Based on the criteria presented in book eight of the Republic, the Greek warrior Diomedes’s soul is closest to that of the aristocratic man. Although he strives for honor and could therefore have a timocratic soul, every action Diomedes takes is grounded in the cornerstones of the aristocratic soul: wisdom and reason. There are many instances throughout the Iliad in which Diomedes can see the bigger picture, the truth, while the rest of the Greeks could not. A clear example of Diomedes seeing the truth where others were unable is when Athena “removed the mist that [] clouded [his] eyes so that now [he] can tell god from man.” Athena then tells Diomedes not to fight with any immortal he comes across except Aphrodite. Aside from literally being
