Book 10: Diomedes and Odysseus tearing up the Trojan Camps at night
Agamemnon Summons a Night Council
The book opens with everyone asleep apart from Agamemnon. He’s stressed as hell looking at the Trojans sleeping so close to the Greek ships. In his stressed state, he decides that now would be the best time to go and ask Nestor what to do. And so, he gets changed, picks up his spear and goes to leave the tent.
Meanwhile, Menelaus is also struggling to sleep, so he gets up to go and wake Agamemnon. When Menelaus arrives at Agamemnon’s tent, Agamemnon is just stepping out. Menelaus asks his brother what he’s up to and suggests that they should send one of the Greek soldiers to go and spy on the Trojans. Although, Menelaus says that he expects they won’t be able to find a man to carry out such a dangerous mission as this person would have to be exceptionally brave.
Agamemnon says that they should gather the heroes and call a small meeting. He tells Menelaus to call Idomeneus and Ajax squared while he goes to find Nestor. Agamemnon also suggests finding Antilochus and Meriones because they too are great fighters.
Before Agamemnon can run off, Menelaus clarifies what he should do once he’s rounded up all the men. Should they return to Agamemnon’s tent? Should they walk around the camp and attempt to find him in the night? Agamemnon confirms that they should come back to the tent because if Menelaus were to run about the camps they would surely never find one another. The two men separate to find their peers.
Agamemnon first goes to find Nestor. When he approaches the old man’s bedside, Nestor immediately wakes up. He shouts (something along the lines of) “WHO ARE YOU. WHO IS IN MY TENT. WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS HERE”. Agamemnon speaks quietly, assuring Nestor of who he is and replies with (something like) “I can’t sleep because I have mad anxiety about the war. But since you’re awake, let’s go chat with the others about what to do”.
Nestor agrees to the meeting, however suggests that before circling back to the tent they should go and wake both Diomedes and Odysseus, along with Little Ajax and Meges. He then (hilariously) scorns Menelaus for being asleep and not helping Agamemnon in his time of fear, mainly because he also thinks that they should go to get Idomeneus and Big Ajax but their ships are too far away from where they are now. Basically, they are two men and could really use a helpful third!
Agamemnon says (something along the lines of) “You know what, any other time I wouldn’t care that you were hating on Menelaus and I would even encourage it considering usually he waits for me to do ANYTHING rather than doing it of his own accord. But in this instance, I actually already sent him to go get Ajax and Idonmeneus”.
On that note, Nestor gets dressed and the pair go to get Odysseus first. Nestor goes into the tent to wake the son of Laertes and — let me tell you, this man is NOT happy. Odysseus gets up immediately and shouts at the old man (something like) “What the hell are you doing walking up and down the camps in the middle of the night!?” and Nestor replies saying (something along the lines of) “No need to bite my head off, we’re just calling a meeting. Get yourself together because we have one more person to pick up before making our way back”. So Odysseus gets his stuff together and they go to collect Diomedes.
The difference between how Nestor wakes up Diomedes and how Nestor wakes up Odysseus is truly night and day. Nestor just waltzes right up to a sleeping Diomedes and yells at him (something like) “WAKE UP! WHY ARE YOU ASLEEP! CAN YOU NOT SENSE HOW CLOSE THE BLOODY TROJANS ARE TO BURNING OUR SHIPS!?”
Diomedes wakes up with a start, asking why Nestor is waking him up in the first place. Further, he questions if there was no one slightly nicer, or younger than the old man to do the job of rousing him from sleep. Nestor replies (something like) “Oh — someone younger? Funny, yes, THAT WOULD BE YOU. Go wake up Little Ajax and Meges”. Surprisingly, the tough warrior that is Diomedes says absolutely nothing in response but does exactly what Nestor has ordered of him.
After picking up Little Ajax and Meges, all the men go to the meeting. Nestor stands at the front, Agamemnon and Menelaus come to sit near him, with Meriones and Antilochus close by. The old man then presents the plan he had heard from Agamemnon: that one of the men in this room needs to be willing to go and investigate the Trojan camps right now, with the intention of gathering intel about their enemy’s position. As expected, everyone is quiet.
After a moment of silence, Diomedes volunteers to play spy, however states that he will only carry out this mini-mission if he is joined by one of the other men. Hearing this, loads of men start offering themselves up to help him out, feeling safe that they’d be with Diomedes. Both Ajax’s volunteer, Meriones, Menelaus, Antilochus, and Odysseus.
Agamemnon tells Diomedes that he can pick his partner, and so Diomedes chooses Odysseus. His reasoning is that even though Diomedes is great on the battlefield, he lacks strength in his talking ability, which Odysseus is famous for. Odysseus jumps up and tells Diomedes that they should set out as soon as possible because the night is already two thirds gone.
The two men get their armour on and go, confident that Athena was with them. Odysseus prays to Athena after he hears a heron in the night, reminding the goddess that he is her favourite and so he needs her now more than ever. Diomedes listens to Odysseus’ prayer, thinks he should probably get in on that too, and so prays to the goddess for her to remember how she loved his father and thus encourages her to protect him through this night. Athena hears them both.
The Trojans Are Also Holding A Council
At the same time as all of that is happening, Hector woke all the Trojans to put together his own meeting. He addresses all of the Trojan leaders and asks them to do the same thing that Agamemnon had asked of the Greeks, but Hector bribes his men with gifts upon their return to the camp.
Dolon (a man who is “evil” to look at) volunteers to run over to the Greek side. He claims that so long as Hector swears to give him the gifts he just listed, then he’s more than happy to serve. Hector swears, and so Dolon runs off into the night.
