Will Roberts

Diomedes Will Roberts

We are all familiar with the Greek heroes, Achilles, and Hercules, but according to Homer's epic story, The Iliad, set during the Trojan War, Diomedes played a far more significant role in the war for Troy than did Achilles, who was, in fact, absent for a substantial part of the fighting after his falling out with Agamemnon over Briseis. Apart from being a ferocious warrior, Diomedes was also a great orator, although often depicted as a reluctant debater, a special athlete, evident in his success in the games to celebrate Patroclus's death, and also a spy: with the help of Odysseus, he slipped into Troy to steal the palladium shortly before the fall of the city. Even before the battle for Troy, however, at the tender age of sixteen, Diomedes had avenged his father's death by taking Thebes, together with the 'Epigoni', the sons of the Seven against Thebes.