And now you threaten to strip me of my prize in person –
the one I fought for long and hard, and sons of Achaea
handed her to me.
My honors never equal yours,
whenever we sack some wealthy Trojan stronghold –
my arms bear the brunt of the raw, savage fighting,
true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder
the lion’s share is yours, and back I go to my ships,
clutching some scrap, some pittance that I love,
when I have fought to exhaustion.
No more now –
back I go to Phthia. Better that way by far,
to journey home in the beaked ships of war.
I have no mind to linger here disgraced,
brimming your cup and piling up your plunder.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 1, lines 190-202. The dispute between the two dominant Greeks Achilles and Agamemnon escalates. A proud Achilles launches a strong verbal attack on Agamemnon for theatening to take his war prize, Briseis. He complains that Agamemnon takes the lion’s share (metaphor) of the spoils and honors of war, while he gets the scraps after fighting to exhaustion. Achilles says that he would rather go home than remain in Troy dishonored.