deep in his chest the brave heart groans, he lashes his ribs, his flanks and hips with his tail, he whips himself into fighting-fury, eyes glaring, hurls himself head-on - kill one of the men or die, go down himself at the first lethal charge!

But over against him came Achilles rearing like some lion
out on a rampage, and a whole town of men has geared
for the hunt to cut him down: but at first he lopes along,
all contempt, till one of the fast young hunters spears him –
then…crouched for attack, his jaws gaping, over his teeth
the foam breaks out, deep in his chest the brave heart groans,
he lashes his ribs, his flanks and hips with his tail,
he whips himself into fighting-fury, eyes glaring,
hurls himself head-on – kill one of the men or die,
go down himself at the first lethal charge!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 20, lines 194-203. Homer uses an epic simile to convey the power of Achilles’s rampaging charge, driven by rage, as he moves out to confront Aeneas in battle. He is inbued with the fury and power of a lion being hunted.

Homer Quotes