And you, the captain of craft and cunning, shrewd with greed!
Why are you cowering here, skulking out of range?
Waiting for others to do your fighting for you?
You – it’s your duty to stand in the front ranks
and take your share of the scorching blaze of battle.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 4, lines 393-397. Agamemnon goes out on foot among the troops, in a bid to rouse them to battle. Here he goads Odysseus, accusing him of hanging back in the ranks and avoiding the front line.