Tense as a chalk-line marks the cut of a ship timber,
drawn taut and true in a skilled shipwright’s hands –
some master craftsman trained in Athena’s school –
so tense the battle line was drawn, dead even.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 15, lines 481-484. The image of a shipwright drawing chalk lines to mark the cut for ship’s timber is used to describe how close the battle is, with the Trojans unable to break the Achaean line (epic simile).