tight as a mason packs a good stone wall,
blocks on granite blocks for a storied house
that fights the ripping winds – crammed so close
the crested helmets, the war-shields bulging, jutting
buckler-to-buckler, helm-to-helm, man-to-man massed tight
and the horsehair crests on glittering helmet horns brushed
as they tossed their head the battalions bulked so dense.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 16, lines 251-256. The Myrmidons join the battle. They gather in a close formation, tight as a mason packs a good stone wall with granite blocks for a house, Homer tells us in one of his descriptive epic similes.