Achilles now
like inhuman fire raging on through the mountain gorges
splinter-dry, setting ablaze big stands of timber,
the wind swirling the huge fireball left and right –
chaos of fire – Achilles storming on with brandished spear
like a frenzied god of battle trampling all he killed
and the earth ran black with blood.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 20, lines 553-559. Like raging fire, as described in an epic simile, Achilles and his rage over the death of his friend Patroclus are destroying everything in their path. Killing and trampling many Trojans, Achilles is compared to the god of war Ares as he sets out to avenge his friend’s slaying.