The
Trojan Horse was a tale from the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, as told in
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
's
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
epic poem
The Aeneid. The events in this story from the
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
took place after
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
's
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
, and before Homer's
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon. Indeed it is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of...
. It was the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the best-known version, after a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy the Greeks built a huge figure of a horse in which a select force of men hid.
The
Trojan Horse was a tale from the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, as told in
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
's
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
epic poem
The Aeneid. The events in this story from the
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
took place after
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
's
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
, and before Homer's
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon. Indeed it is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of...
. It was the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the best-known version, after a fruitless 10-year siege of Troy the Greeks built a huge figure of a horse in which a select force of men hid. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the Horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the Horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greek army entered and destroyed the city, decisively ending the war. A "Trojan Horse" has come to mean any trick that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or place.
The priest
LaocoönLaocoön , the son of Acoetes is a figure in Greek mythology, a Trojan priest of Poseidon, , whose rules he had defied, either by marrying and having sons, or by having committed an impiety by making love with his wife in the presence of a cult image in a sanctuary...
guessed the plot and warned the Trojans, in Virgil's famous line "
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" is a Latin phrase from Virgil's Aeneid . It means "I fear the Danaans even if they bring gifts" but is often paraphrased to English as "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts"....
" (Do not trust Greeks bearing gifts), but the god Poseidon sent two sea serpents to strangle him, and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus, before he could be believed.
King PriamIn Greek mythology, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous"....
's daughter
CassandraIn Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy...
, the soothsayer of Troy, insisted that the horse would be the downfall of the city and its royal family but she too was ignored, hence their doom and loss of the war.
Legend
This incident is mentioned in the
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon. Indeed it is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of...
:
- What a thing was this, too, which that mighty man wrought and endured in the carven horse, where in all we chiefs of the Argives were sitting, bearing to the Trojans death and fate! 4.271 ff
- But come now,change thy theme, and sing of the building of the horse of wood, which Epeius made with Athena's help, the horse which once Odysseus led up into the citadel as a thing of guile, when he had filled it with the men who sacked Ilion . 8.487 ff (trans. Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler may refer to:*Samuel Butler , author of Hudibras*Samuel Butler , classical scholar, schoolmaster at Shrewsbury, Bishop of Lichfield...
)
The most detailed and most familiar version is in Virgil's
Aeneid,
Book 2 (trans.
John DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.-Early life:Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle...
).
- By destiny compell'd, and in despair,
- The Greeks grew weary of the tedious war,
- And by Minerva's aid a fabric rear'd,
- Which like a steed of monstrous height appear'd:
- The sides were plank'd with pine; they feign'd it made
- For their return, and this the vow they paid.
- Thus they pretend, but in the hollow side
- Selected numbers of their soldiers hide:
- With inward arms the dire machine they load,
- And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.
- [...]
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Laocoon, follow'd by a num'rous crowd,
Ran from the fort, and cried, from far, aloud:
‘O wretched countrymen! What fury reigns?
What more than madness has possess'd your brains?
Think you the Grecians from your coasts are gone?
And are Ulysses' arts no better known?
This hollow fabric either must inclose,
Within its blind recess, our secret foes;
Or 't is an engine rais'd above the town,
T' o'erlook the walls, and then to batter down.
Somewhat is sure design' d, by fraud or force:
Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse.’ |
Fact or fiction
According to Homer,
TroyTroy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Epic Cycle and especially in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer...
stood overlooking the
HellespontHellespont was the ancient name of the narrow strait, now known by the modern European term 'the Dardanelles'. It was so called from Helle, the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden...
- a channel of water that separates
Asia MinorAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. In the 1870s,
Heinrich SchliemannHeinrich Schliemann Heinrich Schliemann Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an important...
set out to find it.
Following Homer's description, he started to dig at
HisarlikHisarlik , is the modern name for the site of ancient Troy, also known as Ilion, and is located in what is now Turkey...
in Turkey and uncovered the ruins of several cities, built one on top of the other. Several of the cities had been destroyed violently, but is not clear which, if any, was the Troy of Homer's poetry.
