But let them both bear witness to my loss…
in the face of blissful gods and mortal men,
in the face of that unbending, ruthless king –
if the day should come when the armies need me
to save their ranks from ignominious, stark defeat.
The man is raving – with all the murderous fury in his heart.
He lacks the sense to see a day behind, a day ahead,
and safeguard the Achaeans battling by the ships.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 1, lines 400-407. Agamemnon sends two heralds to seize Briseis from Achilles and Achilles consents to hand her over. He tells the heralds that Agamemnon is an inferior leader and says that Agamemnon will not be there to save the Achaeans when the need arises. Achilles also predicts that the day will come when they will need the help of Achilles.