And the men like gangs of reapers slashing down the reaping-rows and coming closer, closer across the field of a warlord rich in wheat or barley - swaths by the armfuls falling thick-and-fast - so Achaeans and Trojans closed and slashed, lunging into each other.

And the men like gangs of reapers slashing down
the reaping-rows and coming closer, closer across
the field of a warlord rich in wheat or barley –
swaths by the armfuls falling thick-and-fast –
so Achaeans and Trojans closed and slashed,
lunging into each other.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 11, lines 76-81. The bitter clash between the Trojan and Achaean armies is described here in an epic simile, which compares them to gangs of reapers slashing and slicing down the rows of corn in a warlord’s field.

Homer Quotes