Book II of Virgil's Aeneid
Book II of
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works—the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the Aeneid—although several minor poems are also attributed to him.The son of a farmer, Virgil came to be...
's
AeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written by Virgil in the late 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is written in dactylic hexameter...
covers the siege of Troy, and includes these lines spoken by
LaocoönLaocoön , the son of Acoetes is a figure in Greek mythology, a Trojan priest of Poseidon, , whose rules he had defied, either by marrying and having sons, or by having committed an impiety by making love with his wife in the presence of a cult image in a sanctuary...
:
- Equo ne credite, Teucri. Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes
"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" is a Latin phrase from Virgil's Aeneid . It means "I fear the Danaans even if they bring gifts" but is often paraphrased to English as "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts"....
.
- Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bringing gifts.
This is the origin of the modern adage
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
Possible explanations
PausaniasPausanias was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between...
, who lived in the 2nd century AD, wrote on his book Description of Greece
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=paus.+1.1.1:
- That the work of Epeius was a contrivance to make a breach in the Trojan wall is known to everybody who does not attribute utter silliness to the Phrygians (1,XXIII,8)
where by Phrygians he means the Trojans. There has been some modern speculation that the Trojan Horse may have been a
battering ramA battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times to break open fortification walls or doors.In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against an obstacle; the ram would be sufficient to damage the target if the...
resembling, to some extent, a horse, and that the description of the use of this device was then transformed into a myth by later
oral historiansOral history can be defined as the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker....
who were not present at the battle and were unaware of that meaning of the name. Assyrians at the time used siege machines with animal names; it is possible that the Trojan Horse was such.
It has also been suggested that the Trojan Horse actually represents an earthquake that occurred between the wars that could have weakened Troy's walls and left them open for attack. Structural damage on Troy VI—its location being the same as that represented in Homer's Iliad and the artifacts found there suggesting it was a place of great trade and power—shows signs that there was indeed an earthquake. Generally, though, Troy VIIa is believed to be Homer's Troy (see below).
The deity
PoseidonIn Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea and, as "Earth-Shaker," of earthquakes. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
had a triple function as a god of the sea, of horses and of earthquakes.
The Trojan horse may also refer to the Trojan cavalry led by Hector. The enemy could have disguised themselves as this cavalry unit and were let back into Troy without question. This interpretation of the Trojan Horse is the one used by author
David GemmellDavid Andrew Gemmell was a bestselling British author of heroic fantasy. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write over thirty novels. Best known for his debut, Legend, Gemmell's works display violence, yet also explore...
in the third part of his Troy trilogy,
Troy: Fall of KingsTroy: Fall of Kings is a historical fantasy novel by British fantasy writer David Gemmell, forming the final part of the Troy Series.It was finished by his wife, Stella Gemmell, following his death on July 28 2006 and released under the joint authorship of David and Stella Gemmell.-Plot summary:As...
.
Men in the horse
According to the
Little IliadThe Little Iliad is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the "Trojan" cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of the Little Iliad comes chronologically after that of the Aethiopis, and is followed by that of the...
, 30 soldiers hid in the Trojan horse's belly and 2 spies in its mouth. Other sources give different numbers: Apollodorus 50; Tzetzes 23; and Quintus Smyrnaeus gives the names of thirty, but says there were more. In late tradition the number was standardised at 40. Their names follow:
- Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses , in Greek mythology , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey...
(leader)
- Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope; the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos...
(king of Mycenae)
- Acamas
Acamas was a name attributed to several characters in Greek mythology. The following three all fought in the Trojan War, and only the first was not mentioned by Homer....
- Agapenor
Agapenor was in Greek mythology a leader of the Arcadians in the Trojan war. He was a son of Ancaeus, and grandson of Lycurgus. As king of the Arcadians he received sixty ships from Agamemnon, in which he led his Arcadians to Troy. He also occurs among the suitors of Helen...
