"You, you clumsy ox, you’re better off dead
or never born at all, if you cringe at him,
paralyzed with fear of an old, broken hulk,
ground down by the pains that hound his steps.
Mark my word – so help me I’ll make it good –
if that old relic whips you and wins the day,
I’ll toss you into a black ship and sail you off
to Echetus, the mainland king who wrecks all men alive!
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 18, lines 91-98. Antinous makes this threat to Irus if he fails to win the fight with Odysseus. He rounds on Irus, after the "Beggar King" visibly quakes with terror as the sight of Odysseus’ muscular chest, thighs and arms.