But Ajax,
shielding Patroclus round with his broad buckler,
stood fast now like a lion cornered round his young
when hunters cross him, leading his cubs through wood –
he ramps in all the pride of his power, bristling strength,
the heavy folds of his forehead frowning down his eyes.
So Ajax stood his ground over brave Patroclus now.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 17, lines 151-157. In this epic simile Great Ajax is compared to a lion protecting its young from hunters, as he defends the body of Patroclus from the Trojans.