- Ajax the Lesser
Ajax was a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax, to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. He was the leader of the Locrian contingent during the Trojan War. He is a significant figure in Homer's Iliad and is also...
- Amphimachus
In Greek mythology, Amphimachus is a name attributed to multiple individuals.-Son of Cteatus:Amphimachus was the son of Cteatus and Theronice, daughter of Dexamenus. He was one of the leaders of the Elean contingent at the Trojan War and was slain by Hector.-Son of Nomion:Amphimachus was the son...
- Antiklos
- Antiphates
In Greek mythology, Antíphatês or Antiphátês is the name of five characters.# Antíphatês, King of the Laestrygones, a mythological tribe of gigantic cannibals. He was married and had a daughter...
- Cyanippus
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Demophon In Greek mythology, Demophon referred to two men:*Demophon , according to Pindar, son of Theseus and half brother of Acamas, fought in the Trojan War and was one of those to be in the Trojan Horse...
DiomedesDiomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, mostly known for his participation in the Trojan War. He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus...
EchionIn Greek mythology, the name Echion referred to five different beings.*One of the Gigantes....
EpeiusThere were two characters named Epeius in Greek mythology.#One was a Greek soldier during the Trojan War. He was the son of Panopeus and had the reputation for being a coward. In the Iliad he participated in the boxing match at the funeral games for Patrocles against Euryalus and won...
EumelusEumelus was the name of:*Eumelus of Corinth, an epic poet of the second half of the eighth century BC*Several men in Greek mythology:**A Eumelus succeeded Admetus as the King of Pherae. He led Pherae and Iolcus in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks. He was the husband of Iphthime and the son...
EuryalusEuryalus refers to two different characters from classical literature:#In the Aeneid by Virgil, Nisus and Euryalus are ideal friends and lovers, who died during a raid on the Rutulians.#In Greek mythology, Euryalus was the son of Mecisteus...
Eurydamas
EurymachusThe name Eurymachus, Evrimahos, or Eurýmakhos , is attributed to the following individuals:-Greek mythology:*Eurymachus, an Ithacan nobleman and the son of Polybus, was, by the reckoning of the goddess Athena, one of the two leading suitors of Penelope in The Odyssey, by the great Greek poet Homer...
SinonIn Greek mythology, Sinon, a son of Aesimus , or of the crafty Sisyphus, was a Greek warrior during the Trojan War. He pretended to have deserted the Greeks and, as a Trojan captive, told the Trojans that the giant wooden horse the Greeks had left behind was intended as a gift to the gods to...
(hiding near the horse)
EurypylusIn Greek mythology, Eurypylus was the name of several different people.-Son of Thestius:One Eurypylus was a son of Thestius. He participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar, during which he insulted Atalanta and was killed by Meleager.-Son of Euaemon:Another Eurypylus was a Thessalian king,...
Ialmenus |
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Idomeneus In Greek mythology, Idomeneus was a Cretan warrior, father of Orsilochus, son of Deucalion, grandson of Minos and king of Crete. He led the Cretan armies to the Trojan War and was also one of Helen's suitors. Meriones was his charioteer and brother-in-arms...
Iphidamas
Leonteus
MachaonIn Greek mythology, Machaon was a son of Asclepius. With Podalirius, his brother, he led an army from Thessaly in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks. He, along with his brother, were highly valued surgeons and medics. In the Iliad he was wounded and put out of action by Paris...
Meges
MenelausMenelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
MenestheusMenestheus , the son of Peteus, son of Orneus, son of Erechtheus, was a legendary King of Athens during the Trojan War. He was set up as king by the Dioscuri when Theseus travelled to the underworld, and at his return Menestheus exiled him from the city. He was one of the suitors of Helen of Troy,...
