they swarmed forth like wasps from a roadside nest when boys have made it their sport to set them seething, day after day tormenting them round their wayside hive - Such frenzy seized their hearts, Myrmidons pouring out of the ships, ceaseless shouts rising.

Myrmidons,
battalions ranged in armor with greathearted Patroclus,
moving out now, the fury bursting inside them,
suddenly charged the Trojans –
they swarmed forth like wasps from a roadside nest
when boys have made it their sport to set them seething,
day after day tormenting them round their wayside hive –
idiot boys! they make a menace for every man in sight.
Any innocent traveler passing them on that road
can stir them accidentally – up in arms in a flash,
all in a swarm come pouring, each one raging down
to fight for home and children –
Such frenzy seized their hearts,
Myrmidons pouring out of the ships, ceaseless shouts rising.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 302-314. The image of a swarm of angry wasps pouring from their nest and raging down is used in an extended simile to describe the Myrmidons and Patroclus attacking the Trojans by the ships.

Homer Quotes