Tydeus
A hero of savage courage who fought as one of the Seven Against Thebes but lost Athena's gift of immortality in his final moment.
The Legend of Tydeus
Tydeus was an Aetolian prince exiled from Calydon for murder, who found refuge with Adrastus at Argos and married his daughter. Small in stature but ferocious in combat, he became one of the Seven who marched against Thebes. During the campaign, he was sent as an ambassador to Thebes. When the Thebans set fifty warriors in ambush on his return, Tydeus killed all but one. At the battle itself, Tydeus fought with extraordinary savagery. He was mortally wounded by Melanippus but managed to kill his enemy in return. Here the story takes its darkest turn: Athena, who admired Tydeus, descended from Olympus carrying a vial of ambrosia that would have made him immortal. But before she arrived, Tydeus, in a frenzy of battle-rage, cracked open Melanippus's skull and ate his brains. Athena recoiled in disgust and withheld the ambrosia. Tydeus died — the man who was one moment from godhood, destroyed by his own savagery. His son Diomedes inherited his courage without his father's fatal excess.
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