The Myrmidons (or Myrmidones Μυρμιδόνες) were an ancient nation of Greek mythology. In Homer's Iliad, the Myrmidons are the soldiers commanded by Achilles.^[1] Their eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of Phthiotis who was a son of Zeus and "wide-ruling" Eurymedousa, a princess of Phthiotis. She was seduced by him 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 murmekes, "ants"— was first mentioned by Ovid, in Metamorphoses: in Ovid's telling, the Myrmidons were simple worker ants on the island of Aegina. The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... title page of the Rihel edition of ca. ... The Wrath of Achilles, by François-Léon Benouville (1821–1859) (Musée Fabre) In Greek mythology, Achilles (also Akhilleus or Achilleus) (Ancient Greek: ) was a hero of the Trojan War, the central character and greatest warrior of Homers Iliad, which takes for its theme, not the War... An eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, who has (or is thought to have) given rise to the name of a particular place, tribe, discovery, or other item. ... Phthiotis, or (Greek, Modern: Φθιώτιδα - Fthiótida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Φθιώτις) is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ... The Statue of Zeus at Olympia Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in Ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th century engraving Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Zeús, genitive: Diós), is... Eurymedousa or Eurymedusa is the name of two women in Greek mythology. ... Phthiotis, or (Greek, Modern: Φθιώτιδα - Fthiótida, Ancient/Katharevousa: Φθιώτις) is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ... Etiology (alternately aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. ... Subfamilies Aenictogitoninae Agroecomyrmecinae Amblyoponinae (incl. ... For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... // Cover of George Sandyss 1632 edition of Ovids Metamorphosis Englished The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world in terms according to Greek and Roman points of view. ... Aegina (Greek: Αίγινα (Egina)) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, 31 miles (50 km) from Athens. ...

Modern Myrmidons

The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their loyalty to their leaders, so that in pre-industrial Europe the word "myrmidon" carried many of the same connotations that "robot" does today. "Myrmidon" later came to mean "hired ruffian", according to the Oxford English Dictionary. World map showing the location of Europe. ... ASIMO, a humanoid robot manufactured by Honda. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of...

• The Royal Navy has had several ships called HMS Myrmidon.

• "The Myrmidons" was the name adopted in 1865 by a private dining society in Merton College, Oxford. It is thought to be the oldest continuously active dining society in the University of Oxford. Max Beerbohm was a member, and the club called "The Junta" that features in his Oxford novel Zuleika Dobson is probably modeled on the Myrmidons. Other former members include Lord Randolph Churchill and Andrew Irvine.

• In Blackadder's Christmas Carol, Blackadder sees a vision of the future where his distant descendent is a general in a galactic space empire, and after a battle is asked by Stephen Fry's character, "What news of the foul Myrmidons?" (Blackadder replies "Scattered to the nine vectors."

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Seven ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Myrmidon after the Myrmidones of Greek mythology. ... The Myrmidon Club is a dining society elected from the male undergraduate members of Merton College, Oxford. ... College name The House of Scholars of Merton Named after Walter de Merton Established 1264 Sister College Peterhouse Warden Prof. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Max Beerbohm by William Rothenstein, 1893 Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (August 24, 1872 - May 20, 1956) was an English parodist and caricaturist. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Zuleika Dobson is a 1911 novel by Max Beerbohm, a satire of undergraduate life at Oxford. ... Lord Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. ... Andrew Sandy Irvine (April 8, 1902 – 8-9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the third British Expedition to Mount Everest in 1924. ... Blackadder in Blackadders Christmas Carol Blackadders Christmas Carol (1988) is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. ...

Myrmidons in literature

• In The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett, the crew of Commodore Trunnion's garrison were referred to as "Myrmidons" due to their fierce loyalty.

• 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 Chonchu, a Manhwa (A Korean style of comics similar to the Japanese manga), the Mirmidons (with a little difference in the name's spelling) are a dreadful warrior tribe known for their strength and spirit. They are fierce fighters who live only for the delight of battling.

• In Garth Nix's young adult novel, Shade's Children, alien Overlords reconstruct human children into mindless soldiers called Myrmidons.

• In Isobel Carmody's adult novel "Darkfall," the blind seer's female, Amazon-like warrior women protectors are called "Myrmidons," from the island of Myrmydori. They are fiercely loyal to their mistresses.

• In The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance, a planet's population is artificially divided into three castes by imposing linguistic and cultural barriers; the members of the warrior caste refer to themselves as "Myrmidons."

• In Hercules, My Shipmate by Robert Graves, Myrmidons are mentioned quite a few times as the book is about the story of Jason and the Argonauts.

