Menelaus fierce as a mountain lion sure of his power,
seizing the choicest head from a good grazing herd.
First he cracks its neck, clamped in his huge jaws,
mauling the kill then down in gulps he bolts it,
blood and guts, and around him dogs and shepherds
raise a fierce din but they keep their distance,
lacking nerve to go in and take the lion on –
the fear that grips their spirit makes them blanch.
So now not a single Trojan fighter had the spine
to go and face Atrides tensing in all his strength.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 17, lines 69-78. The Trojans are afraid of the fierce warrior Menelaus, who in one of Homer’s extended similes is compared to a mountain lion seizing the choicest head from the herd, breaking its neck and gorging on its blood and entrails.