A flash of his helmet as rangy Hector shook his head:
"Ajax, royal son of Telarnon, captain of armies,
don’t toy with me like a puny, weak-kneed boy
or a woman never trained in works of war!
War – I know it well, and the butchery of men.
Well I know, shift to the left, shift to the right
my tough tanned shield. That’s what the real drill,
defensive fighting means to me. I know it all,
how to charge in the rush of plunging horses –
I know how to stand and fight to the finish,
twist and lunge in the War-god’s deadly dance."
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 7, lines 271-281. Responding with confidence to the taunts of Great Ajax, Hector shows that he is unafraid of the Greek giant. He speaks about being an experienced and skilled warrior, who knows well the butchery of men. Displaying the qualities of a hero, Hector tells his opponent that he knows how to stand and fight to the death.