Editing Myrmidons

{{short description|Mythological soldiers commanded by Achilles in Homer's Iliad}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}

In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Myrmidons''' (or '''Myrmidones'''; {{langx|grc|Μυρμῐδόνες|Murmidónes}}, singular: {{lang|grc|Μυρμῐδών}}, {{translit|grc|Murmidṓn}}) were an ancient [[Thessaly|Thessalian]]  tribe.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5oYAAAAYAAJ|title=The Journal of Indo-European Studies|date=2003|publisher=|pages=289|language=en|quote=Achilles is king of the Myrmidons, a Thessalian Greek tribe, and brought them with him to Troy as his troops.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Halliwell|first=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OEYFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA287|title=Aristophanes: Frogs and Other Plays: A Verse Translation, with Introduction and Notes|date=2015-11-12|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-106623-8|pages=287|language=en|quote=Myrmidons (= the Thessalian tribe of Achilles)}}</ref>

In Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'', the Myrmidons are the soldiers commanded by [[Achilles]].<ref>Achilles himself is "the great Myrmidon/Who broils in loud applause" in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Troilus and Cressida]]''.</ref> Their [[:wikt:eponym|eponym]]ous ancestor was [[Myrmidon (hero)|Myrmidon]], a king of [[Phthiotis]], 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]].<ref>Clement of Alexandria, ''Exhortations'' Book II</ref>

An [[etiology|etiological myth]] of their origins, simply expanding upon their supposed etymology—the name in Classical Greek was interpreted as "ant-people", from ''[[myrmex (mythology)|myrmedon]]'' ({{langx|grc|μῠρμηδών}}, ''murmēdṓn'', plural: {{lang|grc|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]].

== Ovid's myth of the repopulation of Aegina ==
<!--the following should follow Ovid more closely than this-->[[Hera]], queen of the gods, sent a [[epidemic|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 ''[[Myrmex (mythology)|myrmekes]]'' ([[Ancient Greek]]: μύρμηκες, ''múrmēkes'', singular: μύρμηξ, ''múrmēx''), the ants of the island, were unaffected by the sickness, Zeus responded by transforming them into a race of men, the Myrmidons.<ref>Ovid. ''Metamorphoses''. [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph7.htm#64106447 Bk VII:614-660 "The creation of the Myrmidons"]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Myrmidon {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Myrmidon |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> They were as fierce and hardy as ants, and intensely loyal to their leader.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hamilton|first=Edith|author-link=Edith Hamilton|year=1969|orig-year=1940|chapter=Brief Myths Arranged Alphabetically|title=[[Mythology (book)|Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes]]|edition=Renewal|publisher=[[New American Library|Mentor Books]]|location=New York|page=310|isbn=0-451-62803-9}}</ref>

After a time, Aeacus exiled his two sons, [[Peleus]] and [[Telamon]], for murdering their half-brother, [[Phocus of Aegina|Phocus]].  Peleus went to [[Phthia]] and a group of Myrmidons followed him to [[Thessaly]]. Peleus's son, [[Achilles]], brought them to [[Troy]] to fight in the [[Trojan War]]. They feature as the loyal followers of Achilles in most accounts of the Trojan War.

Another tradition states that the Myrmidons had no such remarkable beginnings, but were merely the descendants of [[Myrmidon (hero)|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.

== Medieval Myrmidons ==
Achilles was described by [[Leo the Deacon]] (born ca. 950) not as [[Hellenes|Hellene]], but as [[Scythians|Scythian]], while according to the Byzantine author [[John Malalas]] (c. 491–578), his army was made up of a tribe previously known as Myrmidons and "known now as [[Bulgars]]".<ref name=Ekon>{{cite book|last1=Ekonomou|first1=Andrew|title=Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes|date=2007|publisher=Lexington Books|location=UK|page=123|isbn=9780739119778|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zomZk6DbFTIC&q=john+malalas+myrmidons+achilles&pg=PA123|access-date=14 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Jeffreys|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Croke|first2=Brian|title=Studies in John Malalas|year=1990|location=Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Department of Modern Greek, University of Sydney|page=206|isbn=9780959362657|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p55mAAAAMAAJ&q=john+malalas+myrmidons+achilles|access-date=14 September 2015}}</ref> The 12th-century Byzantine poet [[John Tzetzes]] also identified the Myrmidons with the Bulgars, whom he also identified with the [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonia]]ns, although the latter may be intended in a purely geographical sense.<ref name=Panov>{{citation |author=Mitko B. Panov |title=The Blinded State: Historiographic Debates about Samuel Cometopoulos and His State (10th–11th Century) |publisher=Brill |year=2019}}, p. 109.</ref><ref>{{citation |author=Anthony Kaldellis |title=Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians |year=2015 |publisher=Routledge}}, p. 79.</ref> In the 11th century, [[Michael Attaleiates]] called the [[Kievan Rus'|Rus']] Myrmidons, but this usage did not catch on.<ref name=Kald>{{citation |author=Anthony Kaldellis |title=Ethnography After Antiquity |year=2013 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press}}, p. 112.</ref>

According to Byzantine history scholar [[Andrew J. Ekonomou]], these represent intentional distortions designed to "minimize the valor of pagan heroes, and eventually to extinguish their memory altogether".<ref name=Ekon/> Anthony Kaldellis, on the other hand, argues that such use of classical ethnonyms for modern peoples "do not really fall under the category of distortion at all".<ref name=Kald/>

== 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]]''.

* [[Henry Fielding]] in ''[[The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling|Tom Jones]]'' (1749, Book XV, ch. 5) employs the term in the sense of "hired thugs": "The door flew open, and in came Squire Western, with his parson and a set of myrmidons at his heels."
* The [[Royal Navy]] has had several ships called [[HMS Myrmidon|HMS ''Myrmidon'']].
* The [[United States Navy]] has had one vessel named [[USS Myrmidon|USS ''Myrmidon'' (ARL-16)]]
* "[[Myrmidon Club|The Myrmidons]]" was the name adopted in 1865 by a private dining society in [[Merton College, Oxford]], which continues in existence.<ref>[https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/about/history-merton "750 Years of Merton College - A Timeline"]</ref>  [[Max Beerbohm]] was a member (and Hon. Secretary), and the club called "The Junta" that features in his Oxford novel ''[[Zuleika Dobson]]'' is probably modelled on the Myrmidons.  Other former members include [[Lord Randolph Churchill]] and [[Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)|Andrew Irvine]].

== See also ==
* [[Myrmex (Attic woman)|Myrmex]], woman who became an ant

== Notes ==
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== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080224072456/http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/myrmidons.html Myrmidons at WSU]
* [http://www.timelessmyths.com/classical/beasts.html#Myrmidons Myrmidons at ''Timeless Myths'']
* [http://www.online-mythology.com/myrmidons/ Myrmidons at ''Online Mythology'']

{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}

[[Category:Myrmidons| ]]
[[Category:Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Mythological peoples]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into humanoids in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Legendary tribes in classical historiography]]