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Professor Almeida

Honors 101A

3 October 2008

The Determinacy of Age in Homer’s Iliad

In Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, there exists an intriguing and important relationship

between the characters of Diomedes and Nestor. While both are quite different characters by far,

they each share certain traits which help express Homer’s underlying ideas concerning the

importance of age and wisdom in the life of a Greek hero. In the relationship between Nestor and

Diomedes, Homer shows his audience how age and the wisdom that grows alongside it

supersede physical ability by establishing heroic traits such as authority and right judgment. As

is the case with Nestor and the hope of Diomedes, these traits can ultimately outlast a soldier’s

fighting years and work to endow a hero with perpetual honor.

In The Iliad, Nestor is most well-known as a wise counselor. It is to Nestor that

Agamemnon goes for advice (X.84). It is Nestor who approves the king’s dream (II.90-102); it is

Nestor who tells Agamemnon to rally his forces (II.398-444); it is Nestor who advises the wall

and trench be built (VII.372-96). Nestor is the one who praises Agamemnon’s gifts to Achilles

(IX.194-206), who proposes a reconnoiter mission (X.240-55), and finally advises against

hopeless fighting (XIV.64-76). Diomedes, on the other hand is most renowned for his strength;

his epithets give good example of this: “Lord of the war cry” (VIII.165), “king of the Argives, /

horse-breaking Tydeus’s son, rugged Diomedes!” (XXIII.525-6). His brute force is once

described by Homer as a flash flood (V.100-3). Even after being shot in the shoulder with an

arrow (V.104-9), and wounded in the foot (XI.452-467), he still goes on to win the contest of

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arms not long after (XXIII.912-16). Diomedes himself rescues Nestor from battle, who if not for

Diomedes would have died (VIII.105-6). Yet how curious is Diomedes’ remark to Nestor when

he is awoken by him: “You, old man, you’d overpower us all!” (Diomedes, X.197), and still

more curious is Nestor’s claim to be deserving of honors on par with the Argive champions

(XXIII.724).

To understand these things, it is important for the reader to observe the many discussions

of age that pervade the poem. Nestor is clearly older than anyone, as the reader is reminded

constantly (I.303). Diomedes, on the other hand is the youngest (XIV.138). As such, Diomedes is

quick to respond to Nestor’s urgings. He offers both to fight Hector (VII.189) and to spy on the

Trojan camp (X.258) because of Nestor’s influence, and so great is his respect for authority, he

rebukes his comrade Sthenelus for claiming greatness over their fathers (IV.464-84). Upon

hearing Nestor’s counsel, Diomedes declares, “Right, old soldier – all you say is true.”

(Diomedes, VIII.166). A similar insight is echoed by Agamemnon on more than one occasion

(I.336, X.139). This inerrancy of Nestor is not manifested in Diomedes. On one particular

occasion, Nestor even rebukes Diomedes for his “loose talk” (VIII.173). Despite this, Diomedes

himself expresses many moments of good counsel, on one occasion being the very first to

address Agamemnon (IX.37), a position which Nestor normally enjoys (VII.372-3). Even Nestor

marvels at his counsel: “How young you are … why, you could be my son, / my youngest-born

at that, though you urge our kings / with cool clear sense: what you’ve said is right” (IX.66-8).

These words of edification seem at first to elevate Diomedes alongside Nestor, but he is not

finished with his statement: “I think I can claim to have some years on you. / So I must speak up

and drive the matter home.” (IX.70-1). Nestor then launches into his own elaboration upon what

Diomedes has already proposed (IX.60-93).

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The question remains: if Diomedes spoke rightly, why did Nestor have to repeat it in his

own words? That answer can be found in a closer evaluation of the similarities between Nestor

and Diomedes. When he was Diomedes’ age, Nestor recalls: “No one could match me there,

none among the Epeans, / not even our own Pylians, or Aetolia’s hardy men.” (XXIII.705-6) and

again, “There was a day I shone among the champions.” (XXIII. 719). It is also observed that

even from the earliest time, his plans and tactics always seemed best” (VII.372-3). Not only does

Diomedes seem to share this “superhuman” (V.504, V.528, V.1022) quality with Nestor’s youth,

but he also shares Nestor’s skill of counsel at a young age: “Few can match your power in battle,

Diomedes, / and in council you excel all men your age.” (IX.61-2). Notice here the way Nestor

expresses his idea: “all men your age.” Nestor takes care not to take Diomedes’ wisdom out of

the context of his age. This speaks volumes about the importance of age, and it helps clarify why

Nestor would have repeated Diomedes’ exact same sentiment in the council referenced above.

Not only have Nestor’s years made him wiser, they have given him an authority which demands

respect from those who are younger. His words carry a weight that Diomedes’ could never carry

because of the simple fact that Nestor has lived longer and is older than those he is counseling.

Although it is evident from all this that growing in authority is intimately woven with

growing in age, growing in wisdom is not entirely dependent on age. True, experience only

comes with time, but the way that time is spent is critical to becoming as wise as Nestor. The

seemingly most practical and most appropriate use of that time is spent proving oneself

physically as has been exemplified in the lives of Nestor and Diomedes both. However, it is also

evident that neither of these men relied solely on their own youthful strength. Each relied heavily

upon divine aid, and it is no coincidence that both men were assisted by Athena. All throughout

the story, Diomedes prays to Athena for aid (V.125-47, X.332-346), and she gives him glory

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(X.581-91, XXIII.449). Homer describes it well at the beginning of Book V: “Then Pallas

Athena granted Tydeus’ son Diomedes / strength and daring – so the fighter would shine forth /

and tower over the Argives and win himself great glory” (V.1-3). Among other moments (857-

8), Nestor himself recalls, ““I took [Ereuthalion] on and Athena gave me glory” (VII.179).

The resultant growth of Diomedes’ wisdom is best exemplified in his increasingly

cautionary actions toward the gods. At the outset Diomedes cries, ““Not a word of retreat. You’ll

never persuade me. / It’s not my nature to shrink from battle, cringe in fear / with the fighting

strength still steady in my chest.” (V.279-81). His recklessness is so great that even many of the

gods believe he’d fight Zeus given the opportunity (V.408, 526). Yet as the battle rages on and

Diomedes grows in the experience, he begins displaying signs of caution toward warring with

the gods (V.685, 696, VI.148-52), a caution which Zeus says will keep a man alive longer

(V.465-6). This same caution is verified in Nestor’s preceding wisdom: “There’s not a man alive

who can fight the will of Zeus, / even a man of iron – Zeus is so much stronger!” (VIII.163-4).

Yes, indeed, Diomedes learns his lessons well, and he grows in wisdom because of it.

In the end, the reader cannot disputer the fact that Diomedes is wise, but neither can the

reader claim that his wisdom is equivalent to Nestor’s. It is just as impossible to make that claim

that Diomedes is Nestor’s age. Despite this, it is still very conceivable that Diomedes could one

day become the kind of hero Nestor is in The Iliad, a hero whose honor relies upon the authority

of age and in the right counsel of wisdom. All he need do is to take advantage of the lessons of

his youth and age into maturity.

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Work Cited

Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1990.