So greet wepyng was ther noon, certayn,
Whan Ector was ybroght, al fressh yslayn,
To Troye. Allas, the pitee that was ther,
Cracchynge of chekes, rentynge eek of heer.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Knight’s Tale. When Arcite is killed the lamentations of the Athenians is compared with the Trojan mourning after the death of the slain warrior Hector, when the people scratched their cheeks and tore their hair.