Some Thoughts on Diomedes

This kid is something else, all right. If my boy grows up to be half the leader Diomedes is then I will be one proud papa. I suppose I can't rightly call him 'kid' anymore (sprat, junior, and scooter will all have to go as well) because he has proved himself and more so, having more military experience than men twice his age.

The fellow does of course come from an impressive lineage. His father Tydeus was one of the men to take on Thebes, and when the sons of those men decided to finish the job, our Diomedes was among them. Their group of Epigoni (because they came after what happened, a little hamfisted but clever nonetheless) managed to finish their fathers' work and sacked the hell out of Thebes. Damn impressive, I must say.

(Thebes, where Diomedes made himself)

Anyroad, Diomedes showed up for this conflict with even more ships than I did, and he knows how to use them. This guy has aristeia coming out of his ears, which I suppose explains why he took it upon himself to become the war machine incarnate when Achilles decided to take his toys and go back to his tent. Diomedes fought like a god, which is funny in the sense that he apparently managed to take a chunk out of Aphrodite. The men are whispering that he had some divine help, possibly from Athene. All I can say is I'm glad he's on our side. However, he didn't quite know when to quit. I can't give him too hard a time about that because I know what it's like when you are in the heat of battle and all you want to do is destroy, but sometimes a little sense is helpful. Listening to what a god tells you definitely only takes a little sense to know that it is in your best interests. If Athene says only Aphrodite, she means only Aphrodite. She does NOT mean get into the heat of battle and do something stupid like take a swing at Apollo when the god is trying to remove an injured combatant. Apparently she forgave him though, because some of the boys reported seeing a grey-eyed maid in armor in the chariot with Diomedes later, fighting Trojans at his side.

As I write this, there has been a day of cease-fire declared so that we and the Trojans may both bury our dead. It is temporary, but necessary. The fellows are out building more fortifications for our camp, and those that were lost are being mourned. It's been a heck of a war...now if only we could get Achilles out of his sulk and back into his armor where he belongs, we might be able to get this thing ended.