MYRMIDON IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Myrmidon in Greek Mythology
Some sources of Greek mythology name Myrmidon as the ancestor of all Myrmidons, the tribe of fierce warriors who Achilles commanded at Troy.
Myrmidon son of Eurymedusa and ZeusThe story of Myrmidon was said to have started in Phthia where lived a beautiful princess named Eurymedusa. Eurymedusa was the daughter of either Cletor or the Potamoi Achelous.
The beauty of Eurymedusa attracted the attention of the god Zeus, and even though Eurymedusa was married to Myrmex, Zeus came to earth to have his way with her. To do this, Zeus transformed himself into an ant, and the god then lay with Eurymedusa. This brief relationship would bring forth a son, Myrmidon. Subsequently, Myrmidon would marry Pisidice, the daughter of Aeolus, king of the Aeolians of Thessaly. Myrmidon would then become father to four, Actor, Antiphus, Eupolemia and Hiscilla. Of these four children of Myrmidon, Actor is perhaps most famous, for he became King of Phthia, and was said by some to be the king who welcomed the exiled Peleus to Thessaly. This is the story told as written down in the Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Appolodorus), in the Theogony though, the Mymridons were brought forth when Zeus transformed the ants of Aegina into men. |
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Colin Quartermain - Myrmidon - 25th July 2021