The Greeks Meet Dolon …
Literally in the middle of the land between the two camps, Odysseus becomes aware of Dolon coming towards them. He leans into Diomedes and notifies him that a man is running in their direction, but suggests that they hang back in the shadows to see what he’s up to.
Dolon runs past the pair as Diomedes and Odysseus are standing by. Realising that he’s probably going to do what they have been sent to do, the pair start chasing him in the darkness. Dolon hears their footsteps and stops, assuming that they are a couple of Trojans running after him at Hector’s command. But when Odysseus and Diomedes get closer, Dolon realises they’re the enemy. Terrified, he begins to sprint.
The Greeks are hot on Dolon’s heels, and Athena puts courage in Diomedes to take advantage of their situation. He has the idea to scare Dolon and so picks up his spear, aims it past the Trojan, and lets go. The spear flies over Dolon’s right shoulder and into the ground in front of him ON PURPOSE, scaring Dolon sh*tless so that he stops running. This pause gives Odysseus and Diomedes enough time to run over and grab him.
Right on cue, Dolon starts crying and wailing (something like) “Take me alive!!!! I have great gifts for ransom!!!”
Not that the pair care though, as Odysseus orders Dolon to stop his begging. After all, Odysseus simply wants to ask the man questions. He first asks Dolon why he is going to the Greek ships when everyone is asleep, and follows this by asking if Hector sent him. Dolon, whimpering, tells Odysseus that Hector has led his mind astray with the thoughts of the gifts he promised him on his return — mainly the horses of Achilles — after he finds out whether the Greek ships are guarded or not.
Odysseus has a terrifying moment where he just smiles at Dolon, stressing how odd it is for a mortal man to desire the horses of Achilles, given that these horses are only meant to be ridden by a half-divine man. But Odysseus presses on, asking where Dolon has left Hector and where the Trojan prince’s armour is laying. He further asks more tactical questions, like Where are Hector’s horses? What are the Trojan’s sleeping arrangements? Are you staying put in your own camps or will you all be going back to the city?
Dolon tells him everything, including that men are always awake around the camp to keep the fires burning. Many lookouts are positioned all over the place, passing on the duty from person to person throughout the night to allow others to sleep. Odysseus questions him again about sleeping arrangements, and Dolon tells them what peoples are sleeping where so that Odysseus knows where each individual army is. We hear that next to the sea are the Karians and Paionians, then the Leleges, followed by Kaukonians and Pelasgians. Going further inland are the Lykians and Mysians, along with the Phrygians and Maioinians near the Thymbre. But if Odysseus wants the easiest target, Dolon informs him that the Thracians sleep apart from all of the men he just mentioned, with Rhesos, their king, having the nicest damn horses he ever did see. Lastly, Dolon begs Diomedes and Odysseus to spare his life, even if that means tying him up and leaving him on the ground right where he is.
Diomedes replies (something like) “In what world did you think that we were letting you live??? Sure, you gave us great information but if we let you live you’ll either come back to the camps to spy on us later, or come back to fight us tomorrow. Best to avoid the future problem”.
Dolon begins to panic and tries to beg and supplicate Diomedes, but the son of Tydeus chops his head clean off. Homer tells us that Dolon’s head was still speaking when it hit the ground.
The two Greeks strip his armour and Odysseus holds it up to Athena. He calls out a thanks to the goddess, asking her now not to abandon them as they go to search for the Thracians. They leave the armour on the ground to pick back up later and run off into the night.
The Thracian Camps
When the pair arrive, all the Thracians are asleep. King Rhesos sleeps in the middle of his army.
Odysseus turns to Diomedes and points to the king, then to the king’s horses. He says that he will go and untie the horses so that the pair are able to take them back to the Greek camps once Diomedes has finished his inevitable killing spree.
While Odysseus goes off to do that, Athena breathes courage into Diomedes so that he takes up his sword. Feeling the goddess’ power, Diomedes starts killing the lot of them. The son of Tydeus kills twelve men while they sleep.
Unfortunately, all the bodies of the men which Diomedes slaughters are blocking the exit route for the horses. Odysseus is forced to start pulling all the bloodied bodies to the side to form a clear path, and while he does this, Diomedes kills King Rhesos (making his kill-list total thirteen in this chapter).
Seeing Diomedes kill the king, Odysseus now hops into the chariot attached to the nice horses and whistles for Diomedes to join him. However, the son of Tydeus is torn — does he continue to kill more of the Thracians or go with Odysseus back to the camp?
As he’s thinking, Athena comes down to him and tells him that he’s had his fun but now must return to the ships. Diomedes is aware that this is Athena, and so takes her advice and hops into the chariot alongside Odysseus. They ride off back to the Greek camp.
Apollo, meanwhile, is watching Athena get involved and he’s NOT happy. In an act of retaliation, Apollo wakes Rhesos’ cousin up so he can see the madness that has happened around him. Processing the massacre, the Thracian wakes up all the men near him to take a look at the slaughter.
The Men Return
Odysseus and Diomedes are now riding past where they killed Dolon and so make a stop to pick up the armour they had left there. Diomedes gets out of the chariot to retrieve the items, whereas Odysseus stays where he is in order to keep hold of the horses.
When they get to the Greek camp, Nestor is the first to see them approaching from a distance. Initially, he doubts if it really is Odysseus and Diomedes, considering they are now in a foreign chariot.
Before Nestor finishes, they get into the camp and dismount from the chariot. All the men see and cheer them on in delight.
When Nestor asks how they got the horses, Odysseus speaks and says that it’s all thanks to Diomedes for killing many Thracians. The men walk the animals to Diomedes’ tent and tie them up alongside his other horses. Odysseus then gets Dolon’s armour to dedicate to Athena.
Both men go into the sea to wash off the blood, then sit down to eat.
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