I don't recall the name of the king (which is rather crappy of me, I'll have to go look that up and repost once I'm able to!) but the myth was that a recently dispossessed king ended up in desolate land and noted a swarm of ants climbing a tree. He then supposedly remarked that if only he had subjects as tireless and industrious as those ants, he could build a great kingdom, so Zeus granted his wish and turned the ant colony in to humans.