Myrmidon

The tale of the Myrmidons

Aeacus, a son of Zeus, was king of the island of Aegina. But Hera, jealous that the island was named after one of Zeus's loves, sent a terrible plague. The rivers turned foul, the animals died in the fields, and then the people died, until the king was left almost alone in a city of the dead.

Aeacus went to an ancient oak tree sacred to Zeus and prayed. In the bark of the tree he saw a long line of ants, carrying grain and working without rest. Father, he prayed, give me as many citizens as there are ants here, to fill my empty city.

That night he dreamed that the ants were falling from the branches and growing as they hit the ground, standing upright, losing their extra legs, turning into men. In the morning his son came running to tell him that a great crowd of strangers was walking towards the palace. Aeacus recognised the faces from his dream. Zeus had turned the ants into a people. He named them Myrmidons, from myrmex, the Greek word for "ant".

Ant-born soldiers

The Myrmidons kept the nature of ants. They were hard-working, saving, patient, tough and fiercely loyal, and they made superb soldiers. When Aeacus's son Peleus went to live in Thessaly, the Myrmidons followed him. And when Peleus's son Achilles sailed to Troy, he led 50 ships of Myrmidons.

Achilles' men

At Troy the Myrmidons were the most feared troops of all the Greeks, a tight wall of shields and spears that followed Achilles anywhere. When Achilles quarrelled with Agamemnon and refused to fight, his Myrmidons waited by their ships, restless, while the Greeks were beaten back. Homer says they were like wolves eager for the kill.

At last Achilles let his best friend Patroclus lead them out in his own armour. The Myrmidons charged "like wasps that boys have stirred up from their nest beside the road", and drove the Trojans back from the ships. But Patroclus pushed too far and was killed by Hector. When the Myrmidons brought his body back, they wept around it with Achilles, and drove their chariots three times around it in mourning.

Myrmidon in Battle of Myths

The Myrmidon is a cost 1 Greek warrior and assassin. His ability, Spear Thrust, drives the spear in and twists it, dealing damage and wounding the enemy so it heals less. As his quote says: they were ants, then they were soldiers, and they are not sure which was the promotion. With every Greek hero he shares Glory: whenever an enemy falls, the Greeks grow stronger and heal.

Did you know?

• The story of the ants comes from the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses.
• In English, a "myrmidon" came to mean a loyal follower who carries out orders without question.