As a snake in the hills, guarding his hole, awaits a man –
bloated with poison, deadly hatred seething inside him,
glances flashing fire as he coils around his lair…
so Hector, nursing his quenchless fury, gave no ground.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 22, lines 112-115. Hector is the sole Trojan standing outside the walls of the city, as he waits to fight Achilles. The Trojan hero is likened in Homer’s simile to a snake, bloated with poison and filled with hatred and rage.