Book 5 begins a passage of extended individual heroism for Diomedes, something that the Greeks called an aristeia. The passages is designed to commemorate Diomedes’ bravery and glory as a hero. Naturally, a goddess, Athena, assists him in attaining this glory. Diomedes continues his assault on the Trojans, acting like force of nature.
The passages is designed to commemorate Diomedes’ bravery and glory as a hero. Naturally, a goddess, Athena, assists him in attaining this glory. Diomedes continues his assault on the Trojans, acting like force of nature. The Trojans begin to panic. Pandarus shoots an arrow at Diomedes and hits him in the shoulder.
This act of aggression breaches Diomedes’ agreement with Athena, who had limited him to challenging Aphrodite alone among the gods. Apollo, issuing a stern warning to Diomedes, effortlessly pushes him aside and whisks Aeneas off of the field.
Diomedes prays to Athena for revenge, and the goddess endows him with superhuman strength and the extraordinary power to discern gods on the field of battle. She warns him, however, not to challenge any of them except Aphrodite. Diomedes fights like a man possessed, slaughtering all Trojans he meets.
AthenaAthena grants Diomedes strength in battle “so the fighter would shine forth…and win himself great glory.” Diomedes dismounts his chariot and begins killing Trojans. Athena further assists Diomedes by luring Ares away from the battlefield.
AthenaDiomedes received the most direct divine help and protection. He was the favorite warrior of Athena (who even drove his chariot once).
When Pandaros (who wounded Menelaos) wounds Diomedes, the valiant Achaian soldier appeals to Athena for aid. She answers him by giving him additional courage, plus the privilege of being able to distinguish gods from men. She warns him, however, not to fight against any of the gods — with the exception of Aphrodite.
Diomedes was the commander of 80 Argive ships and one of the most respected leaders in the Trojan War. His famous exploits include the wounding of Aphrodite, the slaughter of Rhesus and his Thracians, and seizure of the Trojan Palladium, the sacred image of the goddess Pallas Athena that protected Troy.
Diomedes prays to Athena for revenge, and the goddess endows him with superhuman strength and the extraordinary power to discern gods on the field of battle. She warns him, however, not to challenge any of them except Aphrodite. Diomedes fights like a man possessed, slaughtering all Trojans he meets.
Aphrodite sees her son in danger and comes to rescue him. Diomedes attacks and injures the goddess, driving her from the battleground without her son. Later, the goddess Athena joins Diomedes on his chariot and the Achaean hero buries his spear in the war god Ares' side.
AchillesAthena was a major protagonist in Homer's account of the Trojan War in the Iliad where she supports the Achaeans and their heroes, especially Achilles, to whom she gives encouragement and wise counsel, Menelaos, who is saved from the arrow of Pandaros, and Diomedes, whose spear, in one notable episode, is diverted to ...
Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors.
Athena and Poseidon intervene, saving him from the angry river god. Achilles continues his brutal slaughter, driving the Trojans back to their gates. As the Trojans retreat, Hector recognizes that the death of Patroclus has roused Achilles' fury.
Aphrodite, ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified with Venus by the Romans. The Greek word aphros means “foam,” and Hesiod relates in his Theogony that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea.
As potent as the rage that Achilles feels toward Agamemnon is his ability to intimidate the Trojans. Homer communicates the scope and intensity of the battle with long descriptive passages of mass slaughter, yet he intersperses these descriptions with intimate characterization, thereby personalizing the violence.
Summary: Book 6. With the gods absent, the Achaean forces again overwhelm the Trojans, who draw back toward the city. Menelaus considers accepting a ransom in return for the life of Adrestus, a Trojan he has subdued, but Agamemnon persuades him to kill the man outright.
When Aeneas’s mother, Aphrodite, comes to his aid, Diomedes wounds her too, cutting her wrist and sending her back to Mount Olympus. Aphrodite’s mother, Dione, heals her, and Zeus warns Aphrodite not to try her hand at warfare again. When Apollo goes to tend to Aeneas in Aphrodite ’s stead, Diomedes attacks him as well.
The gods base their support for one side or the other not on principle but on which heroes they happen to favor. They scheme or make pacts to help one another but often fail to honor these pacts. Ares, for example, though having vowed to support the Achaeans, fights alongside the Trojans throughout Books 5 and 6.