• The Myrmidons were depicted twice in the DC Comics book Wonder Woman. The first time was when Wonder Woman astral projected into the mythological past to gain knowledge, and the second was in the Artemis/Requiem mini-series. There they are shown to now live in the underworld as servants, keeping guard over the dead.

• In Jan Morris' novel 'Hav', which was first published as 'Last letters from Hav' in 1985, a second part appears in the 2006 version entitled 'Hav of the Myrmidons'. It portrays the (fictional) claim by a post-revolutionary regime to a mythical past derived from the legendary Myrmidons, companions of Achilles. The novel itself blurs the distinction between factual account and fiction, geographical precision and utopian abstraction to use Myrmidons as a metaphor for domination seeking to legitimate itself through ethnic descent from an ancient tribe. The grotesque 'Myrmidonic Tower' in Hav symbolises the instrumental use of ancient legends at the height of modernity.

• In the 2000 book Centauri Dawn by Michael Ely, Myrmidons are the elite personal guard of Colonel Corazón Santiago, the leader of the Spartan Federation faction.

The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, is a picaresque novel by Tobias Smollett (1721--1771), first published in 1751, revised and reissued in 1758. ... Tobias Smollett Tobias George Smollett (March 19, 1721 - September 17, 1771) was a Scottish author, best known for his picaresque novels, such as Roderick Random and Peregrine Pickle. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... The Invisibles is an adult comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. ... Manhwa (Hangul: 만화, Hanja: 漫畫) is the general Korean term for comics and cartoons (including animated cartoons). ... This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ... Garth Nix (born 1963) is an Australian author of young adult fantasy novels, most notably the Old Kingdom Series and Seventh Tower series. ... Shades Children is a young adult science fiction/fantasy novel written by Garth Nix. ... Darkfall is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in development by Aventurine SA that combines real-time action and strategy in a fantasy setting. ... The Languages of Pao is a science fiction novel by Jack Vance, first published in 1958, in which the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is strongly true. ... John Holbrook Vance (born August 28, 1916 in San Francisco, California) is generally described as an American fantasy and science fiction author, though Vance himself has reportedly objected to such labels. ... Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, scholar, and novelist. ... The Argo, by Lorenzo Costa In Greek mythology, the Argonauts (Ancient Greek: ) were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest for the Golden Fleece. ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... Wonder Woman is a fictional DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. ... Astral projection (or astral travel) is an interpretation of an out-of-body experience achieved either awake or via lucid dreaming or deep meditation. ... Artemis of Bana-Mighdall is a fictional Amazon superheroine created by writer William Messner-Loebs, appearing in DC Comics comic books. ... Centauri Dawn is the first book in the trilogy novelization of the popular computer game Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri. ...

Myrmidons in video games

The term myrmidon enjoys widespread use in Computer and Video games, especially those in the Role-playing game genre. It is in common use as a title for character classes or enemies, or used as the name for a piece of equipment or vehicle within a game. This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... This article is about computer and video games. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... This article is about a concept in role-playing games. ...

Myrmidon is a powerful sword-wielding class in the Fire Emblem video game series.

It is the Gallente race's tier 2 battle-cruiser class space ship in the MMORPG game Eve Online.

In FreeSpace 2, the Myrmidon is a Terran Space Superiority Fighter.

In Supreme Commander, the Myrmidon is a Cybran Tech 3 anti-air missile site. Supreme Commander - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

In World of Warcraft, a series of armor pieces and a class of Naga warriors are named after Myrmidon. World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... The Naga (the name is both singular and plural) are a fictional race of creatures from the world of the Warcraft computer games by Blizzard Entertainment. ...

In Mech Warrior 4 a myrmidon is a remote controlled tank. MechWarrior is the general title of role-playing game based off of the fictional BattleTech universe, which started as a tabletop wargame. ...

In Myth: The Fallen Lords, myrmidons are Dark melee fighters. An in-game screenshot of Myth: The Fallen Lords taken from the Myth II engine. ...

In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Myrmidon is a rank in the gladiator-inspired Arena sidequest.

In Age Of Mythology,myrmidon are a special infantry unit only available to characters using the god Zeus Age of Mythology (commonly abbreviated as AoM), is a mythology-based, real-time strategy computer game developed by Ensemble Studios, and published by Microsoft Game Studios. ...

In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, myrmidons are a class that specialized in critical attacks.

In Dark Age of Camelot, Myrmidon is used as a Realm Rank (3) in the realm of Albion. 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: Arthurian-inspired Albion, Norse mythology inspired Midgard and Celtic Hibernia. ...

Notes

Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A Scene from Troilus and Cressida (1789) by Angelica Kauffmann Troilus and Cressida is a play by William Shakespeare. ...

External links

• Myrmidons at WSU
• Myrmidons at Timeless Myths
• Myrmidons at Online Mythology