Diomede

Family: mythological · Role: Greek hero · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 22

At Lemnos, Diomede took Philoctetes’ bow alongside Odysseus. While fighting at Ilium, Athene once removed a mist from his eyes. After Œneus was driven from Ætolia, he went to Diomede at Argos and helped him by leading an army into Calydonia; when Œneus died, Diomede buried him at Œnoe.

At Trœzen, Diomede erected Hippolytus’ precinct and temple and was the first to sacrifice to him. After escaping the storm that struck the Greeks on their return from Ilium, he dedicated a votive offering to Apollo and, according to the account, first established the Pythian games in his honour. In Book 3, he is shown as the King of Thrace slain by Hercules; after the capture of Ilium, Œneus is said to have retired with him to the Peloponnese. At Mothone, Diomede dedicated a statue of Athene, after which the destructive winds ceased.

Later accounts place Æneas opposite Diomede and show Diomede near Helen, gazing at her beauty with Briseis and Iphis. He is also named in accounts concerning Corœbus and Palamedes; one says that he and Odysseus drowned Palamedes while he was fishing.