And Atrides gave ground, he left the corpse
but kept on turning round to face an attack –
like a great bearded lion the dogs and field hands
drive back from the folds with spears and sharp cries
and the brave, battling heart in his chest freezes tight
and the big cat, all reluctance, pulls back from the sheds.
So the red-haired captain backed away from Patroclus’ corpse.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 17, lines 124-130. Menelaus gives ground to the waves of Trojan soldiers and backs away from the corpse of Patroclus. He is likened in Homer’s extended simile to a big bearded lion being driven back by dogs and field hands with spears.