In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends 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. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Myrmidon was the eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous ancestor of the Myrmidons

Myrmidons

The Myrmidons or Myrmidones were legendary people of Greek history. They were very brave and skilled warriors commanded by Achilles, as described in Homer's Iliad. Their eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of Thessalian Phthia, who was the son of Zeus and "wide-ruling" Eurymedousa, a...

.

He was the son of Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 and Eurymedusa

Eurymedousa

Eurymedousa is a name attributed to several women in Greek mythology.*Eurymedousa, daughter of Cletor or Achelous. Zeus had intercourse with her in the shape of an ant and she gave birth to Myrmidon.*Eurymedousa, an old woman from Apeire and the nanny and attendant of Nausicaa.*Eurymedousa,...

, daughter of Cleitor (Cletor) of Arcadia

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...

 or of the river god Achelous

Achelous

In Greek mythology, Achelous was the patron deity of the "silver-swirling" Achelous River, which is the largest river of Greece, and thus the chief of all river deities, every river having its own river spirit. His name is pre-Greek, its meaning unknown...

. Zeus was said to have approached Eurymedusa in the form of an ant (Greek μύρμηξ myrmēx), which was where her son's name came from; others say that Myrmex was the name of Eurymedusa's mortal husband, and that it was his shape that Zeus assumed to approach her.

Myrmidon married Peisidice, daughter of Aeolus

Aeolus

Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...

 and Enarete

Enarete

In Greek mythology, Enarete , daughter of Deimachus, was the wife of Aeolus and ancestress of the Aeolians. Her children were Canace, Sisyphus, Deioneus, Salmoneus, Macar, Cretheus, Athamas, Perieres, Calyce, Peisidice, Perimede and in some myths, Alcyone. She may have been the mother of Arne, if...

, and by her became the father of Antiphus

Antiphus

In Greek mythology, Antiphus or Ántiphos is a name attributed to multiple individuals:*Antiphus, one of the 50 sons of Priam, and son of Hecuba. During the Trojan War, he was killed by Agamemnon....

 and Actor

Actor (mythology)

Actor is a very common name in Greek mythology. Here is a selection of characters that share this name :...

. Also given as his sons are Erysichthon

Erysichthon

In Greek mythology, Erysichthon can refer to two different personages:-Erysichthon of Thessaly:...

 and Dioplethes, himself father of Perieres

Perieres

In Greek mythology, Perieres or Perieris, was a son of Aeolus and husband of Gorgophone. He was the father of Leucippus and Aphareus. He is often confused with Gorgophone's second husband, Oebalus . With Oebalus, Gorgophone was the mother of Tyndareus, Hippocoon and Icarius....

, although Erysichthon and Perieres have been ascribed different parentage as well. He also had two daughters: Eupolemeia (mother of the Argonaut

Argonauts

The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...

 Aethalides

Aethalides

Aethalides was a son of Hermes and Eupolemeia, a daughter of Myrmidon. He was the herald of the Argonauts, and had received from his father the faculty of remembering everything, even in Hades. He was further allowed to reside alternately in the upper and in the lower world...

 by Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

) and Hiscilla (mother of Phorbas

Phorbas

In Greek mythology, Phorbas or Phorbaceus may refer to:*Phorbas, a prince of the Thessalian Phlegyes who emigrated to Elis in the Peloponnesos. Phorbas was the son of Lapithes and Orsinome, and a brother of Periphas. He assisted Alector, king of Elis, in the war against Pelops, and shared the...

 by Triopas

Triopas

In Greek mythology, Triopas, Triophas or Triops was the name of several characters, whose relations are unclear. He belonged to the house of Phoroneus....

).

Sources

• Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Band XVI, Halbband 31, Molatzes-Myssi (1933), s. 1107 (German)