Aeacus
King of the
island Aegina whose father was Zeus and his mother the seanymph Aegina. Zeus
jealous wife Hera was so angered by their relationship that she took revenge
by sending a plague to the island, killing almost everyone on it. Aeacus then
asked his father to turn ants to people so that his island would be populated
again, and so Zeus made the myrmidons - the ant people, who were to be the
fierces warriors in Greece.
Aeachus had three sons: Phocos, Telemon and Peleus. Phocos was the most loved
son, and in a fit of jealousy his brothers killed him. Telemon fled to Salamis,
and Peleus to Thessaly. They each had a hero son: Telemon Ajax and Peleus
Achilles. When Aeachus died he became one of the three judges of the underworld,
since he had been such a righteous king.
