Then spake the great in battle, Diomed:⁠— “The man is here, nor have ye far to look If ye will be persuaded, and refrain To blame me angrily, because my years Are fewest midst you all. I too can boast Of noble birth; my father, Tydeus, lies Buried beneath a mound of earth at Thebes. To Portheus three illustrious sons were born, Who dwelt in Pleuron, and in Calydon The lofty⁠—Agrius, Melas, and the knight, My father’s father, Oeneus, eminent Among the rest for valor; he remained At home, but, wandering thence, my father went To Argos, for the will of Jove was such⁠— Jove and the other gods. He wedded there A daughter of Adrastus, and he dwelt Within a mansion filled with wealth; broad fields Fertile in corn were his, and many rows Of trees and vines around him; large his flocks, And great his fame as one expert to wield, Beyond all other Greeks, the spear in war. This should ye know, for this is true; nor yet Contemn my counsel given with careful thought And for your good, nor deem it comes from one