Diomedes was the son of Tydeus and Deipyle, daughter of King Adrastus of Argos. After Tydeus died at Thebes, Diomedes grew up in Argos and later avenged his father by conquering Thebes with the Epigoni.
Tydeus was a son of Oeneus, king of Calydon. Exiled after killing a kinsman, Tydeus went to Argos where he married and fathered Diomedes, one of the greatest Greek warriors at Troy.
Amphiaraus fought alongside Tydeus as fellow champions of the Seven against Thebes, though Amphiaraus disapproved of Tydeus's savage nature and his cannibalism of Melanippus's brain.
Capaneus and Tydeus were fellow champions of the Seven against Thebes, both noted for their ferocity in battle. They assaulted separate gates during the siege.
Hippomedon and Tydeus fought as fellow champions of the Seven against Thebes, each assigned to assault a separate gate during the siege.
Amphiaraus condemned Tydeus's savagery when Tydeus ate the brains of the fallen Theban Melanippus. According to Pindar, Athena had been about to grant Tydeus immortality but withdrew in disgust, and Amphiaraus witnessed the act.
In the pre-Sophoclean tradition preserved by Mimnermus and a scholiast on the Iliad, Tydeus killed Ismene at a spring outside Thebes where she was meeting her lover, guided there by Athena.
The Seven against Thebes were seven champion warriors — Adrastus, Polynices, Tydeus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeus, and Amphiaraus — who marched from Argos to restore Polynices to the Theban throne. All but Adrastus perished in the siege.
Adrastus gave his daughter Deipyle to the exiled Tydeus and pledged to restore him to Calydon. Tydeus became the fiercest of the Seven against Thebes, fighting with terrifying fury until his death at the gates.
Athena favored Tydeus and intended to grant him immortality as he lay dying at Thebes. But when she witnessed him eating the brains of the slain Melanippus, she withdrew in disgust and let him die.
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