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Were these fact or fiction? How were they armed? Any stories... apart from Troy that is. Would they be appropriate as an elite mercenary unit, say recruitable from Thessalonica or thereabouts in a Rome: Total War mod?
Sorry if it's already been discussed/modded (I did a Google search on the forums but couldn't find anything though).
The Myrmidons are a rather mythical contigent of warriors, namely Achilles' homeland army. I don't think they'd fit in any RTW mod other than a Troy mod... although taking into account the coolness factor ~;) some might welcome such a unit if you'd create it.Quote:
Originally Posted by zhuge
I once read something about there having been a tribe of ants who for one reason or another were tranformed into humans by the Gods (who, naturally, need not rationally justify their odd pranks) and these where then known as Myrmidons.
*shrug*
I think the source was Age of Mythology, so I can't exactly vouch for the accuracy but the game seems to have gotten most other myths more or less right.
Historically ? Far as I know the best that can be said about the whole Iliad is that Troy apears to have existed and gotten razed by enemies (several times actually; the famous sack happened to the city-state's most prosperous and powerful incarnation, as far as archeological evidence says) and just about all the rest is anyone's guess and for the most part likely Homer spinning tall tales and telling a good story.
There's a theory the famous "wooden horse" was actually a siege engine known as the Assyrian Horse, a sort of low siege tower with a vaguely horse-like profile, that appears in Assyrian reliefs around the same times.
they're like the Agronauts, just more recent
The Argonauts were the best of each branch of something. Like the best archer, the best spotter, the best wrestler (Hercules), the best... whatever you can think up. They crewed a single ship to the east of the Black Sea to what is now Georgia. Many parts of the story actually fall into place, but it doesn't seem it be as 'true' as the Illiad.
The antstory about the Myrmidons is indeed from Age of Mythology, so we can't expect it to be very accurate. That is the problem with that game it mixes truth with fiction indescriminately. Who is to know what is what?
Quite likely the Myrmidons didn't exist. There is a possibility that there was a large effective band of mercenaries along with the troops that sacked Troy, but beyond that... Well nothing really.