ... Son of Aeacus, King of Aegina and Endeis and brother of Peleus, Telamon accompanied Jason as one his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. ... Phthia (Greek: Φθίη Transliterations:, Modern: Fthii, Ancient: PhthiÄ“) is an ancient region of Greece, at the southern part of Magnesia, on the both sides of Othrys mountain. ... Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... Walls of the excavated city of Troy (Turkey) This article is about the city of Troy / Ilion as described in the works of Homer, and the location of an ancient city associated with it. ... The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of the Acheans, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ...

Another tradition states that the Myrmidons had no such remarkable beginnings, but were merely the descendants of Myrmidon, a Thessalian nobleman, who married Peisidice, the daughter of Aeolus, king of Thessaly. Myrmidon was the father of Actor and Antiphus. As king of Phthia, Actor (or his son) invited Peleus to stay in Thessaly. Aeolus (or Aiolos, ) in Greek Mythology was the Keeper of the Winds. ... In Greek mythology, one of these people: In the Iliad, Antiphus, or Ántiphos, a Trojan ally, the son of Talaemenes and a nymph. ...

Myrmidons in later culture

The mythic Myrmidons were famous for their blind and remorseless loyalty to their leaders, so that in pre-industrial Europe the word myrmidon carried many of the same connotations that "robot" does today. World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... A humanoid robot playing the trumpet In practical usage, a robot is an autonomous or semi-autonomous device which performs its tasks either according to direct human control, partial control with human supervision, or completely autonomously. ...

Myrmidon later came to mean "hired ruffian", according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a comprehensive dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). ...

Myrmidons in the Modern world

• In Grant Morrison's comic book The Invisibles, the humans who serve the Archons and who have given themselves up for modification are known as Myrmidons.

• In Blizzard Entertainment's WarCraft real-time strategy computer game series, the Myrmidon are a powerful amphibious unit of the Naga race, which appears for the first time in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

• Myrmidons are also a unit of strong undead warriors in the Myth: the Fallen Lords RTS game.

• The Myrmidon is a Terran space fighter craft in the space simulation Freespace by Volition.

• In the strategy video game Fire Emblem, there is a controllable unit called the myrmidon, which is a swordfighter from the East.

• In the simulation game Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, the Myrmidon is a small, fast attack tank that mounts powerful Particle Projection Cannons.

• In the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons_&_Dragons, a Myrmidon represents a relative skill level of the fighter character class (sixth level fighter, out of nine level titles, from Veteran to Lord).

• The Myrmidons is a drinking club for Old Etonians at Merton College in Oxford.

• Myrmidon is a rank title in the MMORPG developed by Mythic Entertainment, Dark Age of Camelot.

• In the Champions of Norrath game for the Playstation 2, the pieces of armor called "Myrmidon" are the best in the game. The armor can only be worn after reaching level 50, which is the highest level a character can reach in the game.

Grant Morrison (January 31, 1960 - ) is a Scottish comic book writer and cartoonist best-known for his non-linear narratives and counter-cultural leanings. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Blizzard Entertainment is a PC game developer and publisher. ... Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is a real-time strategy computer game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 1994. ... Age of Empires (1997), Invasion of an enemy A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... For other uses, see Amphibian (disambiguation). ... In Hinduism, the nagas (snake) are an ancient race of snake-humans that brought fertility to their venerators; they were especially popular in southern India. ... Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2002, is a real-time strategy computer game and the second sequel to Warcraft. ... An in-game screenshot of Myth: The Fallen Lords taken from the Myth II engine. ... Terran means of Terra, i. ... In its broadest definition, a space simulation is any software that simulates space and/or space flight. ... Descent: Freespace Screenshot Freespace 2 Screenshot Descent: FreeSpace is a space simulation computer game series developed by Volition Inc. ... Volition is the study of will, choice, and decision. ... Fire Emblem (Japanese: ファイアーエムブレム) is a popular strategy and role-playing video game franchise, developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo. ... A simulation game is a game that is intended to simulate the world, or an aspect of it. ... MechWarrior is the general title of role-playing game based off of the fictional BattleTech universe, which started as a tabletop wargame. ... The original Dungeons & Dragons set Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) published by Wizards of the Coast. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (that is, an independent, fee-charging secondary school) for boys. ... Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... A massively (or massive) multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG is a multiplayer computer role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet. ... Mythic Entertainment, Inc. ... Dark Age of Camelot is a 3D medieval fantasy MMORPG that revolves around the war between three realms at the end of King Arthurs rule: Great Britains Albion, Scandinavias Midgard and Irelands Hibernia. ... Champions of Norrath (CoN) is an online-capable role-playing game for the PlayStation 2, set in the EverQuest universe. ... The PlayStation 2 (PS2) (Japanese: プレイステーション2) is Sonys second video game console, after the PlayStation. ...

Sources:

http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/myrmidons.html

http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Myrmidons

http://www.online-mythology.com/myrmidons/