Myrmidon

Concerning the Myrmidons Hesiod speaks thus: `And she conceived

and bare Aeacus, delighting in horses.  Now when he came to the
full measure of desired youth, he chafed at being alone.  And the
father of men and gods made all the ants that were in the lovely
isle into men and wide-girdled women.  These were the first who
fitted with thwarts ships with curved sides, and the first who
used sails, the wings of a sea-going ship.' -- Hesiod's The Catalogue of Women

Hesiod relates how Zeus turned the ants of Aegina into men and women to accompany
his son, Aeacus. As seen in an excerpt of Hesiod above, myrmidon is from the Greek word
for ant . Myrmidon is chiefly defined as "a member of a warlike people inhabiting
ancient Thessaly, whom Achilles led to the siege of Troy."  Myrmidon has a couple of
extended definitions.  The first is "A member of a bodyguard or retinue" and the last
is "an opportunistic or sycophantic supporter;a hanger-on."  From the "myrm-" stem,
English also gets the study of ants, myrmecology, and myrmecophagous, "that eats ants;
characterized by feeding on ants."

Sources: definitions OED.com; Hesiod text: http://omacl.org/Hesiod/catalogs.html;
classical mythology synopsis: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/400667/Myrmidon
Image:http://www.insecta-inspecta.com/ants/army/army_ant.gif