dual personalities

Here it is Saturday, August 15, 2020, what should have been son #2’s wedding day but turned out to be a perfect example of how life sometimes intervenes in our well laid plans. The groom-to-be wrote eloquently about the “s’pos da” phenomenon in this week’s Melville Minute. Do read it.

As luck would have it (and as I’ve mentioned before), I’m teaching The Iliad this semester. Does any literary work do better conveying the message that we humans are not in control of our lives? I think not.

Once again I have been struck by the fact that the most truly and consistently heroic character is not Achilles or Hector but Diomedes, the always brave, polite, and honorable warrior from Argos. When in book 6 he challenges Glaucus to fight and discovers that their fathers share a guest-host obligation, he immediately breaks off and the two exchange armor as friends. Now that’s honorable behavior! Diomedes volunteers for dangerous missions and even takes on the gods in combat, wounding both Aphrodite and Ares. Not only is he the only hero in the epic to hurt a god but he manages to do it with impunity (mostly thanks to Athena who protects him). In this scene, Aphrodites saves Aeneas from Diomedes.

The perfect hero and diplomat (a younger, more studly Odysseus, if you will), Diomedes would never let himself get into the type of argument that Achilles and Agamemnon botch at the beginning of the poem. Next time you read The Iliad pay attention to Diomedes — he’s an interesting character. Yet the things just mentioned are not what make him truly heroic. What earns our admiration is his ability to take setbacks with equanimity. When he gets wounded, he keeps fighting. When Agamemnon is panicking and ready to sail home, Diomedes remains calm and rational. After the war is over (according to Greek legend) when things back in Argos go pear-shaped, he simply starts over again in Italy, founding a couple of cities there.

In other words, Diomedes’ great heroic character trait is the ability to take what comes without complaint and get on with it. You can see why Chris and Nicole reminded me of The Iliad — they’re being very Diomedes like! We could all learn from his example.