νόστου δὴ μνῆσαι
We have seen (in “The Poetics of Ambush” and the commentary on 10.211–212 and 10.247) that the mission Diomedes and Odysseus undertake has thematic language in common with journeys, and with homecomings in particular. Thus the word nostos here has a thematic significance. In order for the spying mission, now turned ambush, to be fully successful, Diomedes and Odysseus will have to get back safely to the Achaean ships, which is what Athena reminds Diomedes of here. In the polemos, a warrior might be mindful of his battle lust (some form of μιμνήσκω + χάρμης, Iliad 4.222, 8.252, 13.721–722, 15.380, 15.477, 19.148) or his furious resolve to stand his ground (μιμνήσκω + θούριδος ἀλκῆς, Iliad 6.112, 8.174, 11.566, 15.487, 15.734, 16.270, 17.185). But in an ambush, the ambushers must be mindful of their return to their own comrades. Not surprisingly, being mindful of one’s nostos is seen more often in the Odyssey. At Odyssey 3.141–142, Nestor recalls how Menelaos bid all the Achaeans to be mindful of their homecoming as they were about to leave Troy. In a different phrasing, Odysseus’ men ask him to be mindful of his fatherland (μιμνῄσκεο πατρίδος αἴης) specifically in the context of wanting to go home (ἱκέσθαι οἶκον, Odyssey 10.472–474). And in the closest parallel to this language, Athena goes to Sparta to remind Telemakhos of his nostos and to urge him to return home (νόστου ὑπομνήσουσα καὶ ὀτρυνέουσα νέεσθαι, see Odyssey 15.1–3).