Diomedes

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

in Greek mythology, (1) a king of the Bistones, who fed his horses on human flesh, and used to throw all strangers who entered his territories to those animals to be devoured. He was killed by Hercules, who carried off the horses. (2) One of the heroes at the siege of Troy, the son of Tydeus and Deïpyle, and King of Argos, one of the suitors of Helen. After she was carried off Diomedes engaged in the expedition against Troy, in which his courage and the protection of Pal- DIONÆA las rendered him one of the most distinguished heroes. He wounded Aphrodite and Ares, and thrice assailed Apollo; and by carrying off the horses of Rhesus from the enemies' tents, and aiding Ulysses in the removal of Philoctetes from Lemnos, he fulfilled two of the conditions on which alone Troy could be conquered. Finally he was one of the heroes concealed in the wooden horse by whom the capture of Troy was at length accomplished. Different accounts were given of his after-life. He is often called Diomede. DIOGENES DIONEA (Gr. Diōnē, one of the names of Venus), a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Droseraceæ. It consists of a single species, D. muscipula, commonly called Venus' fly-trap. The lamina is articulated to the pedicle, and consists of two portions united together by a joint along the midrib. On the upper side of each part of the lamina are situated three irritable hairs, which, on being touched, cause the folding of the divisions from below upward, so as to inclose any object. The food thus captured is digested by the action of a fluid resembling gastric juice. Venus' fly-trap is a native of the United States.