Diomedes

Profile

Diomedes is the son of Tydeus, the Greek hero whom the classical tradition recalls as the companion of Ulysses in two celebrated fraudulent exploits against Troy, evoked by Virgil in Canto XXVI of the Inferno. The notes to the canto recall in particular the theft of the Palladium, the statue of Pallas that protected the citadel of Troy: the two heroes, through fraud, penetrated the citadel, killed its guardians, and stole the statue. In the same passage Virgil, naming them together, calls Diomedes "impious" and gives Ulysses the title of "weaver of crimes." Diomedes is also recalled by the note as a figure linked to Deidamia, named in the Purgatorio among the heroines sung by Statius and encountered in Limbo. The identity of Diomedes as a fraudulent counselor is confirmed by the verses and notes of Canto XXVI of the Inferno, where he appears associated with Ulysses in the flame divided into two horns.