#greek heroes high on adrenaline and opium

[still-mourning-polites]

And then later, he charges straight back into battle, having just taken an arrow through the foot. Though that wasn't just adrenaline, he likely took poppy, as well...

Also, I adore Aegialia's take in blazing fire (part 5 of the two lions series), where even as he's yelling insults at Aphrodite, he's thinking, "oh shit, I'm so fucked" 😅

Odysseus: You fought two gods after being shot in the shoulder?

Diomedes: Well, yes.

Odysseus: It’s just a little hard to believe.

Diomedes: Not really. One thing I have learned doing this - there's no drug like adrenaline.

[still-mourning-polites]

I love these, and I'm gonna add some of mine...

- he's really pretty but doesn't care about appearances, so he keeps his hair unfashionably short and is clean-shaven

- he spends a lot of time with his horses because it helps him relax

- the horses he brought to Troy were descended from Arion, his grandfather's divine horse, and he wanted Aeneas' horses to diversify the gene pool. He also got Rhesus' horses after the night raid and let Odysseus have the sheep the other commanders had promised as a reward

- he thinks of Sthenelus like an older brother

- his men joke that he could sleep through anything, but actually, he's a light sleeper. It's just that their off-key singing doesn't register as a threat, no matter how bad it is.

- in Iliad book 10, he was sleeping outside so he'd hear if the Trojans attacked. Nestor's approaching footsteps woke him, but he pretended to still be asleep

- he was furious when Odysseus got injured covering his retreat in book 11

- he was also furious when Odysseus claimed to be the best of the Greeks to win Achilles' armor, not because he thought Ajax deserved the armor, but because he feared that the gods would pay more attention to Odysseus because of it. Diomedes knows, better than anyone, that attention from gods isn't always a good thing

- Athena sped up the healing process a bit after Odysseus and Diomedes were injured in book 11, but she's not Apollo, and it didn't help that they charged back into battle in book 14 (adrenaline and opium is a powerful combination). They also both reopened their wounds by participating in Patroclus' funeral games. Machaon was not amused

- Athena didn't intervene directly in book 23. She just inspired Diomedes to grab Meriones' whip while he was overtaking. Meriones then lost control of his chariot and crashed, but because Achilles awarded him the second prize, he didn't make a fuss over it

- in the versions where Diomedes was a suitor of Helen's, he wasn't actually that interested in her - he was there for other reasons. But Aegialia was hurt and angry because it seemed like he'd gone off to woo a complete stranger rather than marry her. Their marriage was rocky from the very beginning because they both thought the other hated them.

- in the versions where Helen's marriage happened before Thebes, Diomedes was too young and too seldom at home for him and Aegialia to develop any real affection before he went off to Troy

- Diomedes had a crush on Odysseus from the very beginning

- he was the youngest Greek commander at Troy, apart from Achilles

- he was in his early to mid twenties when the Trojan war began, and Odysseus was around thirty, making the age gap 5-10 years. Though Diomedes is younger, he has the larger army and far more experience at fighting wars, so their relationship is fairly well balanced

- the age gap between Diomedes and Achilles is also 5-10 years, and though the two of them sometimes sparred together, they never really bonded

- he has a very dry sense of humour and it's one of the things Odysseus loves most about him

- his eyes are a rich golden brown, like toffee (but I usually describe them as bronze in my fics), and they glow a little when he's in berserker paladin mode

- he's grateful that berserker paladin mode doesn't happen very often. He hurt all over after book 5

- after the post-palladium-heist incident, he acted like nothing had happened. Odysseus was both relieved and constantly looking for a trap that wasn't there, and Diomedes found that hilarious

- Diomedes could totally take Hector in single combat. But he still shouldn't have volunteered to fight him with an untreated arrow wound

- Athena has three favourites - Diomedes, Odysseus, and Penelope. She pretends to favour them all equally, but she loves Dio most (in the Iliad, Odysseus only sees her once, and she's in disguise (book 2). Diomedes sees her more often and in her true form (books 5 and 10). Also, in book 23, Odysseus prays to her for help in the foot race, while Diomedes gets her help without needing to ask...)

pLEASE give me your diomedes headcanons i just stumbled upon your dio with a dissociative disorder post and THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEED

I'm so so sorry it took me SO long to reply I uh kinda forgot. Sorry. Here goes the Diomedes posting

-he def got PTSD that lead to (in addition to the dissociation) anxiety but he's very good at pretending everything is fine (he just ignores his symptoms and call it a day.)

-he does not understands hints, if you want him to understand you will have to say it as it is.

- man rly loves sleeping. If he didn't have that many responsabilities he would probably sleep >10h a night + take a midday nap everyday. It rly is his favourite activity in the world.

- we know he swore to avenge to father when he was 4yo and left for Thebes at 14yo- well, ppl (including other Epigoni) told him multiple times that he did not need to come and to honour an oath he took when he was just a toddler- but he has always been very stubborn and for a very long time avenging Tydeus was his main if not only life goal.

- he was a very troubled kid, who got angry and violent very fast. The war rly calmed him down (when he came back his looked like a different person.)

-he rarely ever lies. He's not even a bad liar, but he believes honestly is always the better option.

-he has a pretty good constitution, but not for alcohol. 1 drink and he's zoning out, only a few more and he's sleeping on the table.

-children rly love him for some reason??? He never knows how to act around children and is a little awkward, and yet they always adore him and think he's the coolest person in the world.