Like a stubborn ass some boys lead down a road…
stick after stick they’ve cracked across his back
but he’s too much for them now, he rambles into a field
to ravage standing crops. They keep beating his ribs,
splintering sticks – their struggle child’s play
till with one final shove they drive him off
but not before he’s had his fill of feed.
So with Telamon’s son Great Ajax then –
vaunting Trojans and all their far-flung allies
kept on stabbing his shield, full center, no letup.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 11, lines 656-665. Great Ajax is compelled to retreat in the face of the onslaught by Hector and his men. The image of a stubborn ass being beaten by sticks by a bunch of boys is conjured up to describe this in an epic simile.