MerionesIn Greek mythology, Meriones was a son of Molus and Melphis. Molus was a half-brother of Idomeneus. Like other heroes of mythology, Meriones was said to be a direct descendant of gods. As a grandson of Deucalion , Meriones's ancestors include Zeus, Europa, Helios, and Circe. Meriones possessed...
NeoptolemusNeoptolemus was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia in Greek mythology. Achilles' mother foretold many years before Achilles birth that there would be a great war. She saw that her only son was to die if he fought in the war...
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Peneleus
Philoctetes In Greek mythology, Philoctetes was the son of King Poeas of Meliboea in Thessaly. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer, and was a participant in the Trojan War. He was the subject of at least two plays by Sophocles, one of which is named after him, and one each by both Aeschylus and Euripides...
PodaliriusIn Greek mythology, Podalirius or Podalarius was a son of Asclepius. With Machaon, his brother, he led thirty ships from Thessaly in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks. Like Machaon, he was a legendary healer. He healed Philoctetes, holder of the bow and arrows of Heracles required to end...
Polypoetes
SthenelusIn Greek mythology, Sthenelus was a name attributed to four different individuals.*Son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Mycenae.*Son of Capaneus and Evadne...
TeucerIn Greek mythology Teucer, also Teucrus or Teucris , was the son of King Telamon of Salamis and his second wife Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. He fought alongside his half-brother, Ajax, in the Trojan War and is the legendary founder of the city Salamis on Cyprus...
Thalpius
ThersanderIn Homer's Iliad, Thersander was one of the Epigoni, who attacked the city of Thebes in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who had attempted the same thing. He was the son of Polynices and Argea....
ThoasThoas , son of Andraimon, was one of the heroes who fought for the Greeks in the Trojan War. He was a former suitor of Helen of Troy and led a group of forty ships for the Aetolians, one of the larger contingents...
ThrasymedesYou may be looking for Thrasymedes of Paros, the sculptor.In Greek mythology Thrasymedes was a participant in the Trojan War. He was from Pylos and was the oldest son of Nestor and Eurydice , and the elder brother of Antilochus....
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Images
Any images or constructions are products of the imagination of the artists, as no images of the horse have survived even from
classical timesClassical Greece was a culture that was highly advanced and which heavily influenced the cultures of Ancient Rome and still has an enduring effect on Western Civilization. Much of modern politics, artistic thought, scientific thought, literature, and philosophy derives from this ancient society...
.
See also
- Mykonos vase
The Mykonos vase is the earliest dated object which depicts the Trojan Horse during the Trojan War. It was found in 1961 on Mykonos in Greece, for which it is named, by a local islander....
, earliest pottery depiction of the Trojan Horse
- Troy (2004 movie)
Troy is a 2004 epic/action film concerning the Trojan War. It is loosely based on Homer's Iliad, besides material from Virgil's Aeneid and other sources of the Epic Cycle, but it frequently diverges from myth...
- The Trojan Rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 comedy film written and performed by the comedy group Monty Python , and directed by Gilliam and Jones...
- "The engine to batter walls (called sometime the horse, and now is named the ram) was the devise of Epeus at Troy."
- The Psychological Operations
The purpose of United States psychological operations is to induce or reinforce propaganda favorable to U.S. objectives. It can be used at the strategic, operational, also known as Psychological warfare, level or at the tactical level...
units of the U.S. Army carry a Trojan Horse in their logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
.
- Troy: Fall of Kings
Troy: Fall of Kings is a historical fantasy novel by British fantasy writer David Gemmell, forming the final part of the Troy Series.It was finished by his wife, Stella Gemmell, following his death on July 28 2006 and released under the joint authorship of David and Stella Gemmell.-Plot summary:As...
, final book in the Troy Trilogy by David GemmellDavid Andrew Gemmell was a bestselling British author of heroic fantasy. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write over thirty novels. Best known for his debut, Legend, Gemmell's works display violence, yet also explore...
External links