As the war between the Trojans and the Achaeans waged onwards, Diomedes, a valiant man, rose up with great courage and began to slay masses of Trojans soldiers. When Diomedes first entered the story he was given strict instructions by Athena not to fight one on one against any of the gods, except for Aphrodite. Consequently, Diomedes respectfully obeyed and continued to drive back the Trojan army. However, when Apollo appears in the form of Aeneas, Diomedes raged on in full strength and engaged in combat with Apollo. Though this proved to be an unwise decision, for Diomedes not only fought Apollo, but rather he went on to fight the goddess of love, Aphrodite. After such a stunning performance, Diomedes soon disappears from the story never to …show more content…
The reason for this sudden appearance of Diomedes in this story links back to the concept of hubris. Hubris, being excessive pride, is the pitfall of all great men. However, Diomedes was most likely placed in this story to show there is a difference between excessive pride and great courage. Just because a man does something that may be regarded as being prideful, does not mean that his intentions were prideful. In war those with courage often seem prideful, but rather Diomedes was placed in this story to show the difference. In the Iliad, Homer presents the quality of hubris as an inferior quality that should not be desired. While men were to strive for arête, there is a fine line between pursuing excellence and having a prideful behavior. Pridefulness, most definitely is not something to be desired, but to determine what and what is not hubris, one must …show more content…
In the upcoming passage, even though Diomedes was able to wound Aphrodite, keep in mind that Diomedes is able to do everything he can is because of Athena, and that his actions may not directly involve a desire to be prideful. “. . . but he with his ruthless bronze was hunting Aphrodite– Diomedes, knowing her for the coward goddess she is . . . But once he caught her, stalking her through the onslaught, gallant Tydeus’ offspring rushed her, lunging out, and the brazen point went slashing through her flesh. . .” (Homer, 175). In this passage Diomedes, seems to have had the audacity to have struck Aphrodite and succeeded. Generally, the mistake made when assessing Diomedes’ situation is that whenever you attack a god you have committed the vice of hubris. This in fact is a wrong pretense, for when Athena gave Diomedes his rules, an exception was made. Athena told Diomedes to not fight any of the other gods unless it was Aphrodite. Thus, in this circumstance, it is no longer prideful to fight Aphrodite as a challenge, but rather courageous. Even though Aphrodite is one of the weaker gods, no mortal man would ever endeavor to fight her singlehandedly. However, when given the opportunity, Diomedes stepped up to the challenge, and risking his life, he wounded the immortal Aphrodite. This clearly differentiates hubris and courage. Hubris is pretending to be bigger and better than you are