Picture a woman dyeing ivory blood red…
a Carian or Maeonian staining a horse’s cheekpiece,
and it’s stored away in a vault and troops of riders
long to sport the ornament, true, but there it lies
as a king’s splendor, kept and prized twice over –
his team’s adornment, his driver’s pride and glory.
So now, Menelaus, the fresh blood went staining down
your sturdy thighs, your shins and well-turned ankles.
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 4, lines 160-167. Menelaus is wounded by an arrow shot by the renowned archer Pandarus, who is urged on by Athena. In an extended simile, Homer uses the imagery of a woman using blood red dye to stain a horse’s cheekpiece, to paint a picture of the dark blood coming from the wound in Menelaus’s groin.