The Myrmidons (or Myrmidones ΜυÏμιδόνες) were an ancient nation of Greek mythology. In Homer's Iliad, the Myrmidons are the soldiers commanded by Achilles.Achilles himself is "the great Myrmidon/Who broils in loud applause" in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. Their eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of Phthiotis who was a son of Zeus and "wide-ruling" Eurymedousa.