Prior to the Myrmidons story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Ovid writes about the island of Aegina and its king, Aeacus, who is admired for his fairness and devotion to the gods. Ovid’s story of the Myrmidons is not presented in real time, as in many other stories in the Metamorphoses, but is recounted by Aeacus. He tells this story to Cephalus, who has come to Aegina seeking assistance for Athens in a war that Minos, king of Crete, is threatening. Before offering his assistance, Aeacus explains that his people were not born of traditional means, providing context for their strength and fierce loyalty.

          The poem that immediately precedes the “Birth of the Myrmidons” is Aeacus’s account of why his people are as they are. Despite his devotion to the gods, Aeacus is unable to escape the wrath of Juno. Her anger stems from jealousy toward Jupiter’s affair with Aegina, who is the mother of Aeacus and the namesake of the island. This makes Aeacus a target of Juno despite his innocence. Rather than confronting Jupiter, Juno sends a devastating plague to the island of Aegina, killing many animals and most of Aeacus’s people. Ovid emphasizes the scale of this cataclysm, stating that even bodies remain unburied, leaving heaps of corpses. After this tragedy, Aeacus prays for the restoration of his people, citing his piety toward the gods. His prayers are answered by Jupiter, who transforms ants into the Myrmidons, who are a new race of humans that are fiercely loyal to Aeacus. Inheriting various traits of ants, the Myrmidons are not only fiercely loyal but are also disciplined, cooperative, strong, and have unnatural endurance. The Myrmidons show up in other Greco-Roman mythology through the passing down of their loyalty through Aeacus’s lineage. This leads to the Myrmidons fighting alongside Achilles, the grandson of Aeacus, in the Trojan War.

          Ovid’s account of the creation of the Myrmidons provides context for earlier myths in which they appear. As stated above, the Myrmidons are said to have fought alongside Achilles in the Trojan War, as told in Homer’s Iliad. However, Ovid presents the Myrmidons in his Metamorphoses as transformed from ants to humans rather than as pre-existing people.