Ah for a young man
all looks fine and noble if he goes down in war,
hacked to pieces under a slashing bronze blade –
he lies there dead…but whatever death lays bare,
all wounds are marks of glory. When an old man’s killed
and the dogs go at the gray head and the gray beard
and mutilate the genitals – that is the cruelest sight
in all our wretched lives!
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 22, lines 83-90. King Priam talks about how noble it is for a young man to die in war and battle. While he lies there slashed to pieces, all his wounds are marks of glory. But the death of an old man is not an honorable thing, when he is killed and dogs mutilate his body, that is the cruelest sight of all. Priam is speaking to his son Hector, trying to dissuade him from fighting Achilles. He doesn’t want to lose Hector, but he also realizes that Hector’s willingness to die on the battlefield is his best chance for glory.