"Cowherd, swineherd,
what, shall I blurt this out or keep it to myself?
No, speak out. The heart inside me says so.
How far would you go to fight beside Odysseus?
Say he dropped like that from a clear blue sky
and a god brought him back –
would you fight for the suitors or your king?
Tell me how you feel inside your hearts."
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 21, lines 218-225. The disguised Odysseus wants to know if Philoetius and Eumaeus are on his side. He is testing how far they would go to fight beside Odysseus before he reveals his identity to them.