Myrmidon

[mur-mi-don, -dn]

noun

plural

Myrmidons, Myrmidones 

1. Classical Mythology.,  one of the warlike people of ancient Thessaly who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan War.

2. (lowercase),  a person who executes without question or scruple a master's commands.

Myrmidon

/ ˈmɜːmɪˌdɒn, -dən /

noun

1. Greek myth one of a race of people whom Zeus made from a nest of ants. They settled in Thessaly and were led against Troy by Achilles

2. (often not capital) a follower or henchman

Word History and Origins

Origin of Myrmidon¹

Middle English, from Latin Myrmidones (plural), from Greek Myrmidónes; Myrmidon def. 1 first recorded in 1425-75, and Myrmidon def. 2 first recorded in 1625-50

Example Sentences

The Myrmidons gazed at them with awe and a flame of fierce joy blazed in Achilles’ eyes as he put them on.

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He served on board MV Myrmidon, part of the task force dispatched to liberate the Falkland Islands after the Argentinean invasion in 1982.

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Aeschylus’s lost The Myrmidons also appeared to have had sexual and romantic love, between Achilles and Patroclus, at its heart.

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Grassy knolls teemed with minotaurs, cyborgs, warlocks, Myrmidons, figures clothed only in metallic body paint or Pan-like ivy tendrils.

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For years they'd been repelling Myrmidons while listening to their leaders tell them to just sit it out and eventually the Greeks would go away.

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Related Words

• companion 
• comrade 
• disciple 
• follower