As ravenous wolves come swooping down on lambs or kids
to snatch them away – from right amidst their flock – all lost
when a careless shepherd leaves them straggling down the hills
and quickly spotting a chance the wolf pack picks them off,
no heart for the fight – so the Achaeans mauled the Trojans.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 16, lines 415-419. The Achaeans are likened to ravenous wolves swooping on lambs or kids, in an epic simile describing their slaughter of many Trojans.